Back in White Dwarf US Issue #354, there was a Standard Bearer article that had a pie chart in where Jervis broke down what the hobby was to him. Part this, part that and so on until he figured out where it was that he spent most of his time.
That's my chart up there.
It's changed over the years and even more so over the past year. It wasn't until I went to Games Day this year that I realized that I enjoy the modeling and painting aspect of the hobby more than anything else.
Looking back, it's obvious, my moving away from a legal army list to making what I wanted based on what I thought looked cool and fit with the background as I imagined it. Add to that I don't really play anymore (maybe a game a month now) and my commission work on top of that... it's amazing that I get a game a month in really.
These days, it's the modeling and painting that I really enjoy. Entering Golden Demon this year really showed me that too. I just enjoy looking at the models and spending time painting and sculpting. Of course it doesn't hurt that my skills have been slowly improving over the past year so that's been a positive reinforcement. And there's lots of "hobby" out there to pull from too, listening to The Independent Characters talk about "hobbying" back in their 9th Episode (Yes, I am behind) got me thinking about all the resources out there. And I'm not talking about gaming, I'm talking about resources for people who just like the modeling and painting aspect of 40k.
For the longest time, I always thought that I wouldn't be "into 40k" if I didn't actually play the game. Maybe that's why I've hung on for so long trying to "play." Don't get me wrong, I love to play and face a tough challenge with my army. Heck, my Deathwing record isn't half bad either. But to sit down and just talk about painting or greenstuff work, that's what I really enjoy. Finding a new model or a concept drawing that catches my attention and then building or painting it, that's the most fun for me. I'm fortunate the my clients seem to have the collest projects they want me to do as well, I've been able to build some stuff that I would've never thought of doing on my own over the past year.
These days, I'm less worried about "playing" and really starting to look at models that I might enjoy painting or trying to build. Of course I have to squeeze them into all the work I already have, but that's another story.
Now that my abilities allow me to build and paint the things I can imagine, or more like change things to what I want them to look like, I'm going back and mining all my old ideas for stuff I can bring to life... regardless of whether or not it's playable.
