I'm Finally Stepping Out of My COMFORT ZONE

I'm more than half a century old, and I'm finally going to do it.
Vince Venturella and I made another game! Check out Space Station Zero at www.spacestatio...
I'm now a partner on Twitch! I paint minis every Friday morning and Monday night, and sometimes take paint breaks (play video games poorly). Follow me: / tabletopminions
Official Tabletop Minions t-shirts: bit.ly/merchbunker
Help support the channel on Patreon, and get access to the Discord: / tabletopminions
Twitter: / tabletopminions
Instagram: / tabletopminions

[@MrGatonegroish]

I work in the (digital) arts industry and I find the most rewarding times are when I take a creative gamble, and ride it out to see if I can bring the ship to port, so to speak. It's not always the right time to step out of your comfort zone, but I feel that doing it teaches you something about yourself every time!

[@bopaintsminis]

I'm not good or experienced enough to even have a comfort zone. It's all uncomfortable.

[@JRC2397]

I agree fully. Every time I paint I feel like I'm ruining something

[@krernertok221]

Yeah, I know how ya guys feel 😅

[@willcorcoran]

@@JRC2397 I was like that until relatively recently, until I managed to complete something without once feeling panic and/or despair. "Hey, this is going okay, this might actually look okay". Felt gooood

[@bopaintsminis]

@@willcorcoran My problem is that I paint twenty infantry to the same "standard" as a hero. I can't differentiate. So a box of infantry take a week.

[@willcorcoran]

@@bopaintsminis I've had the same tendency. I find I'm getting a little faster as I figure out how to plan out my painting a bit so that I get out of my own way. And internalising the idea that I can come back and clean up mistakes at the end in one swoop, rather than stopping and starting to fix each as I go

[@MrDrakos95]

A series of videos about the journey of a tabletop-quality painter to his first display-quality miniature? LET'S FU*KING GOOOOOOO

[@JHB141]

I've been here a minute, and watched your painting evolve along with my own. Your current tabletop standard is anything but standard. I appreciate the inspiration along the way, and I'm sure you will knock it out of the park!!!

[@Skiriwowi]

As a display painter who loves this channel for the wonderful advice and commentary, I love this and I hope you make more videos about your forage into display painting!

[@Xandrillus]

I am super excited to watch the series you come up with!

[@Runemlarsen]

I completely agree

[@deltabairsoft]

+1

[@corbingovers7559]

I JUST did the same thing! (stepping out of my comfort zone into more display painting). After finishing my very grimdark Chaos Knights army, my wife picked out a model for me to do for my next project (in this case it was a Loonboss on cave squig) with two rules, No metallics, No grimdark. It was SO MUCH FUN, learning glazing and color saturation and really trying NMM. Then I was able to take those skills and really push my Katakros to look amazing. So not only am I burning down my Pile of Opportunity (I'm finishing up my OBR), I'm pushing myself to make better looking heroes :D. (The loonboss was about 20 hrs, Katakros was about 15hrs since I used true metallics). I was getting really frustrated with my current Tabletop-medium armies, and feeling like I wasn't getting any better. Now I'm excited to pick up new models again (and inspired a new nighthaunt army).

[@thomaswilliams5005]

I look forward to it. I was in the zone painting last week and decided I wasn’t going to paint a hundred purple lines, because it would take too much time. Now I’m curious about moving forward with that project

[@BirneGilmore]

I took a step up by getting into kitbashing and building custom Kill Team Fireteams. For example I took some Catachan Squads and a Leader Squad and used admech and cultists bits to build all options of the Veteran Kill Team. That was a "new level" for me :)

[@FDXHOMEDEL]

Been trying NMM for the first time. It’s also my first real attempt at glazing, making glazes, getting the right paint load on the brush, getting the right dilution. I even like displaying my sacrificial models in all their chunky, harsh color transition, painful glory. They’re a testament to growth and love of the process.

[@jakea3950]

Raising your standards and giving yourself the time are two key ingredients to being an amazing painter. This applies with most things in life but in painting you get way more control. It's why I love painting.

[@Northman3050]

Looking forward to hearing about your journey and experience.

[@UnexplainedMinis]

This sounds great!!! I am also stepping out of my comfort zone and working on organizing a non-company based painting competition for the Pacific Northwest/BC Canada area for Fall 2023. It is being added to a wargaming event that has been around for over 10 years but never had a painting component. I am also talking with some world class painters to come offer classes for the weekend as there is no large none-company based painting competitions nor painting classes that I have found in the area.

