how to de-stress for painting

[Medved]

howdy i am  painter, a very good painter when i am calm and have the mood to work my magic.  i beleive in the gnostic idea that i can do anything with a paintbrush if i only apply myself and believe.

i'm having a hard time doing that right now :icon_sad:

i need some suggestions as to how to de-stress and get me into the painting frame of mind..............

i'm talking bruce lee, grasshoppers and the only kind of relaxation that a heavy dose of morphine can induce....... :abduct:

any ideas or how you go about creating your own little zone and maintaining it for an hour or two each night on a regular basis?

[gi6ers]

I need to have nothing else constructive that I have to do first. Usually non-hungover sunday afternoons and when my other half isw watching something on Tv on weeknights.

If you are looking for relaxation techniques, I've got a couple. Try tensing every muscle in your body for a few seconds then relaxing. Also useful is square breathing: This means you are breathing in for the same amount of time as you hold the breath and exhaling then exhaling for same time...(hope that makes sense!).

[Bodhi]

Zazen is what I do. Basically it consists of sitting on your butt (or rather knees) staring at a wall and trying not to focus on your breathing  :icon_wink: - well you start by focusing on that but the end goal is focusing on nothing at all. It helps if you have as a habit to do this at least for an hour a day. Zen monks do it twelve hours a day... I manage half an hour.
The end result is that you have this state of mind in ALL daily activities (which I definitely don't). 

[gi6ers]

Zazen is what I do.

Haven't done this for years but it's great! Very difficult but really effective once you get the hang of it.

[Fabian]

I do the muscle tensing and breathing for drama, but never thought to use them for painting. Interesting!

[Bungle]

De-stress?

Sex :icon_wink:

[Medved]

i sooooo wish that was the solution but unfortunately a stressed out wife and a 5 month old son + manic toddler seem to decimate that idea. 

basically i have to keep an ear out for my son stirring/ wanting to be fed as i have the child care duties in the evening.  i can't switch off completely like i used to (part of being a parent) but i need some help to take the weihgt of a days work + home trouble + erratic wife off me o i can get some creative and technical stuff done.

[Bodhi]

De-stress?

Sex :icon_wink:

Not for the moment no. Deadlines on three different scripts and all the planning and rolecasting and moneygathering preparational work for a full feature movie means I have to destress my wife first  ;). Sometimes it's tough living with a director, or having one as a mother for that matter. But she has long periods of work sometimes. When films are about to be made (not to mention the periods they're shooting films...)it's 24 hours a day more or less at work. As right now.

[Keeper]

I think I have similar kinds of can't-switch-off-whilst-painting problems, being a parent of a baby and a toddler, too.

What I do is paint. OK, that sounds dumb, let me clarify.  What I do is paint the stuff that doesn't require huge amounts of skill and concentration when I can't relax enough - block and base colours for skin, clothing, uniform, armour, whatever.  Or even just undercoating.  The more I paint, the more I relax, and towards the end of a session I can usually be doing the detail work I want to be doing.

I also sometimes paint rubbish minis - where I don't expect to produce the best possible paintjob ever, anyway - I painted the base colour on the armour of 12 Robogear troopers yesterday, for example.

Works for me.  Hope it helps you :)

[Bodhi]

I think I have similar kinds of can't-switch-off-whilst-painting problems, being a parent of a baby and a toddler, too.

What I do is paint. OK, that sounds dumb, let me clarify.  What I do is paint the stuff that doesn't require huge amounts of skill and concentration when I can't relax enough - block and base colours for skin, clothing, uniform, armour, whatever.  Or even just undercoating.  The more I paint, the more I relax, and towards the end of a session I can usually be doing the detail work I want to be doing.

I also sometimes paint rubbish minis - where I don't expect to produce the best possible paintjob ever, anyway - I painted the base colour on the armour of 12 Robogear troopers yesterday, for example.

Works for me.  Hope it helps you :)

It's similar for me with the sculpting. What I do is basic bulking out and setting poses - then I can get on with the more detailed stuff. Problem is this means I have rather a lot more bulked out poses than actual finished figures.

[Keeper]

It's similar for me with the sculpting. What I do is basic bulking out and setting poses - then I can get on with the more detailed stuff. Problem is this means I have rather a lot more bulked out poses than actual finished figures.

Yeah, I've got loads of undercoated and started minis.  But then every now and again I have a good week and I catch up loads! :D

Its not a binary scale, either, though.  Sometimes I can manage "intermediate" painting, even if I can't manage the good stuff.