I think some people forget that creators are real people too you know? I love your content especially when there are videos like these where we get to see a very genuine and raw moment 💖
My favorite author co-authors with a lot of other people who write under his online publishing company as well as many series under his own various pen names. He has comments that this helps keep him coming up with new ideas and the authors he works with also come up with new ideas. It's not subtractive. It's almost multiplicative. - So to drag my comment on topic with the video, sometimes you need to look around, talk to other makers, maybe talk to a kid and see what they would think is cool, or if you are part of one or more games, ask other players what they think would be cool to add to the props pile. And maybe these ideas help a GM come up with new encounter ideas, or the kid my start drawing fun art, or...
You're videos were the reason I started crafting terrain. When I'm feeling a block I just go back and look at a couple of your older videos and I usually have something click.
This is so real. Even just a small doodle or a step in a lil project, or 1 sentence can keep those embers burning. Its hard to get the fire back going again when its been cold too long or soaked in a rain, I know. But its not impossible. Even looking back on your old work can inspire you again.
Very much so. I had a hard series of events in my life that left me off of creating for nearly ten years. Now that I'm getting back into it I find myself having to almost re-learn skills that I used to use effortlessly.
One time, to break out of a funk, I just made foam rocks as scatter terrain for a couple of hours. Anything from a rock that would provide partial cover to a platform where a party could fight a couple of giant spiders.
@MonkeyJedi99 rocks are great to zone out to, cause you can later combine w other rocks,make plateaus,cliffs or even add some green for a moss or magical covering later.
Hey Jeremy, I've been 2d animating for nearly 30yrs now. Creative burn out is very real. I think you have done an excellent job bringing quality videos all these years. Thank you.
You got me inspired to buy some cheap paint and xps and craft my first set of dungeon tiles despite the fact that I don't even play DnD or any tabletop...I don't even own any miniatures 😂 You are a fantastic creator and a really sympathetic person 🎉
Not every build has to be a table-filling castle on a hill overlooking a farming town with a river and water wheel like some kind of Real Terrain (Hobbies)... Though those builds can be fun too!
honestly, I love such videos.. not bc you make it bc you are burnt out, nooo.. it's bc you show how you can get out of a rut, a creative low-point.. and it IS very important to see that everyone goes through these times!
Yea, I go through periods where i paint miniatures every single day for a month and months where i can't put brush to paint to save my life. Sometimes I need to wait until i get excited again and sometimes i just paint something I have no idea how to paint or that's totally outside my wheelhouse. The last option has lead to a lot of fun paints that I didn't expect to be fun.
My first build was because of this channel. It gave me the belief that I could actually create something for my own gaming table that looked cool and was functional, as well.
Dude you JUST got back from tabeling at a massive con, on top of having to do all sorts of different projects! I'm not surprised you're tired 😭I appreciate the realness though, because it's something that should be talked about more. I've been here for ages now and I appreciate the hard work you put in, but you also deserve the time to rest and recharge. Whether it means taking some time off of the channel or returning to small builds like this again, your community is here to support you.
7:51 OMG the fluffiest! lol. Great video as always. You are so right about the creative process. It's not always just inspiration or new, bold ideas. Sometimes, you just gotta make a thing and flex the muscle. Your guillotine came out great. A simple build that was well executed. Thanks for sharing!
Don't worry about it, man. Sometimes, inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places and sometimes, it just needs a little kickstart. If you need an extended break, take the time you need to replenish your mind and body. Pace yourself to keep your mind safe and sane. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
I want to add on to what Jeremy said as well. As a Graphic Designer with over a decades worth of experience, we all hit a creative wall. No matter who you are, a creative block will rear itself and stagnate our minds. At that point you need to get up, take a break, and come back a little bit later. Over the past 17yrs working in the creative industries you learn ways to both identify when you start stagnating, and ways to deal with it. Getting up and going for a walk outside, and it can just be for 5mins, not long at all, is all that's sometimes needed. Watching and reading what other creatives are doing is another good source of inspiration. Having other hobbies, especially if this isn't your day job, is a good way to unwind too. Learn an instrument, learn to draw, learn to sculpt, learn anything else can help further your creative experience and get you out of that funk.
Thanks for the great video! I just (in the last 3 weeks) got into DIY terrain crafting because I'm an avid wargamer and TTRPG player, and I LOVE your videos! I've come to appreciate you, Wyloch's Armory, and a few other DIY terrain builders for your creativity, crafting talent, and dedication to this community that I'm just starting to be a part of. I'm an engineer by trade so making terrain is not my day job, but it does support my hobbies; I credit my hobbies with improving or even starting some of my best relationships. My wife plays with me, I have 3 super close friends that I met through D&D, and my 3 brothers and I always get together when we can for some RPG campaign or Warhammer 40K. Normally I just buy terrain and paint it, but since discovering DIY terrain building I can't put it down! All that is to say, thank you for years of dedication to the craft and for providing me the resources I need to keep making memories with those I love using terrain that I made by hand.
I love the realness of this. Sometimes you're just not feeling it or you just need time to recharge. And doing something small, simple, and just to do it can help keep you going, and tide you over. Thank you Jeremy for showing the real struggles that creators face. The guillotine looks amazing, by the way.
Thanks for pulling back the curtain. Yup cons are excellent but Con Drop is a real thing and you have found a fun way to get past it. Another thing I do after a con is look ahead to the next con/event a little or jot down what went well or didn't. No better time to update the packing list than when you get home after an event when you forgot your pens, glue, or dice.
