After spending the last month or so sweating away in my studio, painting full-steam for next month’s NOVA event,  I have been reminded of a hobby challenge that can exist for even the most focused of painters: actual, physical strain.

Due to the stationary nature of our hobby, gamers in general do not exactly have the reputation for being incredibly fit.  With that in mind, I am sure you would think of the physical activity of painting models to be far from strenuous.  Personally, I paint in a small air-conditioned room, while listening to podcasts or movies.  While this does not sound like the setting for a torn ACL, hear me out…

After several weeks of painting full time, I woke the other night with a severe pain in each of my fore-arms.  I experienced this kind of pain once before, when I was in the midst of painting my last army.  I obviously should have learned from these experiences to intersperse my 8 hour painting sessions with far more breaks.  Maybe some fore-arm stretches or exercises.  I also find that the more concentration the current task requires of me, the more tired my arms, wrists and hands are at the end of the day.  Full days of detail-work often result in “painting dreams” in addition to the muscle strain…

Why bother sharing this?  Well, I think it is worth noting that while you may be able to plan out your hobby projects across a calendar, unforeseen factors can intervene.  I am sure that the discontinuation of GW’s “Tentacle Pink” put more than one Emperor’s Children project on hold.  Hell, the dissolution of the Squats probably drove a few 2nd edition 40k players away from the hobby.  Granted, neither of the previous issues would be preventable, but with all of these possible external factors, it can be easy to pass over an obstacle that lurks closer to home.  In plotting out my own hobby schedule, I viewed my summer vacation as a time where limitless painting could occur.  While the motivation and free-time are certainly present, I have been fighting to get through the physical strain of week-long painting binges.  The point is, if a tree gets blown over by a storm, and lands on your army, well that is just unforeseeable bad luck.  However, KNOWING that the tree could have fallen, puts you in a position to prevent such an issue.  Perhaps we should keep the possibility of physical infirmity in the back of our minds as we plan out our work.

Ok, so this might be the most absurd “hobby” article ever. In fact, it may not even be a universal issue, but more of a personal statement about fitness.  Regardless, I just thought I would share this experience of running into a challenge while in the midst of a hobby frenzy.  With El Pee and the Man in mind as I say this, I know that it is not uncommon for gamers to attempt to burn through painting a new collection in a few short hours.  I just wanted to point out that where the mind is strong, sometimes, the body is just too weak.

Keep those brushes moving, but maybe wear a helmet.