A look back...and a look forward

Happy New Year all!

I kind of missed last week's article (anyone else struggle to remember what day of the week it is between Christmas and New Year? It wasn't alcohol related I promise) so apologies for that, back to our regular schedule. Here at Noobs and their Paintbrush we all seem to be in a reflective mood, looking back at the year that's just gone (Check out Brambleten's look back at his year here).

Time travel back with me to January 2015 *Insert Doctor Who effects here* I was at a pretty low point in terms of my painting. It felt like every project got to about 70-80% complete then I just lost all motivation, my desk was full of unfinished models and I couldn't find what I needed to finish any of them. I felt like I spent more time reading about painting than actually painting, like eventually if I read the right article or watched the right video it would all suddenly click. This of course....doesn't happen. Painting, like any practical skill can only be improved by actually doing.

So what changed? I joined a community. I'd been a fan of Painting Buddha for a while and owned their dvds but one day I decided to join their Slack channel (it's a communication tool, a bit like an easier to use IRC channel) and I've been there ever since! The encouragement and community spirit really helped me to actually get on with painting and share it with others. I met Merkeysa on there who invited me to join this blog and the rest as they say is history.

I didn't really set any hobby goals for myself last year so I have nothing to look back at but I can still look at what I achieved. I tried Non Metallic Metal for the first time with my Rackham Devourer. I built a base on a plinth for the first time with my Cynwall Elf (see here) I finished my first mini in a larger scale with The Nurse (also my first significant scenic base composition) (see here) Overall I think my painting has improved significantly over the year, the below shot contains all the models I finished from left to right.

So what is my target for this year? More of the same really, more 'display' quality miniatures, better bases and compositions. I do have some specific targets though:

• Finish what you started! Go back and finish some of those projects that I gave up on, I have quite a lot of partly finished models that I'd like to finish off, even if the time period means it's not up to my current quality.

• Paint a bust! Something I've not done, but I'd love to try. Just need to find the right one!

• Paint a dragon! Again never done, I backed a Kickstarter (link) last year that is set to deliver around April so barring any delays that might be doable this year.

I don't want to go crazy and list 20 targets that will leave me with no wriggle room for spontaneous projects so I'm going to leave it at those three.

So what are your targets for 2016? How do you feel 2015 went for you in a hobby sense? Let me know in the comments!