In the Artist's Studio with Court Jones
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| Author | Court Jones |
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| Genre | Article |
| Published | EF Issue 2015.3 |
Publication date | Summer 2015 |
| Pages | 24-25 |
| Website |
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This In the Artist's Studio segment is by Court Jones and found on pages 24-25 of the digital EF Issue 2015.2.
Article Transcript
My studio is pretty small— about 10 x 10 ft. But I’m lucky to be able to have a whole room in my house that I can use solely as a working studio. So I make the most of the space with carefully chosen furniture and equipment. The most important space-saving element is my most recent addition, the corner desk. Up until recently, I had one desk for my computer workstation and a separate drawing table. I found that I was just using my drawing table to stack things, and I did almost all of my drawing with a board leaned up against my computer desk, while looking at my monitor for reference. So I realized the best thing I could do to not only save space but to work more efficiently was to create one workstation that my computer, monitor and drawing board shared. And it needed to have a lot of storage to hide away supplies, because I try to keep things as neat and organized as I can. When there are papers, mail and other stuff just lying around, which is often the case, I feel like I can’t concentrate as well. The clutter affects my ability to relax and focus on work. Some artists might actually prefer the clutter. The key is to figure out how to set up your space in a way that works best for you.
THE WALLS When I got the desk a few months ago, I also did a major purge of all unnecessary supplies and books that I didn’t use anymore. I also took the opportunity to paint the walls a warm gray color. Many artists use a neutral middle gray on their studio walls because it’s a color and value that doesn’t overwhelm or influence the colors and values on a canvas when you’re working. I think it also has a soothing influence.
THE DRAWING AREA
Instead of having a large inclined drawing table, I
now use a wooden table easel set on my desk to prop
up my drawing board. I can place drawing boards of different
sizes on it or even set my Wacom Companion on
it. And there’s plenty of room on either side to set inking
and watercolor supplies.
THE LIGHTS
All of the task lights in my office are daylight
balanced CFLs. The 5500K temperature lights simulate
pure white daylight so that I can make color choices
more accurately.
THE BRUSHES
My favorite brushes for oil painting are Robert
Simmons Signet bristle brushes (flats and filberts), Rosemary
and Co. sable brushes, and the old Royal Langnickle
mongoose hair sables (although you can’t get them
anymore because of a ban on mongoose hair trading).
THE LIBRARY
I actually have about 200 art books in my library.
This is just the overflow part of my collection. Most of
them are in a bookcase on the other side of the room.
(Click on the virtual tour above to see the full library!) It’s
filled mostly with monographs of artists’ works from the
late 19th and early 20th centuries and several instruction
books. A few of my favorite teaching books are “Alla
Prima: Everything I Know About Painting” by Richard
Schmid, “Eternal Truths for Every Artist” by Harley
Brown and “An Artist Teaches” by David Leffel.
THE SECOND MONITOR
This has been one of the best things about my studio
remodel. It swivels so that I can point it left towards
my painting easel or to the right facing my drawing
board. It’s connected to my main PC, so I just drag my
photos over to the second screen when I need to. So
convenient!
THE ANATOMY AIDES
Studying anatomy of the face and body should
be a required part of every artist’s education. I sculpted
the head écorché myself to help me teach a class,
but I purchased the figure model from AnatomyTools.
com. I refer to them quite a bit when I have to invent
a figure for an illustration. My favorite book for learning
anatomy is “Human Anatomy for Artists” by Eliot
Goldfinger.
See Also
External Links
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