Show me how

[ntl]

And now, a photo of my present set up. I hope to use it at least once more.

 

[classic]

Classic, thanks! I empathize with you in that situation. If I didn’t have a place dedicated to it, it would be really hard for me to do it. So you place your paint between you and the paper. I’ve never tried that. What do you see as the advantages? I have also not inclined wc paper, I see man yof you do. Maybe I’ll give that a try. Thanks.

The Winsor & Newton 14-color box is a plastic box, quite small and lightweight. Not the smallest pocket set, however it is easy to take in a pocket or in a bag. This means that it can slip on the table and to prevent this I often have to keep it with my left hand as I manipulate the pencil with the right hand. This makes me placing it in the middle or slightly to the left and for this reason the paper can be placed at a slightly bigger distance. This makes that the box's mixing area (that is the cover of the box) is located just near the paper.

I see an advantage for those big ceramic or porcelain palettes: no only they are beautiful and luxury, they are also very stable. I see why professionals use them in their studios. I did try some ceramic plates too, that are rather stable and easy to clean. A problem can be that diluted watercolors are very fluid and need a flat, horizontal place to mix. Those plates aren't flat, so they can be better used with less fluid colors like gouache or acrylics. I looked in stores for any cheap ceramic rectangular piece. Not found anything of this kind, nevertheless if I go further with watercolors ( I try other colors too) I have to look for such a palette.

I have also not inclined wc paper

I 've read in the forums that horizontal paper is good for very wet techniques. On inclined paper the fluid color flows to the lower level and this can be used for special effects. I didn't reach that skill level myself, I just try to understand and master the "basics"! It is true that my knowledge and experience come mainly from gouache that I did practice in the past (my mother mastered gouache and oil pastels). I try to expand to other media like watercolors and oil colors, as I did never practice any of them. I'm intrigued about acrylics and oil pastels too but I think it is better to concentrate to fewer at this time, and leave other media for a couple of years later. For that, I have in mind to buy a table easel for paintings up to 50 or 60 cm. This means another object in an already charged house!!


I remember the studio of a cousin of mines. She's a professional artist. She uses an entire flat with several rooms as studio, exclusively for her art work. This was given to her by her parents. Two of these rooms are separated by a big door, and so they become a big room. She keeps all her material stored in drawers and closets. There is a kitchen and a bathroom where she can clean anything, or make coffee and tea, or even cook foods. She has big floor easels as well as a big table. She often works on free canvas non framed, that is easy to enroll and transport. She fixes them on the table or on the wall.

 

[Artyczar]

I'm currently working on an oil painting, but here is one shot I had from when I was working on some watercolors.

I work with both tube watercolors and pan, so I have a small palette to the left of me, and a large ceramic palette to the right. Sometimes I have a few extra ceramic palettes up top, depending. The paper is in front of me, usually taped down onto the table. I will use a Kleenex or two for dabbing on the painting, and a paper towel for dabbing the brushes on the right. I'm neat and tidy as you can see. (Please don't make fun of that.) My drafting table is very large and it's high up, so I often stand and don't use the stool. Kinda dumb of me because it makes me tired, but if the painting is small enough, I will use it.

When I paint in a different media, I have to put all this away for the most part and pull out the oils or whatever. Kinda annoying, but I don't have a huge "studio" to have different media stations like I once did.

Hope this helps?