We love ya too bud, and I honestly love smaller builds like this and miss seeing them. They’re fun, manageable and the reason I got into your stuff. Get rested and create at your own pace.
I really like this approach to dealing with burnout, I will be sure to try this in the future. Great video, and a cool little piece of terrain! It would be cool to run a “save a pc from being executed” story!
I’ve been video game designer for 25 years and I hear you on the creative idea lapses. I’ve had a bunch of these periods, but I had one a few years ago that was genuinely scary - I had gone from making note of new ideas on an almost daily basis to just a void of nothing for months on end. I honestly thought I was done. In the end it took doing just as you said, starting something (preferably only semi related to your main thing) anything to get things moving again. I appreciate you talking about it and letting people know they can push through it.
I love the fact that you built a guillotine. I dabble in building medieval torture devices (mostly front kits, but you have inspired me to give building on of these a try. Thank you so much for all of your videos. I sometimes suffer from builders' block, and your videos help me get over it
No way your cat is already that big.🤯 Your videos brought me into the hobby and kept me there for over two years now. Creative breaks seem natural and kind of healing to me, as they allow for a fresh start afterwards. You gave us so much over the last years, so don't worry about some "slower" time in your life.
I started watching your videos in 2018 I think and every time I watch one of your videos, I get inspired to start crafting. Also every time i see one of those mentos jars with that curve, I think of when you used one of those to create an acid container in one of your terrains a long time ago. You really inspire me and I love watching your videos after a long day to activate my other brainhalf. Thanks Love from The Netherlands
In september a french lawyer (Juan Branco) publish a book to explain how to build a guillotine (a real one) to put in our garden to make government remember what could happen when people are angry^^
honestly this is exactly what I needed to hear! I kinda started this hobby because of your videos and I always thought it was insane that you had not run out of ideas and much respect to you for sharing that with us all. I honestly thought I was bad at it because I did run out of ideas, because all the best creators seemed to never run out of ideas. So, all that to say thanks I will go craft now!
This is great. It's important we remember that what our "best" is changes day to day. Sometimes we did our best and it was an incredible day of building and making and working. Other days our best was to just get up and take care of ourselves. This guillotine is very cool, I hope you're resting up and feeling good!
Good stuff, really 🙂 It's nice you're keeping it real by showing some of the parts we barely get to see on UA-cam - the parts where inspiration slows down a bit. I'll always like your honesty and showing the whole creative process, 'warts and all'.
I love watching this channel and love watching you build things. I've played D&D since 2ed and never used miniature but always loved to make/paint them and sell them to other players. More importantly I love to write, I did it every day, even if it was on completely useless things that had nothing to do with the project I was working on. It took me decades to start using my computer to write but I am dyslexic and the spellcheck eventually won me over. Many years into it and my computer crashed suddenly, right after I lost my backup drives in a babysitting accident. My stories were lost, I was so very broken. Novels were destroyed, despite attempts to retrieve them from the person who worked on my computer. To this day, years later I still find it hard to write anything more than a detailed character description, as the thought of getting back everything that was lost is so overwhelming. All that said, something here really clicked for me, thank you. I really needed to hear this. It may not cure me of my fear but it does remind me that it's okay to not always be working on the next big project.
The build is excellent, and could be a great piece of city furniture or the focus of a game (rescue someone before they’re chopped…or chop them before they’re rescued😂). And thank you for being so open about the burnout.
Been watching you for years and you’ve inspired some awesome tabletop builds that have created memories that my friends and I will always share. Thank you sir
People forget that most of us craft to need: we have a game we're running, we need an [X] for our game and so we try to build it. Our "job" is to run the game, the crafting is how we execute it. Crafting just to craft can be brutal because there is an entire universe of things to choose from with very little to distill down the options. This, and most crafting channels are at their best when the creators have a specific need in mind, but when the "job" has moved from building narratives then crafting to just building to build, burnout is a real danger.
A little less tired and a little more inspired is a great mantra. I enjoy your videos and love to see the realness of burnout and just creating for creating’s sake
Would love to see more like this every so often. I think some in the audience do need to reminder you're human but also the introspection and "look behind the scenes," I guess, is just nice to see in a way that makes a platform like UA-cam so great because it's not exactly possible within other media.
I know exactly where you are coming from. I have not been able to bring myself to do any hobby-related creativity for more than a year. I have moments of inspiration but those are quickly squashed by the prospect of all the work surrounding the setup before starting and cleanup afterwards. Everything just feels like work now. Good on you for sharing your feelings on the topic AND for 'just building something'!
Videos and discussions like this are important. You're right, everyone who is a creative person goes through periods like this. What's important is how you get through it. The guilotine looks awesome, and even if you never look at it again, getting reps in and practicing is super important. What gets so many people down when they start a new hobby is that they aren't immediately great at it and the thing they made isn't as good as what they've seen on youtube, completely forgetting that they need to get the practice and reps in before it can look that good.
I love the videos. You hit the nail on the head. As a commission artist I am constantly painting and building things that aren't mine. Sure I get to exchange those completed models for $$$ but it still feels draining. Sending something out as a piece of me. There is only so much I can give. You need to set time aside for yourself. Your own goals. Your own models! Building to build is a great way to "cleanse the pallet" so to speak. I made a goal to build something for myself once a month. While I haven't really been able to keep that tempo, I still find time to do things outside of modeling to retain sanity. I volunteer at a museum on the weekends as a nice change of pace from my day to day painting.
