What a year. We have probably experienced a historic year, which we all remember as a whole society and each of us differently. I have not yet read any annual reviews, but it is clear that they will be dominated by the one issue that has defined us all. My life and that of my family were also Affekte, of course. Fortunately, we are all healthy and have not experienced any setbacks or major problems. Nevertheless, the whole situation has weighed on us and I personally come out of this year more powerless than usual.
Hobby can be many things. Pastime, fun, creative outlet, focus point for relaxation or other. Even if I don’t actually need to pass the time, it’s somehow all of these things for me. This year I’ve especially felt that there’s something relaxing, balancing about creative pursuits. It has done me good to have a moment to myself, in addition to all the other circus, in which one can be completely absorbed in oneself and the project at hand. A positive experience of this year is also related to this: I have been able to paint continuously. I managed to finish at least one figure almost every week, and if it didn’t work out, I just didn’t feel like it at that moment. So I managed to get a lot done this year, even though I didn’t have a lockdown boost in the spring like many others, where whole armies could be finished all at once. So, as always, everyone has their own pace and I’m happy with my outcome. I kept it varied and often changed themes or painted single miniatures. That kept it exciting, but sometimes I got bogged down. That is also a lesson of this year: I have already written about the topic of Mental Load, and now at the end of the year I can state that for the first time I feel this binse, order in life also causes order in the head. There are a lot of started projects that are screaming for attention in the back of my mind all the time. My Conan project is not finished yet, although I have everything for it. In spring I had interrupted it in order not to bore readers. Stupid, I haven’t finished it yet and probably no one was bothered by it anyway.
The Braveheart project announced a year ago is partially primed and waiting in the wings – I didn’t have time for it yet.
More really great Marvel and DC minis from Knight Models have been primed for a long time – I preferred painting other stuff.
Not to mention Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and others. A lot of things are already there, but not yet started. That’s okay, I’ve done a lot of other nice things instead and had fun, but slowly the planned projects are getting out of hand. That will change in 2021, I give preference to the started projects for now.
It wasn’t only Atom Smasher who pondered the question of whether we are all hobby butterflies. Do we fly all too quickly to the next beautiful flower? Possibly, I’m probably susceptible to that too. Right with my first army project in more than 10 years, I give the purest tabletop cliché: My Moors for Saga were first announced as a monthly army project, then project partner Krauti had an accident and we had to pause. It could go on in the meantime, but we both rather do other things, but assure each other that we definitely want to continue this! We’ll see!
I could address some technical things. I’m still not consistently happy with my photos. My painting is okay, but I don’t see any progress. My best figure is a year and a half old. Since I attribute that to life circumstances, that’s acceptable to me at the moment. Can not be changed now anyway.
Actually, I start the new year with good intentions and have not set the bar too high. Essentially, I want to finish some of the things I’ve started. But I wouldn’t be the aforementioned hobby butterfly if there weren’t already distractions on the horizon. A 3d printer has moved into our house, hooray. I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m aware that it won’t just run on the side and eat up more time. I also want to finally take a closer look at the game “7TV” by Crooked Dice. Basically, I’ve been collecting miniatures for it from the beginning and my whole approach here is to make a game that processes movie scenes. I’ll write separate articles about the printer and 7TV soon. I’m really into both and both will be the only new features for the foreseeable future.
So, that was a bit of a balance sheet at the end of a difficult year. I try to see my hobby as a real time-out and have experienced it that way this year. It was a nice experience and makes me want to do more. In general, I am optimistic about the next year and as you just read, it will not be boring.
Finally, I would like to say thank you for the continuing great contacts within this small but fine community. Feedback, criticism and tips, ideas and inspirations or just exchanging ideas about hobby and non-hobby have enriched my hobby and made it an important part of my everyday life. Thanks for reading and following! To all of you a good, healthy and always optimitic start into the new year. May the film industry have a better year too 🙂
