Are too many options a hindrance to creativity?

[Junkie]

A quick vlog I shot last night while cleaning the cave. Feel free to chime in with your comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgoFLHgkvFo&

 

[Papermodder]

Re: Are too many creative options a hindrance to creativity?

I hear you Scott. I also find my motivation wains in an out. with me, I think the long term never ending type builds, start to lose my interest, and I end up ignoring it.
I believe still, that it is better to do one project at a time and finish that. Starting multiple projects is usually just another method of ignoring the original build, and you still are looking at it and just getting more frustrated.
As far as tools are concerned, that will always be an issue that can get out of hand. Supplies do get out of control, paints, you can't find a colour that you knew you had and buy another. Then find the original, or forget that you already have that one and buy another, you end up with multiples.
Scott good luck on the downsizing. A smaller work area is actually better. I find that the larger the work area, the more junk one collects. Talk to you latter.

Jim

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Re: Are too many creative options a hindrance to creativity?

See, I am on the opposite end. Can never had too many choices, and I am of the type that if I get bored or loose interest with the current project at hand, I would rather put it aside until my interest comes back around to it, rather than push through it and do less than a 100% job on it.

Also multiple kits are good for kit bashing. If you only even have one or 2 kits in your stash, there is no opportunity to kit bash, and if you get bored with the kit, you have nothing else to go to, so in the mean time you aren't doing anything, because you have nothing else to work on.

But I do get it, that if you only had the one or two kits in the stash, that you would have less distraction with the other kits calling out to you.

What? Your kits don't talk to you? Mine do, it is deafening in here sometimes! LOL

 

[Timbaux]

Re: Are too many creative options a hindrance to creativity?

My motivation will kind of follow the seasons. When the snow falls is usually when I start getting excited to build something new again and finish shelf queens. Once the snow is gone i'm less into the man cave and more into renovations and tinkering with cars, cutting our wood for next winter, etc.

The man cave itself is about the size of ice shanty (6'×6') , located in a small storage room next to the furnace in our basement. Extra space would be great but I don'the really have that much in tool, kits and supplies anyway.

I'm only back into modeling say 5 years and I always enjoy learning and improving , and browsing, and sometimes buying ;D. I find what's great about this hobby is you can always come back to it and then leave it be when something else comes up.

 

[Deere_driver]

Re: Are too many creative options a hindrance to creativity?

I think I tend to agree with Scott. I often find I get caught up trying to learn about the newest and greatest techniques and products out there. I spend hours reading, watching youtube, and scanning websites and I never get to the bench to actually build something. I think it's a fantastic time to be a modeler and I'm thrilled there are so many options available, but they can become a distraction.
When I was young I'd throw a kit together in a weekend and have a blast. It might have a two-color paint job if I was really ambitious. I need to find the middle ground between that and the AMS addled start and stop I have going on now. It is, afterall, a hobby and should be fun!!

 

[Jaitea]

Re: Are too many creative options a hindrance to creativity?

I agree with you Scott,.....I know that I tread a fine line between being obsessive or fed up with the hobby,......I used to build kits as a kid,....loved building.......stick it together,.....quickly,...slap some paint on it,.....hang it from the ceiling,...or set it on a shelf......FUN, FUN,....FUN

As I grew up and left school,....cars & girls,.....no time for model building until I hit my mid 20's.....I had a few stable relationships on & off,....the Art (sketching & painting) came back first,....then a big long period of model building.....& a bit of sculpting,....then casting & selling

I met Rhonda....we got married,...the model building faded a bit,...then completely when our first kid was born.....after a few years when our son was up a bit I used the spare bedroom as a man-cave & the kits returned

I found some models in the attic that I'd build before I met Rhonda & sold them on ebay,....quite shocked on how much they went for, which excited my wife thinking that she had a money making machine,.....she couldn't understand how long it took me to make kits,.....I bought unmade kits of the ones I had sold to start churning them out,....it annoyed her when I worked on kits that were 'for me', she hated that I spent time playing with toys......I got fed up with my new job & the model making phase disappeared again

We had kid no2,.....the man-cave became my daughters room,.....all my stuff went up into the attic,....I started doing CG animation (a bit),...video & graphic editing,.....this kind of art made no mess which pleased her, she still didn't like how much time was spent on hobbies though

Five years ago she had an affair & left the family home,....my 10 year old son (now coming 16) didn't want to go with her & lives solely with me,....my daughter who is now 8 lives with me 2days here 2days with mommy,..2days here,...2days with her mum....so really I have her 50% of the time.

