Since moving to a new house back in June, my studio has been a mess. I’ve rearranged it countless times, and I haven’t been able to get it to be a pleasant and easy place to work. This week I decided to spend a bit of time rearranging again to see if I could find a layout that would work better for me. This is what I’ve come up with so far.
This new studio space is quite a bit smaller than my last one. That smallness by itself is an issue, but the door, closet, baseboard heater, and window further restrict the already small amount of useable space. The room is also used as storage and is frequently messy in a catch-all sort of way. For example: a bag of clothes destined for the thrift store, a stack of random papers I haven’t dealt with yet, boxes of seasonal decorations, and kid craft supplies all get dumped in this room. For this picture, I actually moved some of those things just out of view. The room is a mess, trust me.
My work surface is also very different from the folding table I used before. It is made up of two drawer cabinets topped with a board on each side. It initially had a door across the top, but it was both too tall for a chair and too short for a counter height stool, so I came up with the current set up with my larger easel between the drawers. This also solves the problem of where to put the easel since there was no space anywhere else.
My favorite thing that has carried over from my previous studio is my hanging light. It’s a soft box for photography with a daylight bulb. Having a really bright balanced light has really helped me be consistent in my color mixing. I used to have the problem of painting too warm, too cool, too light, or too dark because I didn’t have a consistent light source. Once I started using my current light, those issues I was having at once immediately improved and the fact that they were something I had been struggling with became apparent.
I can’t say why, but it just hadn’t occurred to me that my paintings were so effected by the light I paint in. When I was frustrated before, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Obviously I was still learning basic painting, but my efforts were definitely being made more difficult without my even realizing it. Mixing colors is hard enough. My advice is to make things easier on yourself and make an investment in good lighting and save yourself the frustration.
This space is far from finished. Eventually, I would like to include some plants and get some of my art up on the walls. Most of it is still boxed up from the big move.
Ah yes – Studio lighting is VERY important! I totally agree – your new studio looks fresh and clean, compared to my rather chaotic and increasingly cluttered space, Amber! Takes a while to settle in and get used to a new set up though, so, best wishes with that! 🙂
Thank you. It is amazing that with all of the art classes I’ve taken, I don’t think a single one mentioned the importance of good consistent lighting. It can be really hard to stay on top of the clutter. More often than not I have to clean before I have space to paint.