We have all been there. We reach a point where we couldn’t paint another miniature if our lives depended on it. It could be a result of hobby or painting burnout, seasonal depression or family matters being front and center (and taking up all the time that one used to spend on painting). The loss of painting or hobby mojo is evident when one has lost interest in the thing(s) that one normally likes to do. I get that „I just don’t care anymore“ feeling. (This can also be a sign of depression and it is something that you should take seriously. Check with your wife and ask her if she notices any changes in your demeanor and attitude).

I am there right now. 

But I think that I might have turned the corner as of today. 

How do I get out of the painting funk and getting my painting mojo back? There are three methods that I usually relay on and most of the time they work, getting me back on my horse. 

The first method is to start watching historical movies. Put a CD of Waterloo, Zulu or Gettysburg into the old machine and watch movies to get your inspiration back. 

The second method is to contact some of your gaming brothers and get them to host a wargame that you can play in. It’s important to let someone else host the game and take care of all of the logistics. Remember, you don’t care that much right now. I usually find that playing a game is a great tonic for curing the loss of hobby mojo. You get to play with someone else’s toys, but more importantly, it is an opportunity to socialize with your friends. Getting out of the house and getting together with your friends is an important life hack.

The third method is to force yourself to paint! I know, it sounds like a hard thing to do when you are in a deep funk. If I force myself to commit to one hour of painting over the next several days then it knocks the rust off of my painting funk and I begin to remember some of the reasons why I enjoy painting figures again. If the enjoyment returns then the funk usually goes away.

These past several days I have employed Method Three, sitting at the painting table and painting a few 54mm Dervish that have been sitting around for some time just begging to be painted. I started with just two figures. Then I upped it to ten figures and also added five cavalry figures. It seems to have worked because now I am complaining that I don’t have enough time to paint. Yikes!

Another sign of the old mojo returning is that I placed a new order for some more 54mm plastic Dervish from Armies In Plastic today. Maybe buying miniatures should be Method Number Four.

So I seem to be back. Huzzah!

Now if I can only get back my interest in 18th Century wargames and figures. That’s probably a left over thing from my Historicon experience last summer. Give it some time. It will return one day.