I haven't been so happy in my life,.......no women,....just the kids & doing what I want

I started back into the hobby .....mainly Millennium Falcon building....(yawn ;D)

I try not to do too much,.....I don't really like the group builds as it turns it into a chore,....too much pressure

......I like the fun aspect of model building.......AND I'm glad Scott that you have ordered some of the Bandai kits......THEY ARE FUN,....they give me that buzz that I had wen I was a kid,....I guarantee you'll have a cracking great smile across your face when you open the box,.....before you'll know it you'll not want to put it down until it's hanging from the ceiling or placed on display on your shelf

John

 

[f2k]

Re: Are too many creative options a hindrance to creativity?

Shiny New Stuff Syndrome is a very real thing. And it can pretty much kill you if you're not careful.

I used to be into tabletop gaming in a big way. Mostly Games Workshop. But then it slowly came to an end. Prices rose. My old friends left... And then, one day, I took a long hard look at all the unpainted stuff I had laying around and decided to sell it all. Why should I keep it? I was never going to get around to painting it anyway.

Selling it all off was probably one of the best things I've done in a long time. It was SO nice to suddenly be able to see the floor and table in my mancave. To be able to actually clean the cave. I felt so liberated...

Thing is, all that unpainted stuff made me feel guilty. I bought it to paint and play with, right? And yet, I always seemed to end up buying a lot more than I could realistically paint. And eventually I simply just gave up on painting altogether.

So when it comes to scale modelling, I try to keep my stash to a manageable level. I'm simply afraid that I'll burn myself out again if I start hording too much stuff.

But then again, there are also other things to take care of. I still haven't finished the models I entered in last years Spring Contest. I simply burned out so badly on that * biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiib * LA-174. And I had to move. And lost my job... Plenty of things that distracted me and had had me in a sort of "dark hole" for a full year.

On the other hand, I like to have a small stash so I have something to look forward too. I have a 1/72 Flower Class Corvette that I'm slowly gathering drawings, add-ons, photo-etch, and other needed stuff to convert it to an early version. It's just a dream that I keep alive. And someday, perhaps, I'll actually open the box and start working. But until then, it's just a dream.

I guess what I'm saying is that I can see where you're coming from. Sometimes it's just overwhelming. There's so much stuff out there that it's hard to figure out where to even start. The new kits are getting better and better. As is the photo-etch and resin add-ons. And once you've gathered everything you need for a build something new and shiny has caught your imagination.

Perhaps, once the Spring Contest is over, we should have an out-of-the-box group build? Get back to basics. Just a single kit with no extra parts. Might actually be fun...

 

[Jurasikfrank]

Hey Scott,
Yes, too many options can be a problem. But to me, the worst, is a cluttered space. I haven't finished (or touched) a kit since december and before that, it was october... The more stuff I have, the bigger the mess. The massive cluttered just kills my drive. Also, I can't do a stock kit, I always endup modding the sh##%{ out of my kits; led, fiber optics, kitbashing, etc.
Here's my plan for spring: store all my extra kits (brand new or in progress) in a closet somewhere and leave ONE project out. ONE.
I'm going public with this, starting in April, I WILL complete my Slave1 build before touching anything else.
I'll also post progress.
Talk soon!

 

[Quaralane]

Can definitely see where you're coming from, Scott.
Have a BUNCH of stuff in the stash that I haven't even LOOKED at in over a year.
Keep finding new stuff to pull me away from it.

