Hello and welcome to the studio. I recently gave things in here a little tidy so I thought
I’d share the space and how I store my art supplies. I will try to leave info below about
as many things as I can but to begin with, we’re just starting with an overview of the
room so you can get an idea of the space. And I’d just like to thank Skillshare for
sponsoring this video, but more on that later. For now, we’re beginning at the desk which I
like to keep pretty clear. The desktop itself is a kitchen countertop from Ikea
which I’ve just decorated with these dried flowers. The only other thing on my desk is
my computer. This is a Microsoft Surface Studio 2 and it was sent to me by Intel a while back.
I really don’t know what I did before I had this, as well as tackling my day-to-day work tasks,
it has this really nifty tilt function which essentially turns it into a tablet and makes
digitally editing artwork so, so seamless. My chair is just a standard desk chair from
Wayfair, but I’ve thrown this blanket over it to make it fit a bit nicer in the room,
and down on this trestle holding up the desk, I have my office printer- the Deskjet 2710- I don’t
use this for art prints, just day-to-day paperwork and stuff. Over on the other side of the desk,
this trestle holds my planner and the notebooks and sketchbooks that I use pretty much every day.
I like to have them within reach. And then behind those is a basket and a tin where I keep wires
and electrical things like chargers, speakers, headphones that I also like to have to hand.
Over behind me and still very much within reach is this Alex drawer from Ikea that holds all
the art supplies I use most regularly, maily up here at the top. Things like my most-used tubes
of gouache, my day-to-day pens and pencils, tape, erasers, cutting and sticking supplies,
as well as some highlighters, felt-tips and a couple of watercolour palettes.
Under that is a more varied selection of pens. Black brush pens and chisel-tips and various
nib sizes, different coloured fineliners and biros, a selection of pencils, and mechanical
and coloured pencils too. Plus some office supplies like punches and staplers and pins
which I won’t pick up… if you remember my 2018 Art Supply Storage video, you’ll understand.
That was tragic. I can’t tell you how many times I pricked myself cleaning that up.
Further down one, is a bit of a junk drawer where I keep excess artwork and some coloured pencils
and further still is the drawer that keeps my scanner, lightbox and a couple of paper trimmers,
all slim enough to fit in here together which is really convenient and so handy right by my desk.
My two favourite drawers are at the bottom. First the gouache drawer where I keep all the gouache
tubes I have, sorted with these drawer dividers into similar colours. They’re mainly Holbein
in here with a few extra brands thrown in. And tucked at the back are extra paint brushes
that I use as spares or for bigger projects. Underneath that is the Acryla Gouache drawer.
I honestly don’t use these that often but they’re great to have when I need a particular
colour and the full set fits so perfectly in this drawer. It’s just really satisfying.
Up above, is this tilt-desk where I keep a spare mixing palette and a
pouch of frequently-used brushes, and over that is my slightly sad looking Hoya who
I don’t think is getting enough light in here. Here’s the pomegranate painting I did
specifically for this space which you can see in my Studio Decorating Video
and then along these ledges are a few nice decorative pieces, some vintage books and prints
and dried flowers with this parakeet feather from my mum's garden and this pressed fern.
A sand timer, more dried flowers and a leaf painting of mine plus some prints from Autumn
Chiu. Then this, one of my oldest and most loved antique books, plus some palette knives.
More vintage and antique books down here, if you want to know more about these,
I talk through every single one that I own, how old they are, where I got them and why I have them
in the first place, in a bonus video on Patreon and I also read some passages from them too.
Next to that is this easel that was my mum's way back in the day and on that I
hang my apron and overalls as well as this pothos painting I did in the Studio Decoration video.
Now before we move onto the next portion of the room, let’s talk about today’s sponsor.
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And we’re back in the room. These shelves are from Ikea. In the cupboard here I keep my cameras,
lenses and filming supplies. Things like spare batteries, memory cards, microphones,
all the cords and things I need, really nicely organised in these containers,
I’ll try and link something similar below. On the next shelf in here I have
more camera-related stuff, some lights, the tech I used while I was streaming on
Patreon back in the day, and my GoPro and accessories for that. In this other box,
I keep everything related to instant photos; so my Instax camera and film for that as well as a
couple of photo printers like this HP Sprocket which I believe was also a gift from Intel.
