Welcome to My Studio (Watch Your Step)
Hi, there! It's me, Jane Font. I decided it's probably time to give you a little peek into my world and give you a brief tour of my ridiculously messy and cluttered studio!
For a long time, I've resisted showing my studio because it's not one of those beautiful, Instagram-ready spaces. I'm way too l̵̵a̵̵z̵̵y̵ focused on my art to be bothered to make sure everything is tidy and Instagram-sexy. I suspect that even the put together studios I see on online rarely look like that all the time. But also, isn't a messy studio much more interesting than a tidy one? Who knows what treasures are hiding in that heaping pile that I forgot to clean up before open studio night and is now embarrassing me because all of my visitors keep side-eyeing it like it might attack (it actually might).
So, c'mon in, but watch your step. Hardhats aren't required (but they're not a bad idea, either).
In today's studio tour, I'll be showing you my acrylic painting setup. Mostly because that's my primary medium and it takes up the most space. But also because my watercolor and oil setups look like they were jettisoned from a t-shirt cannon. If you are of the OCD persuasion, it's best that you leave now. You've been warned...
Let's just jump right into my workstation. I use a standing tool chest with drawers and it's super convenient! I have 8 drawers with which to hide ̵a̵̵l̵̵l̵ ̵o̵̵f̵ ... ̵s̵̵o̵̵m̵̵e̵ ̵o̵̵f̵ ... a little bit of my mess. Also, as you can see, I keep my wet palette in the top drawer. It works out well because my palette is right next to me as I paint so I don't have to strain to reach or see it. This also frees up the top of my workstation for all of my necessary clutter!
Next we have the top of my devastatingly tidy workstation.
You can see my water jars on the left. I always keep two: one to wash, one to rinse.
My assortment of mediums and paints that I absolutely can't live without. It's not worth it to me to put them away since I use them in almost every single painting I do.
Clearly every paintbrush on the planet is accounted for. (Just kidding! One of the drawers is full of what I refer to as my "junk brushes".)
If you look reeeeeeeeeeal close, you can see the huge pile of ash from my incense burner. I tried to keep that tidy and cleaned up for awhile, but, like I said, I'm too l̵̵a̵̵z̵̵y̵ focused on creating and can't be bothered.
Next to my workstation I have my easel. It's a lovely standing easel my mom bought me as a studio-warming gift (thanks, Ma!). I absolutely have to stand to paint. I find if I sit, pretty soon my face is practically mashed up against the canvas and I get way too micro-focused on every little brushstroke. When I stand, I can be a full arm's length away, and I can walk away every couple of minutes to take in the whole view. If you're a sitter, I highly recommend standing if you're able.
The masonite board with clamps I use mostly for oil painting, so I'll go into more detail on that in a later post. When I'm doing acrylic painting, I sometimes leave the board on there just for a little bit of stability.
The weird black snake-thing on the right is a phone holder. I use it so I can see an image I might be working off of. I also listen to podcasts or audiobooks while I work, so it's just nice to have my phone close. It also keeps it from being swallowed up on my workstation top.
On the wall I have some inspirational quotes, concept paintings, as well as the proverbial "Fly on the Wall". You can tell by the look in his eyes, that guy has seen some shit...
Ok... ok... what to show you next? Oh, hang on, I gotta push ...ugh... the massive pile ...hmmmph... of abandoned canvases aside so I can show you...
... My paint organization area! Are you shocked that it's actually pretty well organized? If you're not, you don't know me well at all. I'm surprised it's organized! And, no, I didn't organize it before I took the photo. One of my MANY skills is being randomly OCD about organizing something that sits right next to a warzone.
I keep my paint organized by opacity. With the way I paint, it's important for me to know which colors are opaque and which ones are transparent/translucent. So, on the left we have my transparent/translucent colors, and on the right we have my opaque colors.
And now, for the coup de grace to this tour, the full view!
And that's about it for today. I'm working on blogging a little bit more because I'd REALLY like to break away from social media a little bit. You can help me in my goal by subscribing to my blog! Since this is all still pretty new to me, I don't know exactly what you'll see. Maybe more tours. Possibly some tips and tricks. Hopefully some insight into paintings I complete. For sure info on workshops and other events.
See you next time!