As is tradition on this block at New Year, although its getting later and later in January, I have a look back at what I achieved hobby wise over the last year. I find making Hobby New Year Resolutions to be pointless, and possibly depressing, when you look back as see what I did compared to what I hoped. That said it can also be good to take a look and see what you completed.

So what did I manage to actually finish in 2022?

It’s that time of year when I traditionally* look back over last year’s posts and see how I faired against the hobby goals I set myself at the start of that year. I would also set my hobby goals for the coming year too.

However, this year I really don’t feel like it, it is bound to be a disappointing result, the amount of hobby time and completed projects** have been sorely lacking through 2021.

I can remember starting a few different projects last year, and I have a couple of others that I want to get finished from previous years (eek!). But I know I have not achieved either. There is a surprising number of models built over the last year but not painted knocking around in my house, or more likely built and primed, with maybe even a coat of paint or two. There is also a surprising number of draft articles behind the scenes here at Splayedpaintbrush Towers*** that never made it off the drawing board.

So what’s the point of this post? Well I suppose it is just to remind myself that this is a hobby blog about my hobby. The definition of a hobby is an activity or interest that is done for pleasure or relaxation. In others words, I build/paint/play with models for fun. This purpose of this post is to remind us all that it doesn’t matter that project X didn’t get finished as long as you had fun whatever you did do. Sure it’s good to finish a project, but it’s also not worth getting down about either.

Thinking back over 2021 hobby wise, now that I have got to typing this article up, I do remember enjoying a number of things in particular. Some of which made their way onto the blog, some didn’t. So instead of counting successes as finished projects, how about I just list some of the projects I had most fun with last year.

Ahh yes, the annual look back at the past year’s hobbying, and see how we measured up against the hobby progress we hoped to achieve mentioned back in January 2020.

Well a quick read of my hopes for 2020, and seeing what I have actually done over the last year suggests that its all doom and gloom.

1. No, i’ve not managed to hobby more tidily or efficently.
2. No, I did not paint more than I bought – or even attempt to 🙂
3. No, I’ve not actually managed to paint much over 2020 at all 😦
4. No, I’ve not attended any events – but that’s not my fault, damned Covid!
5. No, the blog still looks the same as it did back in June 2014 (wow I hadn’t realised it was that long ago!)

So what did we do in the year of Social Distancing and Lockdowns? I’ve been working from home, and home schooling my lad – yeah right! So my hobby time took a massive hit this year. I’m massively jealous of people who have churned out multiple large scale armies over the various lockdowns, but there in lies the danger of social media. No one’s life is perfect and FB, and the like, only give a small filtered glimpse into other people’s lives. There’s no real indication of what’s going on in their life, and everyone is different. Hope you all are staying safe, and perhaps more importantly, sane over the course of the pandemic. Here is what I achieved last year…

I’ve been putting off this post for, well, a month now. I just have this feeling I’m going to be disappointed with the progress against what I set out to do in January 2019. Hobby time gets more and more scarce and especially quality hobby time – by that I mean actually doing some painting rather than tidying the hobby area, staring at the ceiling for inspiration (or worse the internet – as this is a black hole all by itself).

So what did I actually complete hobby wise over the course of 2019. Well I did paint up two sets of Warcry terrain, one for the local store, and one for one of the regular gamers there. I almost completed a Warcry warband. I built some nice pre-painted MDF terrain from 4Ground for use with Adeptus Titanicus. That’s probably about it.

But what did I set out to do over 2019? Well I plucked up the courage to go and check (I also note that this was posted on the 1st January, not the 31st). Do you know I didn’t actually do too bad thanks to vague and imprecise goals. I did not get my Titanicus models finished, well I did finish a minimum banner of Cerastus Knights, just not the Titan maniple I was aiming for. I did build and paint a fair chunk of terrain. I have also played games more regularly thanks to the gaming store opening up in town.

The Corpsewrack Mausoleum painted up for Rogue Games.

The Warcry box terrain I painted up for Jack. My own is still sat spray coated in the box 😦

The 4Ground terrain I built for Titanicus use.

Definitely the best part of 2019 was these House Mamaragon Cerastus Knights.

Now after sitting down and actually looking to see what I achieved over the year I feel a bit better about my hobby. I achieved more than i had remembered, and am feeling more positive

Looking forward to 2020 (given we are already a month in to it), what are this year’s hobby goals?

1 – Perhaps to have more ‘quality hobby time’ I should work cleaner, and always tidy up after a hobby session (probably need to tidy up first though).

2 – My disposable income is going to be squeezed this year, so moderating the new purchases is also a high priority I think. To that end I should concentrate my painting time on the models that I own and have either an interest in, or an immediate interest in playing. Yes that age old, paint what you buy, and don’t keep buying more!

3 – I think I should aim for table top ready miniatures and churn through the models required rather than setting expectations at getting really good paint jobs I’m happy with. As there is a lot of satisfaction to fielding a fully painted force. Possibly more so than having a single really well painted mini out of number of minis on the table.

4 – I’ve taken part in a couple of small events over 2019 and I’ve enjoyed them all. So I plan to do the same this year, and for each event I want to go fully painted. It would also be nice to have more event/battle reports up on the blog. However I have burnt out doing the Bloodbowl newspaper style reporting for teh Rogue Games League. SO i need to be careful what i try to do with that.

5 – It’d be really nice to give the blog a make over. Update the galleries. Get a logo designed. That sort of thing.

Let’s see how 2020 goes. Handily I have wasted a month of it avoiding this blog post 😉