"Watching paint dry..." Topic

So SWMBO walks by to get an iced tea and says, "Oh. I thought you were going to paint your dollies. If you're going to read, do you wanna come out and sit on the porch and read with me?"

>blink< >blink<

So in a moment of epiphany, I realized how much of my time I spend 'watching paint dry'. And then I wondered how much time I spend doing that. And then I thought it might be an interesting poll to see what others do when they hit the point where they need to stop and wait for the paint to dry before going on to the next step and why they do that.

If that even happens to others, and if not, why don't they need to stop and watch paint dry.

So, do you ever have to pause and watch paint dry? How long? What do you do in the interim?

For me, I would estimate I hit that point about 15-20 minutes every three or four hours of painting (otherwise, I just move on to another project on the board while this one dries).

About half the time, I am already "watching" sports on TV, so I just dedicate to doing that. Other than that, I always have a book I am reading and some language lessons to work on. On rare occasion, I will turn to an analytical problem from work, but those usually are in bigger chunks than 15-20 min, so that is rare.

And on that subject, about half the time I get distracted and don't come back to painting right away.

… so, anyway, I went out to the porch with SWMBO and read a good chunk of Cryptonomicron.

Question 1. Are you using acrylics?

Question 2. Do you have enough figures/units in the painting line?

Statement 1. Earning brownie points with SWMBO is no bad thing so ignore the questions above.

I never paint for 3-4 hours at a time. Painting is a small part of my busy, engaging & lucky life.

I have a room set up for painting. I may well have 2-3 projects on the boil. I might paint for as little as 15 minutes up to an hour at a time.

When I get to the 'watch paint' part of the process, I go & do other things; including interacting with my family, gardening, reading, cooking, reading (always have 2-4 books on the go at any time), TMP etc. There's no dearth of other things to do.

When I'm working (on hols at the moment), I have on-going work that needs constant attention & that often fills in the painting "gaps".

Etotheipi, it's called SWMBO maintenance. It's important. Practice it faithfully. it usually results in a much more understanding attitude when another package of "those silly little men" arrive in the mailbox.

My longest *single paint* recently was 10hrs (3 sessions and some shorter ones completing some Landsknechts for FoG-R at Burton) …

It took about 4 days with a couple of sessions lost to meetings, and other breaks for meals and rest – but the longest single session was 10 hrs and that really nailed the task.

I never sit and wait. Fortunately the big landsknecht project was February, so the radiators are on which helps drying and curing times. And probably a good 60% of the top coats are acrylic. So I'll stop, set things on the radiators, make coffee, clean down brushes and palettes then go on another batch.

I too 'watch' sport while painting – and listen to 24 hr news (it keeps me conscious of the passing time as I am otherwise lost for hours in my craft )

I guess that makes me a binge painter.

Phil

Sorry … so for poll purposes

*make coffee
*clean down brushes and palettes

Phil

I use acrylics so I never wait for paint to dry. By the time I get to the end of the row, the beginning is dry.

Now my basing technique involved three gluing steps. I allow each stage to dry overnight. But I don't "watch." I usually go to bed.

etotheipi, I have similar experiences and processes. Good decision on reading a book.

Painting is theraputic for me, freeing my mind to wander in a circuitous manner through myriad thoughts, causing me at times to find I have stopped painting or have no recollection of actually painting the last few figures. The mind is a wonderful and mysterious place, where 'watching the paint dry' can be a useful interlude. If I am watching telly or listening to music, I am slower to finish a figure due to the mental detours prompted by enjoyment of the programmes.

I don't paint for long periods of time, and generally have 2 or 3 sticks of figs to paint, so I never really have to wait for paint to dry.

Mmmm… Cryptonomicon. Good book. Snow Crash is better :-)

So, lessee, responding in no particular order …

Yep, I use acrylics and usually have three or four projects going at a time. I don't always get bound after every color, but sometimes the queue just works itself into a bind.

I usually paint for a couple hours a day, but when I have a day off I get a lot more or none. And I'm usually talking with SWMBO, Skyping with the kids @ school, watching sports, etc. at the same time, so painting doesn't really distract from the rest of life.

I really liked Snow Crash. A friend at work gave me Cryptonomicron.

Yes. Happy wife. Happy life. But also, I like sitting on the porch with her and reading. Just wasn't happening at this moment.

So … what is the "cleaning of brushes" which you address? :) (DOM says I never do it, which is not true, but hey, whatever.)

I am most likely to have to wait for a wash to dry rather than paint.
There is always something else to paint while I'm waiting.
Or clean up ready for undercoating.
Or sticking on sticks for undercoating.
Or undercoating.
Or reading for ideas on what colours to paint.

The odd break is useful just to give my eyes a rest. I have BBC iplayer next to me and I can switch between radio and TV as I want.

I paint in work, so I'm actually doing my job while the paint dries (when not on here, that is…)

:)

Acrylics in the desert. Occasionally the paint dries before I can get it on the figs, so not much of a problem.
M