[@buildinginlawndale7544]

Dang this is a timely post. After a decade of dipping, I just acquired my first airbrush and contrast paints. Might not seem like much, but both these methods are well outside my current comfort zone. Thanks for the kick in the pants.

[@onkelgroen]

I'm entering a secret santa model exchange! It's a way to force myself to really pull out all the stops and not "good-enough" this model. I want to wow the recipient.

[@thetbird69]

I have a big ol' 40k Ork army. And I would rush most models to get them painted for the tabletop. However me and my friend are getting into gorkamorka and as I'm only using 7 Ork models and vehicle I've spent time on each one and tried lots of new techniques I was too scared to try before and I have enjoyed it so much. I can't wait to get to playing so I can expand my mob and paint more orks

[@keithsmiley5896]

I'm in a similar situation where I've painted for many years, but never entered a competition -- though I've always wanted to! Looking forward to this series to follow the journey!

[@gfan1972]

Man Sam has to be as stoked as us! Can't wait to see what ya do. And Sam's right there the whole way preach the holy trinity of wet blending, NMM and OSL to the masses......and Atom!

[@johnbruce4004]

Well this'll be one to follow. I predict tears before bedtime at some point. Good luck - it's a top notch coaching team you're assembling, which is a good start.

[@br42]

Deciding to stretch yourself and grow is awesome. You go man.

[@frederickgleicher1385]

Go Adam ! And good luck ! i look forward to the series ....

[@yellowincfil]

Over the last 2 years, you inspired me to paint and keep at it. It is amazing to see that after all the time that you have spent painting that spark of inspiration can still come from inside you. I'm excited to watch this journey. It's fantastic to see someone look at themselves and say " I know my skills, I know what I like, I have people to support me, I'm gonna kickass!" Thanks for more inspiration. Thanks for all the tips. Thanks for helping me get out of my comfort zone.

[@jakea3950]

What did you paint?

[@sodaaddict2225]

Best of luck on this new journey! It's not a step I've taken yet and might never take, but it's exciting!

[@nathanielmiller8040]

Fantastic! I look forward to the series and your progress ahead. I like you, have painted in my own ways and have branched out of recent. It’s been a fun challenge to learn different techniques and to hold my self to a higher standard. Looking forward to see the work you put out! Thanks for the your efforts on the channel and for our hobby

[@mindyfranke5279]

Best of luck, Adam! Looking forward to seeing your submission next Nova Open!

[@foulplay99]

It took me a while to get into painting, and my local GW store was doing regular competitions. Eventually when I felt I could do a good job I entered with the Necron Silent King, and won first place. It was an amazing experience because the challenge was pretty significant for me, and enough people at the store liked it enough to vote my way. I think I pretty much went from learning from scratch to painting larger models, whilst skipping speed painting though. There are a number of basics I’m not great at but big models can be a lot of fun to really dig into detail-wise

[@thorikstoneshield3716]

I do not think myself as a display quality painter, but I like to try different kind of minis, so I painted many different sizes, from 28mm to 1/5 scale vynil models, and I never feel totally satisfied of them, when I see the high quality work of others in YT, or even in the events, to me it always seems that even if I try hard to reach out that tecnique, it is always two steps away from my grasp, you have two good teachers, and a lot of time, I'd like to see your work in progress become a masterpiece, thumbs up, and go with the hard work

[@petrbouda1741]

Great idea to enter the competition, wish you luck.

[@DasDevilSquid]

It was really nice to have an opportunity to chat with you in the game room at NOVA. Good on you for setting yourself an objective as a challenge, and I look forward to seeing how the journey goes.

[@TylerProvick]

Congrats on moving out of your comfort zone. Since you are just starting this journey maybe I can offer a shortcut. You can glaze from colour A to Z. Black to white. Lots of glazes, easy but time consuming. Also, where the transitions sit is not easy to control if you care where they land, and you should care. So, instead of glazing from white to black figure out which part you want black and paint it black. Then, mix a middle gray. That's easy, right, just a grey between black and white and paint that where you absolutely want it to be at least that dark but not black. Now, it's a two step glaze and it is way, way faster. Keeping doing that, keep splitting the difference and painting it on until it isn't easy to mix or apply that between colour. That's when you start to glaze. White to black is big, most highlights and shadows are close so you need to do 2-3 inbetweens and then start glazing. You will not believe how fast it is. There's nearly 200 comments. This is a moment that I had the juice of a Miniac so I would be heard and can help you.