You're great! I don't usually write comments or hit the like button, but I love your videos and inspiration you give to the people who follow you! Thank you!
I appreciate this video. I’m not a content maker, I make for clients and I predominantly focus on horror but sometimes I know that I need to take a commission that is different. It helps deal with creative exhaustion and makes me want to get back to my horror stuff with fresh enthusiasm. As for your content? I simply enjoy seeing you work man, your thoughts, direction changes and problem solving. Thanks for this upload.
Since covid hit, I eagerly wait every Friday to see what your new video is about! I wish I could be more supportive because I truly love what you do, how you explain, your processes, your happy accidents, happy failures, how you solve problems, I like the fact that you are being you, Jeremy. This is the job that you choose, it's scary in many aspects, but your awesome at it! In my opinion, intelligent people understand that your intent is to always be 100% great in what you deliver to the public, but that is also normal to have down periods. Intelligent people would give you suggestions on how to overtake the down periods. Having a blank paper in front of you is always scary. Doddle! Doodle everyday, even if you dont want, and I assure you something will come up. The importance of building a guillotine is exactly this concept. I think you maybe need another theme, like you did in the past for the diverse way of building tiles or the modular buildings. maybe more interaction with your followers? Maybe more collaborations? More kitties, definitely more kitties shots! We love you Jeremy🍁
You do such a great work and my kids and I love your work. It is importent to take a rest... free the mind and get ready with new inspire and some new motivation... and the importents part of all this is your joy and happyness with the project. Doesn´t matter how huge or unique.
Just wanna say I appreciate the hell out of you. I have been struggling for a few weeks now to even start working on a build for my adventure, and I thought stepping away from it for a bit was the answer. I don't know why I didn't think about just building something random and completely unrelated to my adventure to get back into it but that sounds fun as hell. I'm hoping that maybe it will help me feel motivated to start creating again if I can get back to the fun stuff.
As a french viewer who never comment, let me do it for once and just thank you for your videos. I follow for quite some time and it seemed right to do it now. Both for the burnout and this lovely guillotine.
I just wanted to say, I love your channel, and videos like this are way more helpful for fellow creatives like myself (also from Canada; I live in Alberta) than we'd care to admit. I'm currently working on a cookbook, and yeah, you have those wild ideas for it, but you know it's not very likely I'll ever make a second cookbook; it's just that much work both in terms of creative output and collaborative effort amongst everyone involved like photographers and publishing. But that's just one single creative endeavor; I haven't painted anything in a year just because I am losing motivation. It'll come back for sure, but you know... it's hard to not lose the self esteem! Excellent little video.
Don't beat yourself up! My greatest artistic work is a paper mashae mountain that I finished with canned spray paint & cotton wool balls for snow.. However, years later I still love watching your amazing work!!
Dude, don't be so hard on yourself! I loved it, and enjoyed observing your tools and techniques with them. Helpful and inspiring for a amateur creator like myself. Cheers!
Makes sense and like you said, it's to be expected. Reminds me of Matt Colville in the TTRPG space and his response when people ask why there are fewer Running the Game videos these days. His response (roughly) "I did that, I've taught people how to run the game; new videos will come at the same cadence as ever, when I have a new idea." Personally, I've really enjoyed seeing your exploration into new projects--from the huge tower to making your own game to music production.
Hey man, creative block or not you still made something and it still looks pretty cool (love the blood). You also did more than those people who just watch and comment but never build stuff. Love your stuff. Keep it up.
Yo! I wish more creative people (with a platform) spoke about that mental drain. I used to get it all the time. Almost after every project. Artist's block sucked. And when I was younger it was difficult to deal with. I'm much much better now but it would have been nice to have something like this to help walk me through it. Great video!
This video makes me think back on a comment I left, and by what you're saying, makes me think I came off wrong/didn't gwt my main point across. I apologize, I'm direct, but that doesn't mean I'm always *clear.* A while back, I left a comment about how I *hated* the multiple videos in a row of the same thing. (The flex foam road/river/etc.) I apologize if it seemed like I was insulting you with my previous comments. And I will say what I *meant* to get across. You're absolutely right! You should be taking breaks, and it's absolutely okay to run out of ideas. Trying new things, taking breaks, and doing weird projects that are one off, are all parts of growing, and being in the hobby!
Everyone needs and deserves rest and vacation time from their jobs, creative/artists included! I think some people don't realize how it can tax the mind to keep coming up with fresh content for everyeone else to mindlessly consume within comparative moments on a regular basis. Thanks for all the years of awesome content and hope you take good solid care of your brain's health!
Creators are sponges. We absorb things around us and then wring it out to create stuff. Sometimes we dry out. Forcing yourself to squeeze out more is only going to yield mediocre results, but sometimes it makes the juices flow again! I love these kinds of videos btw. Keep showing us the human behind the content, because content is hollow when it is sanitized for easy consumption.
I totally get this feeling, I've been a TTRPGer for many many moons, writing most if not all of my modules, campaign settings and stuff, also i love drawing. Sometimes you sit and stare at the paper and you don't see anything, sometimes you stare at the paper and you cant get whats in your head on the paper and that's ok, sometimes you need a break a switch of gears or some new inspiation. Get some rest, kick your feet up heck give them a warm water and Epsom salt soak and breath ideas will come in time to quote Miracle Max from Princess Bride,"You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles." creating is the same you rush it it often comes out not as planned. Always enjoying your craft and videos 👍🏾💪🏾
I guess it happens, but my rate of terrain building makes me think I’ll never run out of stuff I want to make. I’m making a ship at the moment, but I’m doing lots of stuff related to ocean themed terrain. Docks, coral, reefs, crates, and a shipwreck have all been done, but there are still half a dozen things JUST related to oceanic terrain that I have lined up. That’s not including dock houses or lighthouses. Keep it up bro. Love it.
