My Art Workspace

I received a couple of questions about my art workspace. Although the questions approach the topic from slightly different directions, I decided to answer them together.

To get us started, here are the two questions.

I would like to know about your workspace, what it looks like, and how you organize it etc.

How do you keep your creative area organized? Mine is definitely NOT tidy!

My Art Workspace

To both readers, I must confess that I’m not sure my workspace is organized! I talked a little bit about how I organize my pencils in a previous post, so I’ll concentrate on my art workspaces.

In short, I keep things put away, but that’s out of necessity. We have cats, you see, and anything that’s left out is in danger of becoming a cat toy. Pencils disappear and turn up again in odd places. Mounting putty turns up covered with hair and tooth marks. Paper stumps end up in all sorts of places. You get the idea.

I’ve had to find ways to keep my supplies safely out of harm’s way and still have them easily accessible. I don’t mind telling you that has been a challenge!

The System I’ve Come Up With

Paper and Pencils

I keep infrequently used things in boxes or totes in my closet. The boxes and totes are at the front of the closet, usually snuggled up to my shoes or tucked on hooks behind the closet rods. This includes a box that’s big enough to hold several 9×12-inch and smaller pads and loose sheets, Mylar film, and other such items.

Colored pencils are in a tote bag and hanging on a wall.

Larger pieces of paper and some finished artwork are in a large, flat box at the back of the closet.

The things I use too often to keep in the closet are in their tins on an end table. Full sets of Caran d’Ache Pablo pencils and Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, and a tackle box filled with the lightfast Prismacolor colors are on this little stand.

The pencils and other tools I use most are either on or in the desk next to where I work. The things on the desk are in a fishing tackle box, so they’re out of reach of the cats while still being handy for me. At present, the colored pencils I keep here are non-lightfast Prismacolor colors, along with the small collection of Caran d’Ache Luminance, and Derwent Drawing pencils.

Artwork

I hang work-in-progress drawings on the walls or put them on an H-Frame easel. That is mostly to keep them out of reach of the cats, but it also allows me to see them at random times during the day. That can be good and bad. When it motivates me to take the next step with one of the drawings, it’s good.

When it discourages me because the drawing looks hopeless, that’s bad. Some of them have looked so hopeless for so long that they end up in the closet. Out of sight, out of mind.

By the way, the tray on the easel is an excellent place to tuck pencils, sketches, and even a couple of pieces of framed artwork.

Note the reference photo to the right. I keep that there so I can compare it to the drawing resting on the easel.

Where I Actually Work

The place where I do most of my artwork is a comfy chair in the living room. It’s within sight of the computer, so if I’m using a digital reference photo, I can display it on the computer and see it from my chair. Most of the time, though, I prefer working with a printed reference photo.

The chair is next to the desk where I keep my most often used pencils and other tools. It has a big pocket on each side so I can tuck things in those if I need to. The problem with that is that the cats sometimes like fishing in places like that, as well as in open drawers.

And that brings me full circle. If my workspace is organized, the organization is out of necessity and in defense of my pencils and other tools!

My Art Workspace

As I said at the beginning, I’m not sure any of this is highly organized. The best I can say is that I know where things are when I want them…most of the time.

This post is part of a series in which readers ask questions about my life as an artist, and I answer them. Most of the posts this month will concern one of these questions. If you have a question you’d like to ask, please ask it. It’s never too late to get your burning questions answered!

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