[@StackingLimit]

Great class at the Nova open!

[@ThePastryGeek]

I’ve been watching Sorastro’s channel and painting along with his “Descent - Journeys in the Dark” series for a while now. I consider it a master class in miniature painting to a display quality level. The figures are pretty small but he achieves insane quality. He uses varied techniques through the series so I’ve learned glazing up to highlights and down to shadows so far. I’m also learning colors/techniques for skin, leather, metal, etc. that I can apply to other miniatures in the future. That’s an old game now and he has moved on to several other games so you might find videos for miniatures you may have.

[@Io_Wreck]

Back in 2020 you were a great inspiration and resource when I was just getting started. I've always admired your work and am looking forward to seeing how this goes for you; going to crush it no doubt.

[@richardmunoz2995]

Good luck in your journey, Adam. See you at Nova.

[@seankavanagh3742]

Excited to see where this goes!

[@Buzzregog]

This should be a good time - looking forward to it.

[@daniellof453]

Great idea, I'm also not a display painter. But I want to be. I really recommend to go on the deep end and start with skin. I followed Latham's masterclass and just focused on mixing and application. Gave me a hugh boost in confidence that I can reach display level

[@alliboogaloo]

Good on you! That sounds like a nice goal.

[@broompatrol]

Looking forward to a series, I'd love to hear about your experience spying advice from pro painters to a project. I bet there are lots of casual painters that are interested in an occasional project.

[@rat-matt-miniatures8705]

Oh this will be exciting to see develop.

[@AndICanTalk2]

Great video. Excited to see how things go over the next year.

[@vaderkoshpaints]

Best of luck! I hope it's an enjoyable experience ☺️

[@asmcelhinney]

Great topic. I need to kick myself out of my comfort zone too. Funny thing is I find I move up a gear &try out a new tecnique maybe once every three years, only to realise I've later drifted back into easy habits. Momentum. Easy to lose when we always say to ourselves "there's no time". Anyway, Hope to see you develop, plus there are a wealth of great youtubers to reach out to. A series of interviews on how to break out and step up would be amazing. Good luck.

[@russ5838]

Good on you, its always hard to push yourself out of your comfort zone, I think I might give it a go myself, Love your videos hope it comes out as you want it too, all the best to you and your family.

[@cordial001]

Every so often, it's good to paint something to the best of your ability just so you can have a model or two to really be proud of. It's a great way to learn and improve your normal painting.

[@benstephenson8988]

I'm excited to see what comes from this. I bet you can paint to a much higher level then you think. Good luck my man.

[@shawnwootan232]

I’ve been thinking of stepping out of mine recently. I have a couple kitbashes in mind but I’m sort of spooked to try green stuff is the main reason I haven’t taken the plunge. I think I’m finally going to around Christmas though. I found some ideas that I don’t think will need any green stuff, Either turning Stormcast into black Templars, mixing free guild greatswords and skitarii vanguard, or making some death korps out of some wargames Atlantic French and German kits. I’m terrified of wasting money but allured by having totally unique models only I have. Wish me luck!

[@davidlove236]

Good luck with your journey!

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

This is fantastic. Looking forward to how it turns out. Keep up the good work.

[@grendelb3298]

I’ve found that everyone has a model they’re proud of, no matter the standard. We should all own that. Great video!

[@G_Threepwood]

That'll be a great series, looking forward to it. Not to mention Vince is hands down the best painting teacher on YT

[@thomasholliday2708]

This is awesome! I hope you find joy in the process. I just finished my first ever competition piece for UK golden demon last night and due to some real life stuff I couldn't spend as much time on it as I'd hoped but it was a really good feeling to look at something and say that's the best thing I've ever painted. I can't wait to see it in the cabinet.

[@raeishimura]

I totally understand this feeling. I entered a competition at the beginning of the year on MyMiniFactory with the grand prize being a new custom 3D printer. Painting my entries for it and putting them out there was such an incredible feeling, and seeing them up amd being able to say "this is my best work" was just such an amazing feeling. Was even more amazing a feeling when that printer showed up on my front porch though, lol.

[@hyosworld109]

That's awesome! Good luck!!

[@nickjolliff1663]

I am entering my first major painting comp at Adepticon next year with The Worthy (Atomic Mass Games' MCP competition.) I have definitley noticed a marked inprovement in the quality of my paintjob on the Model I chose vs the one I use for gaming. My biggest, albeit unqualified, advice.... give yourself enough time to ge the model to a level you feel comfortable with when entering it at a level wherw potentially 1000s of people will see it.

