A rare view of my studio - clean, tidy, with amazingly empty surfaces!
Above, my computer desk, printer, paper supply cabinet, tool drawers, etc.
Below, my drawing table in the rare state of emptiness. I have a piece of felt-backed table covering on it since it's bare wood with metal and plastic additions. I love my new lamp - it's far more secure than any I've had previously, can twist and turn different directions, and has one of those special "daylight" bulbs in it, making it easier to maintain the appropriate colors when working there. Color looks quite different in different lighting, of course. But I prefer daylight for my bird portraits and the majority of my other work, as well.
Below, a 28"w x 6' table that I use when I am painting with acrylics, or as a drying space for watercolors, since I generally work on 3 or more watercolor paintings at a time. Quite often, I need to allow certain areas of a watercolor painting to dry before I can proceed to the next step in the painting. Thus working on several paintings at once makes it easier for me to keep busy while something requires I stop working on it!
And finally, another view of my desk - you can see over my desk an opening to the front entryway. That opening allows for the sunshine from my studio to lighten up the entry - especially when the front door is closed in the winter season. During the remaining seasons, our front door is generally open to allow the light into the entryway and the dining room. I need lots of light - that's the major reason we chose this particular unit in our townhouse development. My studio is lit from the east and the south, as well as seasonally allowing the sunset from the southwest to illuminate the room. It is said that north light is the best lighting for artist's studios - and that may be true from the perspective on eliminating direct sunlight and shadow areas from one's workspace. I do have to dodge the intense sunlight occasionally, but in Central Pennsylvania, the cloud cover usually takes care of any "over-lighting" that might occur!
All this cleanliness is a result of my desire to switch mediums - from acryic painting to watercolor painting. It's amazing to me just how many supplies come with each medium! Acrylic painting requires tubes and tubes of paint, a pile of different kinds of brushes, various kinds of palettes - depending upon how long the paint can stay wet on a palette and be used multiple days (I like food storage containers the best - they are free and mostly air tight. But they do take up a lot of storage space when one is collecting them for future use.)
So now it's on to bringing out my watercolor paints, papers, brushes, sponges and more. I'm excited to consider just how I will approach watercolor painting after having ignored it for so many years. Yes, I've had occasional forays into wc painting, but never stayed with it long enough to develop a new style appropriate for this new time in my life.
We shall see what we shall see. I expect it will take some time to feel confident in using this medium - it is so completely different that painting in acrylics! In acrylic painting, one generally works from dark to light. In watercolors, one must preserve the whites of the paper. That can be accomplished with a product similar to rubber cement that can be easily removed once the painting is completed, leaving the white of the paper untouched by paint. Alternately, the "purists" prefer to work around the white areas, leaving them totally untouched by anything - are more rigorous process, to be sure.
Stay tuned to see what happens in the studio over the next few weeks. I suspect I am more anxious about this than any of you!
No comments:
Post a Comment