Such a good video :) Having «worked creatively» for almost 40 years (making a lego/meccano cable cart at age 10 counts right?) having those iterative periodes where you refine and iterate and develope variations of stuff until the next «big leap» is such a big part of the creative process as a whole, which most people *not* doing creative work are unaware of. The «big ideas» are few and and spaced out usually. Especially when somebody discovers somebody new, and all the stuff they see from that person is cool and great, and then after a while they see the iterations and go «nah, they’ve lost the knack for it now», totally misunderstanding how things work in the world of making stuff. Videos like this help rectify that, so thank you :)
As someone who went through a 3 year work related burnout I’d add: “Listen to those around you and take leave early; don’t be a hero”. And if your organization offers mental health programs use them. I was very fortunate mine did and it helped immensely.
Not sure if you’ve heard of it or not but the miniature agnostic skirmish game called “1490 Doom” might be something right up your alley. Encourages kit bashing and terrain building in a relatively small space. It’s An alternative history apocalyptic setting in the 1490s where climbing high and not falling while avoiding a toxic atmosphere and clashing with rival war bands to secure objectives is the name of the game. I haven’t played yet but looks awesome and relatively new. The creators have a small UA-cam channel demoing the rules and setup and will pop up if you search 1490doom. Trench Crusade now on kickstarter would be another I could see you coming up with great ideas for.
Thanks for the video. For me it often works to force my self to do something where i do not need to be come up with ideas my self. Using a random generator or asking a friend for a tiny assignment. Like for writing describing a strange random scene or short vignette i did not choose the subject of.
thank you for showing the uninspired, tired, unmotivated, worn out, not excited, HUMAN side of the creative space/hobby. Sometimes just doing SOMETHING even if it is something youve done once or a hundred times before is enough to get you back into the swing of things. It stirs up something inside. Like jumper cables to a car battery that on any other day would know how to start the vehicle on its own. Sometimes we need to be reminded how difficult it can be to keep moving as creatives. It's normal but not glamorous so doesnt get shown off as much as the colorful, vivid, unique, bright, and enlightened things we make and share. Out of sight out of mind right? Maybe more creatives should show this side of whatever hobby they are part of. So those of us who are new, or not quite as talented or experienced dont feel like were alone when we too go through it. Making any hobby more approachable and understandable sometimes means showing the occasional bumps in the road. Thanks for being real and honest. It's also inspiring in its own right to see you put out something consistently even when you are stumped.
When running out of ideas, branching out to different areas, perhaps less commonly related to the hobby, might be the perfect avenue which leads to expanding one's horizons. For instance, dark gothic themes seem to be more prevalent in the minds of creators involved in the more "grimdark" side of the hobby, while other creators focused more in dioramas don't suffer from tunnel vision as often. I found that out when I had to create a ballroom scene where a piano was a centerpiece. As I went about making one, my mind started branching out on its own into similar decorations for the scene. I understand it might not be your cup of tea but still, I hope this helps. Looking forward to more of your videos!
I don’t build small, I build large, for real people, but I relax watching you guys build small awesome builds. Wish I could build as fast 😁 But yes, we all run out of ideas sometimes and we all need to get out of it. Keep on going❤
"Running out of ideas isn't a permanent condition" is something I very much needed to hear today.
Honestly running out of ideas as a creator is better than being stuck as the ideas guy that never creates anything.
"Jokes on them I have no original ideas anyway"
I think some people forget that creators are real people too you know? I love your content especially when there are videos like these where we get to see a very genuine and raw moment 💖
I appreciate that!
My favorite author co-authors with a lot of other people who write under his online publishing company as well as many series under his own various pen names.
He has comments that this helps keep him coming up with new ideas and the authors he works with also come up with new ideas.
It's not subtractive. It's almost multiplicative.
-
So to drag my comment on topic with the video, sometimes you need to look around, talk to other makers, maybe talk to a kid and see what they would think is cool, or if you are part of one or more games, ask other players what they think would be cool to add to the props pile.
And maybe these ideas help a GM come up with new encounter ideas, or the kid my start drawing fun art, or...
You're videos were the reason I started crafting terrain. When I'm feeling a block I just go back and look at a couple of your older videos and I usually have something click.
This is so real. Even just a small doodle or a step in a lil project, or 1 sentence can keep those embers burning. Its hard to get the fire back going again when its been cold too long or soaked in a rain, I know. But its not impossible. Even looking back on your old work can inspire you again.
Very much so. I had a hard series of events in my life that left me off of creating for nearly ten years. Now that I'm getting back into it I find myself having to almost re-learn skills that I used to use effortlessly.
@captin3149 I'm proud of you!!
One time, to break out of a funk, I just made foam rocks as scatter terrain for a couple of hours. Anything from a rock that would provide partial cover to a platform where a party could fight a couple of giant spiders.
@MonkeyJedi99 rocks are great to zone out to, cause you can later combine w other rocks,make plateaus,cliffs or even add some green for a moss or magical covering later.
Hey Jeremy, I've been 2d animating for nearly 30yrs now. Creative burn out is very real. I think you have done an excellent job bringing quality videos all these years. Thank you.