[@jimi1701a]

I am also entering my 1st painting comp next year, strange coincidence lol. Good luck sir. 🤟

[@tylerpeck9754]

I’ve actually tried something similar recently.. Trying something I’m not good at with each new project… contrast paints.. magnets.. edges, etc.

[@thomasgrable1746]

Enjoy your painting journey! Always be willing to try something new. Even if it doesn't work out, you'll still learn something from the experience that will help later on.

[@Izzyspaintingworkshop]

It'll be cool to see your work, what you do, and what ideas you come up with! Looking forward to it!

[@RotGolem]

Wait no, I just found mine! After three decades I got the right balance of speed, quality and pure fun! Seriously, experimenting in hobbying is both fun and useful, even when it goes wrong, at least in my experience.

[@Madbamlooted]

Yay Uncle Adam, good luck!

[@juliecox6509]

I love that you're daring to do something different. I don't paint for TT so I guess I'm aiming at display quality...and by aiming I mean I just try my best and the journey is always the point of it rather than the end result, no way do I think I'd win any prizes 😂BUU-UT I always try a new technique on every new thing I paint, so essentially I'm out of my comfort zone on every model. It's fun, and it's interesting, and also frustrating and perplexing, but mostly fun, hope you have fun too, even if you don't bring a medal home with you next year. Looking forward to joining you on your journey! 🙂

[@2jkelly]

Good luck to you in this looking forward to seeing it. Your channel has been one of the best for pushing me to 'get stuff done'. I'm sure you will have more skill that you realise with just general experience :)

[@ogrestamp]

I love trying to go outside of my comfort zone. Usually I end up scurrying back to the safe hidey hole of my zone but ever once in awhile it stake out some small new territory that gives me an outlet for my creativity.

[@AVS_uk]

"Paint by the seat of my pants" - laughed out loud for that one

[@AzaMinis]

You're making the right decision to enter in Apprentice (and to view the Capital Palette before entering in general). I don't mean that as an insult or deprecation in any way. I've entered and been a finalist at other (lower caliber) painting contests before and won a best painted army at tournaments before, and reading the descriptions of the three categories, I thought Journeyman was my appropriate entry level. Once I saw the other entries in Journeyman, I knew I had made a grave mistake. The quality of painting even at the Journeyman level was utterly ridiculous. I think I ended up as one of two squad entries that didn't receive finalist.

[@rowanirish]

Go for it. Good luck with it.

[@waynegoddard4065]

Your thought process works for me.

[@1989eol]

This is super exciting. I am looking forward to seeing your progress. This series has so much potential. I am totally in for it.

[@phoen31]

It's an interesting thought. I may have to ruminate on it myself, wouldn't hurt to expand my horizons a bit either.

[@ironjehoshaphat2764]

Danger Zone needs a parody - "Comfort Zone" far from the edge, loving the status quo never stretching out or trying something new staying right here in my comfort zone I will stay here in my comfort zone

[@goblinplaysit2289]

I'm so hyped for this. Been thinking about attending NOVA, this is a big reason to go next year.

[@ARescueToaster]

There are good reasons to get out of your comfort zone. You tend to learn new things that you would never normally when trapped in your self-made box. You paint display quality typcally? You might learn something by trying to paint quicker and at tabletop quality. Perhaps you can reproduce a result you want but with much less effort? Or the other end of the spectrum -you might find something that takes a little more time but gives you much better looking results. I also find changing gears every now and then very satisfying, as getting stuck in a monotonous rut is really boring to me.

[@laflecack]

Im deeply interested in the type of discussion and guidance that can be had by learning a display painting style and what advice guys like Sam and Vince will have, a lot of learning content does tend to focus on table ready even for "advanced" techniques so as someone who isnt as much interested in the games themselves but wants to push myself to paint at a higher level im very much in need of that kind of guidance myself

[@JurrBTful]

I've been watching your vids quite a lot the last few days, and then it occured to me. You look so much like my dad... only difference is, I do like to listen to your stories lol

[@duskern]

Good luck with your journey uncle Atom! Hopefully it will inspire others. It might even inspire me to give it a go :-) glad to hear your mother is doing better btw!

[@solidsentinel1285]

So I started painting almost two years ago, and something I’ve been doing is twice a year I paint something with the intent to display rather than play and it’s been super helpful and fun to try new things.

