Peek inside my studio- day 1: What's on my desk

 

  Rather than the ubiquitous 10 paintings in 10 days, which I always enjoy seeing on other artists feeds I decided to share glimpses behind the scenes into my studio- Here is day one.

 

   On my desk I keep my most used items for fine or detailed work. I like to group them together into small tea glasses of which I have quite a few. (The remainder of the glasses are on a shelf near the samovar for vernissages and winter workshops).

 

 

 

Pencils- when I found that staedtler norris school pencils were my 'perfect' illustration pencil I ordered a box. I have stopped using a variety of pencils and usually just use these for everything. this might look like a lot but I go through a box about 2 to 3 times per year.

 

Brushes- fine brushes that create a fine point are hard to find yet essential to detail work. I keep mine together so that I always have them to hand when I need them. They are roughly sorted by medium since a fine brush used for acrylic tends to be larger than a fine watercolour brush. At least in my painting practice.  

 

 

Magnifying glass- For a long time I only had the magnifying 'card' that you can see peaking out from under the box labelled bees. I got it at the Albertina museum when visiting the Breugel exhibition. I found a little hand held magnifying glass at the second hand shop and added it to my equipment. It isn't the large magnifying lamp that many botanical artists use but it comes in handy when looking at detail. 

Granulating aquarelle colours- when I buy a new (and exciting) supply I often put it in front of me on the desk. These are not brand new but they are still new enough that I like to have them in sight for experimenting. 

 

 

Watercolours- there is usually at least one box of watercolours open and in use at any time.

Fineliners- I use fineliners for illustration and urban sketching. I have a variety of sizes and a few colours. Some are here on the desk, while there are others in my urban sketching pouch and backups in my drawing cabinet.

A variety of eraseres makes removing errors easier and fairly quick. And the large brushes are excellent for watercolour washes or ink. 

And the bees...?

 When I see a bee on the pavement I generally pick it up and bring it to a flower but if it is actually dead I bring it back to the studio to sketch. I enjoy seeing the different species and would one day like to do a series of bee illustration.

What do you keep on your desk? Do you like to have everything to hand or do you prefer a blank space full of possibilities?

Have you seen my instagram account @tea_in_the_studio ? If not have a look. I share my daily tea breaks as well as a little bit about what I am up to in the studio each day.

If you liked this you might also enjoy:

-How I organise my art supplies 

-The Pastel Plant

-Sketching kit for the US

-How to take and use reference photos

-Graphite powder

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