Everyone needs a good "palette cleanser" project every once in a while 👍
You got me inspired to buy some cheap paint and xps and craft my first set of dungeon tiles despite the fact that I don't even play DnD or any tabletop...I don't even own any miniatures 😂
You are a fantastic creator and a really sympathetic person 🎉
Having a video with a small, easy to execute and inspirational idea like this one is refreshing! Thanks!
UA-cam hobby videos have gotten out of hand
Haha easy to EXECUTE! I see what you did there
Not every build has to be a table-filling castle on a hill overlooking a farming town with a river and water wheel like some kind of Real Terrain (Hobbies)...
Though those builds can be fun too!
The guillotine is awesome man! What a great little piece of terrain.
honestly, I love such videos.. not bc you make it bc you are burnt out, nooo.. it's bc you show how you can get out of a rut, a creative low-point.. and it IS very important to see that everyone goes through these times!
Yea, I go through periods where i paint miniatures every single day for a month and months where i can't put brush to paint to save my life. Sometimes I need to wait until i get excited again and sometimes i just paint something I have no idea how to paint or that's totally outside my wheelhouse. The last option has lead to a lot of fun paints that I didn't expect to be fun.
also, i'm totally fine seeing videos of you making small things like this.
Whether you make a long video or a short video, they’re always awesome. Thank you!!
Thank you 🙏
My first build was because of this channel. It gave me the belief that I could actually create something for my own gaming table that looked cool and was functional, as well.
Dude you JUST got back from tabeling at a massive con, on top of having to do all sorts of different projects! I'm not surprised you're tired 😭I appreciate the realness though, because it's something that should be talked about more. I've been here for ages now and I appreciate the hard work you put in, but you also deserve the time to rest and recharge. Whether it means taking some time off of the channel or returning to small builds like this again, your community is here to support you.
7:51 OMG the fluffiest! lol. Great video as always. You are so right about the creative process. It's not always just inspiration or new, bold ideas. Sometimes, you just gotta make a thing and flex the muscle. Your guillotine came out great. A simple build that was well executed. Thanks for sharing!
Cat-based therapy can be very important.
Why else would there be cat cafes in Japan?
Your videos got me into crafting and it has been a blast. It was nice meeting you at Comicon and thanks for letting my daughter take our photo!
Don't worry about it, man. Sometimes, inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places and sometimes, it just needs a little kickstart.
If you need an extended break, take the time you need to replenish your mind and body. Pace yourself to keep your mind safe and sane. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
I want to add on to what Jeremy said as well. As a Graphic Designer with over a decades worth of experience, we all hit a creative wall. No matter who you are, a creative block will rear itself and stagnate our minds. At that point you need to get up, take a break, and come back a little bit later.
Over the past 17yrs working in the creative industries you learn ways to both identify when you start stagnating, and ways to deal with it. Getting up and going for a walk outside, and it can just be for 5mins, not long at all, is all that's sometimes needed. Watching and reading what other creatives are doing is another good source of inspiration. Having other hobbies, especially if this isn't your day job, is a good way to unwind too. Learn an instrument, learn to draw, learn to sculpt, learn anything else can help further your creative experience and get you out of that funk.
Thanks for the great video! I just (in the last 3 weeks) got into DIY terrain crafting because I'm an avid wargamer and TTRPG player, and I LOVE your videos! I've come to appreciate you, Wyloch's Armory, and a few other DIY terrain builders for your creativity, crafting talent, and dedication to this community that I'm just starting to be a part of. I'm an engineer by trade so making terrain is not my day job, but it does support my hobbies; I credit my hobbies with improving or even starting some of my best relationships. My wife plays with me, I have 3 super close friends that I met through D&D, and my 3 brothers and I always get together when we can for some RPG campaign or Warhammer 40K. Normally I just buy terrain and paint it, but since discovering DIY terrain building I can't put it down! All that is to say, thank you for years of dedication to the craft and for providing me the resources I need to keep making memories with those I love using terrain that I made by hand.
I love the realness of this. Sometimes you're just not feeling it or you just need time to recharge. And doing something small, simple, and just to do it can help keep you going, and tide you over. Thank you Jeremy for showing the real struggles that creators face. The guillotine looks amazing, by the way.
Thanks for pulling back the curtain. Yup cons are excellent but Con Drop is a real thing and you have found a fun way to get past it. Another thing I do after a con is look ahead to the next con/event a little or jot down what went well or didn't. No better time to update the packing list than when you get home after an event when you forgot your pens, glue, or dice.
Yup learned a lot in preparation for Adepticon!
We love ya too bud, and I honestly love smaller builds like this and miss seeing them. They’re fun, manageable and the reason I got into your stuff. Get rested and create at your own pace.
I really like this approach to dealing with burnout, I will be sure to try this in the future. Great video, and a cool little piece of terrain! It would be cool to run a “save a pc from being executed” story!
I’ve been video game designer for 25 years and I hear you on the creative idea lapses. I’ve had a bunch of these periods, but I had one a few years ago that was genuinely scary - I had gone from making note of new ideas on an almost daily basis to just a void of nothing for months on end. I honestly thought I was done.
In the end it took doing just as you said, starting something (preferably only semi related to your main thing) anything to get things moving again.
I appreciate you talking about it and letting people know they can push through it.