[@PatGilliland]

Good Luck! I hope you enjoy the journey.

[@chrisjones6792]

I am also in the middle of my first *greater than tabletop quality* project. It got interrupted by a tournament my buddy bribed me into, but Im excited to get back onto it. I guess the painting project and the tournament are outside my confort zone.

[@philthymofo]

Deathguard are easily one of the most fun - good luck and go get 'em...

[@TheElusiveNoggie]

I am going the opposite way. I only started building and painting minis last year but I would love to do a competition someday. So while I built to tabletop quality I was constantly trying to learn techniques for display quality. Problem is it was daunting and a year later I don't even have 1 fully painted army to play with. So now on my new army I am trying out speed paints and working at getting decent tabletop quality quickly to improve speed on basic techniques and keep me motivated by actually finishing a project.

[@magnusmillerwilson]

This is great! It’s so cool that you’re going to take your painting to the next level. Very inspiring.

[@troykiefer7632]

I love this idea! Imagine having mentors like Vince and Sam. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to watching your progress. If I could subscribe twice I would.

[@stevenray8737]

Looking forward to this! Go for it. 😎

[@termi6523]

Great you're diving into competiton painting! I always liked you're old painting tutorials and it would be awesome if you did something similar with new techniques or styles or smth you would learn by painting in a more elaborate way!

[@rubenlopezcatalan8661]

Vince and Sam could help you tons…I feel jealous…good luck and thanks for the video 🙏🏻

[@rubenlopezcatalan8661]

By the way, I wrote the comment before you mentioned their names in the video, no brainer 👌🏻

[@ovan2190]

Great to hear your breaking out of your comfort zone Atom :). It's not an easy or well comfortable thing to do, but its always good to try new things and if you learn something along the way so much the better. Can't wait to watch the progress

[@austinthornhill7038]

This is the series I have been waiting for. Typically, I approach painting much the same way you have. I have been increasingly interested in entering a competition. Really looking forward to you recording this journey to your first competition.

[@Cranacti]

Looking forward to seeing your journey!

[@AiurWarrior1]

I follow several creators on Patreon who often run painting competitions from their releases. Perhaps I'll leave the comfort zone and try my hand at one of those smaller contests.

[@CaptianAwesome889]

Great idea for a series! Super interested in how you tackle this

[@krernertok221]

Woah, good on ya, Uncle Atom! I really like the idea for the series and am looking forward to seeing those videos as well as your progress on the model!

[@craigarkle1077]

Can’t wait to follow your journey! Well done for trying something new as well!

[@CourtneyVarner]

Me earlier this week after 8 hours painting Cado Ezechiar “oh wow that’s the closest I’ve ever come to speed painting a hero model” I have yet to play a game, so all of my models are display, so painting to a tabletop level is the opposite of my comfort zone. I’m a weirdo.

[@dacis2]

I've had a similar experience recently. I've been a drybrush painter for over a decade now, and more recently a contrast painter, so I've mainly been happy with tabletop quality and stayed away from character minis that required more effort, preferring boxy mechanical miniatures (robots, small scale tanks etc) instead. Recently got bit by the infinity bug and their minis usually just don't come out good with contrasts or drybrushing because of how they tend to have lots of smooth surfaces. Actually did layering and highlighting and was surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I thought and turned out okay. Certainly not studio quality like you did, but a clear step up above what my 28mm scale minis have looked for the past decade, and I'm not even doing as many layers or glazing as much as I should. Who knows, I might be actually painting eyes in a few years time!

[@MatthiasMeys]

Vid liked! Looking forward to how this journey progresses =). I always kind of feel I have the opposite problem - I don't really have a comfort zone. Just always seem to get some crazy new idea but never really cementing any specific technique...

[@Dash277]

Great stuff and I think we can all relate in some way. We all have comfort zones no matter how advanced or basic our painting is!

[@Slurgical_3D_Terrain_Channel]

Between you, Black MAgic Craft and a few others, you brought me back to gaming and reinventing myself. (Had to due to life changing injury) and now I just opened my digital Gumroad store for 3D printing terrain. I love designing terrain.

[@bluenine85]

Looking forward to more in the series!

[@justineckart549]

The idea that in my first ever competition I might be painting against uncle atom is pretty terrifying. :p

[@bobhopfner3812]

This is definitely a series I will enjoy and follow closely. Great idea!