Very distracting, indeed, especially when a build may not be going quite the way you planned or hoped

 

[JMac]

Last year was easily my worst year in terms of finishing builds and general satisfaction with the hobby (I finished three - and only one of those was actually started in 2014). I had a ton of stuff at work and home on my plate, and when I did try to build I had no gas in my tank so to speak. That combined with trying to get everything on every build I had started perfect (all the relevant aftermarket PE, resin, paint, decals, weathering). I'd become overwhelmed and just the act of building ended up sapping what little joy or flow I had left at the bench. I can totally see where you're coming from Scott.

Just recently I started building again and with that I'm actually finishing stuff - it wasn't until I started on a basic OOB build when I began to enjoy things again. I think when it comes to all the options available, kits, aftermarket, and what have you - can be good so long as they don't become a tar pit that traps a modeller. Building should be fun and a chance to sit and recharge, not something to slodge through.

Perhaps, once the Spring Contest is over, we should have an out-of-the-box group build? Get back to basics. Just a single kit with no extra parts. Might actually be fun...

I like this idea, I'd participate (even though my finishing a GB on time history is not so good).

Jason

 

[Jeep]

Scott, I understand were you are at, it is completely normal for my interest to cycle.............yeah cycle is a good term for it. You only have to look at my facebook page to see all the stuff I get into and out off. It is amazing the shear amount of crap I have collected, Paintball, airsoft, jeeps (four of them) old Dodge truck, old landrover 88 (now gone), model trains in four different scales, whitewater kayaking and rafting ( guided) rock climbing camping, painting, drawing, architecture, miniature war gaming (flames of war, 40K) roll playing games, prop building for cosplayers (game store nerdom that I get roped into.

Now my inactivity has been because of job changes and building a house and that has been a huge time sink, now that enough of that is done that I can contemplate giving some time and money over to hobbies again. One thing with the new place is I designed a designated work space for my hobbies, I did not want to share space with my current project and then have it in the way, I wanted to be able to find what I needed when I needed it and be able to work on something and then leave it with out being in the way. I finally have that space now, what I found is that I can not have enough bench, If its there I will find a way to fill it! This is after years even decades out of working out of a pair of tool boxes. I have basically the start of what I thought would be the perfect bench and it pretty much does what I wanted it to do. But I have contemplated adding six more feet of bench! What it lacks is a little organization and by using it for different creative outlet hobbies I am sure its going to change and adapt as my focus changes and then changes back.

I would caution you about selling off tools and supplies willy nilly, those are things that are needed but it is frustrating to open a bottle of paint and find that it is dried out or you new bottle of super glue has hardened while in storage. It is also darn nice to go to the stash and pull out a kit and build it. I wanted a designated workspace for so long and now that I have one I do not know how to go back, The tool boxes I used to basically exploded all over the wall and its darn nice to be able to just reach out and put a hand on things.

As I said my focus cycles and think that this is common with anyone of a creative bent, change aspects of a hobbies is normal and OK. I can find inspiration in books, videos movie, others, even this forum and any of which can cause a change of focus just as hitting a wall like not knowing how to build 1:20.3 scale rivets for a locomotive can cause and change or not having enough money for some over priced games workshop game piece can but a whole army to go on the back burner. The trick is to accept these changes of focus, be able to organize them and find inspiration to continue them.

Oh and just to be clear on my bench which is not even being done being built yet there is my 2013 BSC build, still in its boc unbuilt, my 2014 BSC model still in its box unbuilt, 1:20.3 class a climax locomotive that is scratch built a Ho scale bowser K-4 locomotive that is stymied becasue of a missing vovle gear rivet, a 1:20.3 F scale 0-4-0 locomotive conversion half finished, three On30 locomotive conversion started but not finished, a 1:35 scale panther not painted, 1:24 scale dozer not finished, two different 40 K armies that need worked at, and that just the stuff that is out in view. Completely normal to cycle through things down sizing is going to be difficult maybe organize things first. Go look though the showing your man cave thread and see if anything inspires you to greatness.