I love the fact that you built a guillotine. I dabble in building medieval torture devices (mostly front kits, but you have inspired me to give building on of these a try. Thank you so much for all of your videos. I sometimes suffer from builders' block, and your videos help me get over it
No way your cat is already that big.🤯
Your videos brought me into the hobby and kept me there for over two years now. Creative breaks seem natural and kind of healing to me, as they allow for a fresh start afterwards.
You gave us so much over the last years, so don't worry about some "slower" time in your life.
I started watching your videos in 2018 I think and every time I watch one of your videos, I get inspired to start crafting. Also every time i see one of those mentos jars with that curve, I think of when you used one of those to create an acid container in one of your terrains a long time ago.
You really inspire me and I love watching your videos after a long day to activate my other brainhalf. Thanks
Love from The Netherlands
Uploading this the day before the US election is fucking hilarious
I certainly had that thought too 😄
Came to leave this comment 😅
In september a french lawyer (Juan Branco) publish a book to explain how to build a guillotine (a real one) to put in our garden to make government remember what could happen when people are angry^^
@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial I thought it was intentional 😂
@@IanBoyte Same here!
honestly this is exactly what I needed to hear! I kinda started this hobby because of your videos and I always thought it was insane that you had not run out of ideas and much respect to you for sharing that with us all. I honestly thought I was bad at it because I did run out of ideas, because all the best creators seemed to never run out of ideas. So, all that to say thanks I will go craft now!
As a different sort of creator, thank you for your message here- I definitely needed to hear it right now.
Most relatable video ever. Appreciate you, dude
Hope everything went well in comic-con and that you get your well deserved rest. Best of luck and wishes mate and thanks for the video!
This is great. It's important we remember that what our "best" is changes day to day. Sometimes we did our best and it was an incredible day of building and making and working. Other days our best was to just get up and take care of ourselves. This guillotine is very cool, I hope you're resting up and feeling good!
Good stuff, really 🙂 It's nice you're keeping it real by showing some of the parts we barely get to see on UA-cam - the parts where inspiration slows down a bit. I'll always like your honesty and showing the whole creative process, 'warts and all'.
I really appreciate when you talk about the harder parts of creating and creativity.
I love watching this channel and love watching you build things. I've played D&D since 2ed and never used miniature but always loved to make/paint them and sell them to other players. More importantly I love to write, I did it every day, even if it was on completely useless things that had nothing to do with the project I was working on. It took me decades to start using my computer to write but I am dyslexic and the spellcheck eventually won me over. Many years into it and my computer crashed suddenly, right after I lost my backup drives in a babysitting accident. My stories were lost, I was so very broken. Novels were destroyed, despite attempts to retrieve them from the person who worked on my computer. To this day, years later I still find it hard to write anything more than a detailed character description, as the thought of getting back everything that was lost is so overwhelming. All that said, something here really clicked for me, thank you. I really needed to hear this. It may not cure me of my fear but it does remind me that it's okay to not always be working on the next big project.
This was perfect! Also got me to thinking about war machines(ballistas, catapults etc.) Great work
A fist full of balsa beams and some thin string, and the castle walls are in danger!
The build is excellent, and could be a great piece of city furniture or the focus of a game (rescue someone before they’re chopped…or chop them before they’re rescued😂).
And thank you for being so open about the burnout.
Been watching you for years and you’ve inspired some awesome tabletop builds that have created memories that my friends and I will always share. Thank you sir
People forget that most of us craft to need: we have a game we're running, we need an [X] for our game and so we try to build it. Our "job" is to run the game, the crafting is how we execute it. Crafting just to craft can be brutal because there is an entire universe of things to choose from with very little to distill down the options. This, and most crafting channels are at their best when the creators have a specific need in mind, but when the "job" has moved from building narratives then crafting to just building to build, burnout is a real danger.
A little less tired and a little more inspired is a great mantra. I enjoy your videos and love to see the realness of burnout and just creating for creating’s sake
Would love to see more like this every so often. I think some in the audience do need to reminder you're human but also the introspection and "look behind the scenes," I guess, is just nice to see in a way that makes a platform like UA-cam so great because it's not exactly possible within other media.
I know exactly where you are coming from. I have not been able to bring myself to do any hobby-related creativity for more than a year. I have moments of inspiration but those are quickly squashed by the prospect of all the work surrounding the setup before starting and cleanup afterwards. Everything just feels like work now.
Good on you for sharing your feelings on the topic AND for 'just building something'!
Heck yes! A little creating goes a long way, and getting going is the hardest part!
Videos and discussions like this are important. You're right, everyone who is a creative person goes through periods like this. What's important is how you get through it. The guilotine looks awesome, and even if you never look at it again, getting reps in and practicing is super important. What gets so many people down when they start a new hobby is that they aren't immediately great at it and the thing they made isn't as good as what they've seen on youtube, completely forgetting that they need to get the practice and reps in before it can look that good.
Rad video! Both the build and the chat. Thank you for sharing your creativity!
I started crafting terrain after watching your videos, keep it up !
I love the videos. You hit the nail on the head. As a commission artist I am constantly painting and building things that aren't mine. Sure I get to exchange those completed models for $$$ but it still feels draining. Sending something out as a piece of me. There is only so much I can give. You need to set time aside for yourself. Your own goals. Your own models! Building to build is a great way to "cleanse the pallet" so to speak. I made a goal to build something for myself once a month. While I haven't really been able to keep that tempo, I still find time to do things outside of modeling to retain sanity. I volunteer at a museum on the weekends as a nice change of pace from my day to day painting.
You're great! I don't usually write comments or hit the like button, but I love your videos and inspiration you give to the people who follow you! Thank you!
I appreciate this video. I’m not a content maker, I make for clients and I predominantly focus on horror but sometimes I know that I need to take a commission that is different. It helps deal with creative exhaustion and makes me want to get back to my horror stuff with fresh enthusiasm. As for your content? I simply enjoy seeing you work man, your thoughts, direction changes and problem solving. Thanks for this upload.
Since covid hit, I eagerly wait every Friday to see what your new video is about! I wish I could be more supportive because I truly love what you do, how you explain, your processes, your happy accidents, happy failures, how you solve problems, I like the fact that you are being you, Jeremy.
This is the job that you choose, it's scary in many aspects, but your awesome at it!
In my opinion, intelligent people understand that your intent is to always be 100% great in what you deliver to the public, but that is also normal to have down periods. Intelligent people would give you suggestions on how to overtake the down periods.
Having a blank paper in front of you is always scary. Doddle! Doodle everyday, even if you dont want, and I assure you something will come up. The importance of building a guillotine is exactly this concept.
I think you maybe need another theme, like you did in the past for the diverse way of building tiles or the modular buildings.
maybe more interaction with your followers? Maybe more collaborations? More kitties, definitely more kitties shots!
We love you Jeremy🍁
Love from Brazil. You made me go into DM'ing and making minis and crafting, even with less resources. Thank you for all the inspiration!
I feel this acutely. Love your work as always Jeremy. I hope you are able to bounce back after some rest and recharge those creative batteries.
You do such a great work and my kids and I love your work. It is importent to take a rest... free the mind and get ready with new inspire and some new motivation... and the importents part of all this is your joy and happyness with the project. Doesn´t matter how huge or unique.
Thank you for the content. You must look after yourself. Look forward to seeing you again when you have rested. Thanks
Just wanna say I appreciate the hell out of you. I have been struggling for a few weeks now to even start working on a build for my adventure, and I thought stepping away from it for a bit was the answer. I don't know why I didn't think about just building something random and completely unrelated to my adventure to get back into it but that sounds fun as hell. I'm hoping that maybe it will help me feel motivated to start creating again if I can get back to the fun stuff.
As a french viewer who never comment, let me do it for once and just thank you for your videos. I follow for quite some time and it seemed right to do it now. Both for the burnout and this lovely guillotine.
I just wanted to say, I love your channel, and videos like this are way more helpful for fellow creatives like myself (also from Canada; I live in Alberta) than we'd care to admit.
I'm currently working on a cookbook, and yeah, you have those wild ideas for it, but you know it's not very likely I'll ever make a second cookbook; it's just that much work both in terms of creative output and collaborative effort amongst everyone involved like photographers and publishing.
But that's just one single creative endeavor; I haven't painted anything in a year just because I am losing motivation. It'll come back for sure, but you know... it's hard to not lose the self esteem!
Excellent little video.
Thank you for your videos and for speaking so much sense. It is very needed these days.
Don't beat yourself up! My greatest artistic work is a paper mashae mountain that I finished with canned spray paint & cotton wool balls for snow..
However, years later I still love watching your amazing work!!
Awesome. This was exactly the reminder that I needed to hit the reset button on my own process right now. Love it!
Great video, great topic! You do inspire many “makers” or creators. You’ve been referred to in other videos which is awesome! Thank you!
Dude, don't be so hard on yourself! I loved it, and enjoyed observing your tools and techniques with them. Helpful and inspiring for a amateur creator like myself.
Cheers!
Makes sense and like you said, it's to be expected. Reminds me of Matt Colville in the TTRPG space and his response when people ask why there are fewer Running the Game videos these days. His response (roughly) "I did that, I've taught people how to run the game; new videos will come at the same cadence as ever, when I have a new idea." Personally, I've really enjoyed seeing your exploration into new projects--from the huge tower to making your own game to music production.
Awesome video, Jeremy! Thanks for the hobby inspo
Wonderful video. Thank you for your earnestness and lovely work.
Super important message, very slick little guillotine.
Nice little project and useful meditation on creativity and burnout. Excellent floofy cat bonus appearance too, please feature more floof in future!
Woah, I havent caught one of your videos in a while. Im loving the new grungy/punk editing style
I love your videos! You rock!!
Hey man, creative block or not you still made something and it still looks pretty cool (love the blood). You also did more than those people who just watch and comment but never build stuff. Love your stuff. Keep it up.
Yo! I wish more creative people (with a platform) spoke about that mental drain. I used to get it all the time. Almost after every project. Artist's block sucked. And when I was younger it was difficult to deal with. I'm much much better now but it would have been nice to have something like this to help walk me through it. Great video!
Just what I needed to hear about now. Thank you
L-i-n-o cuts, as a traditional artist. Glad to see you guys getting in to it. The matrix you are cutting is called linoleum...same thing as flooring.
Hell yeah man! I'm about to get started on a painting!
Love it. I also appreciate the candor. You're a real one.
I appreciate that
This video makes me think back on a comment I left, and by what you're saying, makes me think I came off wrong/didn't gwt my main point across.
I apologize, I'm direct, but that doesn't mean I'm always *clear.*
A while back, I left a comment about how I *hated* the multiple videos in a row of the same thing. (The flex foam road/river/etc.)
I apologize if it seemed like I was insulting you with my previous comments.
And I will say what I *meant* to get across.
You're absolutely right! You should be taking breaks, and it's absolutely okay to run out of ideas. Trying new things, taking breaks, and doing weird projects that are one off, are all parts of growing, and being in the hobby!
Dont pay any mind to those haters! You're doing great man! keep up the great creativity and passion :) happens to the best of us.
100% going to make one soon. Great suggestion.
Everyone needs and deserves rest and vacation time from their jobs, creative/artists included! I think some people don't realize how it can tax the mind to keep coming up with fresh content for everyeone else to mindlessly consume within comparative moments on a regular basis. Thanks for all the years of awesome content and hope you take good solid care of your brain's health!
This was a a lovely video and was a good kick in the butt to go make something, even if its kinda blah. Thanks
Nice! I did a gallows once, just because. I truly think little side projects are needed once in a while.
Creators are sponges. We absorb things around us and then wring it out to create stuff. Sometimes we dry out. Forcing yourself to squeeze out more is only going to yield mediocre results, but sometimes it makes the juices flow again! I love these kinds of videos btw. Keep showing us the human behind the content, because content is hollow when it is sanitized for easy consumption.
I totally get this feeling, I've been a TTRPGer for many many moons, writing most if not all of my modules, campaign settings and stuff, also i love drawing. Sometimes you sit and stare at the paper and you don't see anything, sometimes you stare at the paper and you cant get whats in your head on the paper and that's ok, sometimes you need a break a switch of gears or some new inspiation. Get some rest, kick your feet up heck give them a warm water and Epsom salt soak and breath ideas will come in time to quote Miracle Max from Princess Bride,"You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles." creating is the same you rush it it often comes out not as planned.
Always enjoying your craft and videos
👍🏾💪🏾
Dude this is still a sick project 👍👍
thanks for the inspiration to make some smaller set piece’s.
I guess it happens, but my rate of terrain building makes me think I’ll never run out of stuff I want to make. I’m making a ship at the moment, but I’m doing lots of stuff related to ocean themed terrain. Docks, coral, reefs, crates, and a shipwreck have all been done, but there are still half a dozen things JUST related to oceanic terrain that I have lined up. That’s not including dock houses or lighthouses.
Keep it up bro. Love it.
Such a good video :) Having «worked creatively» for almost 40 years (making a lego/meccano cable cart at age 10 counts right?) having those iterative periodes where you refine and iterate and develope variations of stuff until the next «big leap» is such a big part of the creative process as a whole, which most people *not* doing creative work are unaware of. The «big ideas» are few and and spaced out usually. Especially when somebody discovers somebody new, and all the stuff they see from that person is cool and great, and then after a while they see the iterations and go «nah, they’ve lost the knack for it now», totally misunderstanding how things work in the world of making stuff. Videos like this help rectify that, so thank you :)
Great video 👍👍
I feel you man. See you next week.
As someone who went through a 3 year work related burnout I’d add: “Listen to those around you and take leave early; don’t be a hero”. And if your organization offers mental health programs use them. I was very fortunate mine did and it helped immensely.
Not sure if you’ve heard of it or not but the miniature agnostic skirmish game called “1490 Doom” might be something right up your alley. Encourages kit bashing and terrain building in a relatively small space. It’s An alternative history apocalyptic setting in the 1490s where climbing high and not falling while avoiding a toxic atmosphere and clashing with rival war bands to secure objectives is the name of the game. I haven’t played yet but looks awesome and relatively new. The creators have a small UA-cam channel demoing the rules and setup and will pop up if you search 1490doom.
Trench Crusade now on kickstarter would be another I could see you coming up with great ideas for.
Thanks for the video.
For me it often works to force my self to do something where i do not need to be come up with ideas my self. Using a random generator or asking a friend for a tiny assignment. Like for writing describing a strange random scene or short vignette i did not choose the subject of.
thank you for showing the uninspired, tired, unmotivated, worn out, not excited, HUMAN side of the creative space/hobby. Sometimes just doing SOMETHING even if it is something youve done once or a hundred times before is enough to get you back into the swing of things. It stirs up something inside. Like jumper cables to a car battery that on any other day would know how to start the vehicle on its own. Sometimes we need to be reminded how difficult it can be to keep moving as creatives. It's normal but not glamorous so doesnt get shown off as much as the colorful, vivid, unique, bright, and enlightened things we make and share. Out of sight out of mind right? Maybe more creatives should show this side of whatever hobby they are part of. So those of us who are new, or not quite as talented or experienced dont feel like were alone when we too go through it. Making any hobby more approachable and understandable sometimes means showing the occasional bumps in the road. Thanks for being real and honest. It's also inspiring in its own right to see you put out something consistently even when you are stumped.
I am currently out of my creative arc. I have just been gaming. I still watch your videos waiting for the crafty creative spark to return.
Great video and even greater advice
When running out of ideas, branching out to different areas, perhaps less commonly related to the hobby, might be the perfect avenue which leads to expanding one's horizons. For instance, dark gothic themes seem to be more prevalent in the minds of creators involved in the more "grimdark" side of the hobby, while other creators focused more in dioramas don't suffer from tunnel vision as often. I found that out when I had to create a ballroom scene where a piano was a centerpiece. As I went about making one, my mind started branching out on its own into similar decorations for the scene. I understand it might not be your cup of tea but still, I hope this helps. Looking forward to more of your videos!
I don’t build small, I build large, for real people, but I relax watching you guys build small awesome builds.
Wish I could build as fast 😁
But yes, we all run out of ideas sometimes and we all need to get out of it.
Keep on going❤
OMG I love the old timey aesthetic in the video 😲
well said and good point! Keep doing you!
It came out great!