Down at the bottom here is just my ring light and a camera bag with a bit more extra junk.
On top of that, I have a few books that I like to go to for reference or inspiration
and then there's this lovely porcelain paint palette and this box which holds
miscellaneous stationery supplies. So if we look inside there,
you will see I've got things like thin washi tape and the regular size washi tape,
and a few nice patterned ones that people have sent me over time. There are these really nice
Japanese-style ones from stationerypal and those come in all different sizes, you can see these
big ones as well have these really beautiful designs on. Then there’s regular Sellotape and
then like note tabs and of different sizes of sticky notes- all different sizes and
patterns- random sticky bits like photo corners in there extra, some ribbon and some paper clips.
Moving on up there are a few more books that I use for inspiration and for reference and this box
labelled ‘ephemera’ where I keep all the random bits and bobs that I think would be nice to stick
in my sketchbook or journal that I’ve collected over time. Some nice, patterned paper, different
memories and textures and tokens of life, and stickers that I've bought, photos that I've
printed and even some real actual antique pieces of paper, old letters and playing cards
and things. In this box off to the side are loose stickers and individual stickers- some that I’ve
bought and many that have been sent to me, and tucked away behind that are some sticker sheets.
In this box next to it labelled ‘sketchbooks’, I actually keep my paint water. I’m constantly
cycling new water in and out, so some is dirty, some is clean, the rags I use
with just gouache and watercolour not oils, but I do keep my oil solvents in there too.
Up the pothos here and we have some of my sketchbooks and pads and just
some larger pieces of paper in this plate rack organiser. And up above that in a fruit bowl,
I’ve just got a few excess books that didn’t really fit with the rest.
Over to the other side of those shelves now, we've got this lovely ZZ plant that sits on these
Dover Pictorial reference books that are great for pattern design. Then there’s this basket of
different rolls of paper. Some coloured, some contact paper, some of it is even wallpaper.
Down below that, I have my Russian dolls, a lovely book by JAW Cooper called Viscera,
and a couple more books that are the type that you read from a page a day.
In these containers down below that are from different car boot sales, are a few
more watercolour tubes that I don't use too often
and then in here, outside of the general population of the other gouache drawer,
I have all of my Arteza gouache paint that tend to go to when I want a very specific colour.
Going down again, we have this other box of more miscellaneous things; my label maker that's been
used to label all of these boxes, this big tub of white gesso which is actually what I was trying to
open on a cut my hand there- never use a razor blade to try to pry something open, who knew?-
I've got some pipettes and water-brushes, some tape, some twine, a couple of different types of
fixative for setting different media. Got my PVA glue and some masking fluid in that box also. And
this box I labeled Prime, Mask and Fix since that seems to sum it’s contents up the most concisely.
I've got a few more books here; I just thought the colours of them
worked well together and they have a loose theme of creativity amongst them.
Down under that are a few canvases I really need to crack on and use and in
that cupboard underneath are a load of books and notebooks. Some are finished,
some are in progress and some are completely empty- I need to get back to that project of
feeling all my unfinished sketchbooks- but I can’t stop buying new ones. Underneath all that,
we have yet more art supplies all labelled in these different containers.
So up at the top, just thrown in their loosely, I have a couple of watercolour palettes,
a few poster colour pots that I use if I'm doing a larger painting, and
this palette that I’ve apparently only used once.
And then I have loose watercolour pans here, loads of lovely handmade watercolours- so special-
and all of my oil painting supplies that again don't use too often but it's nice to have them
all here, they will last, as well as some brushes that I've saved specifically for oil painting.
In this box, I have this glass pen that a subscriber gifted to me along with this
ink- this room is slanted along with the rest of our flat so things tend to roll away a lot on
this desk no matter how I’ve tried to level it- but I do have other types of ink and here. You
might remember this one in particular if you've been with me a long, long time.
And just a couple of calligraphy supplies as well. On to the Acrylics. Different brands and also
you just have to have a massive tub of opaque, white acrylic paint, always comes in handy.
Then I store all my paper-ish supplies in these folders. I first have just a general paper
section, this is where I keep my printer paper of different qualities as well as some kraft paper
and like sticky photo paper just stuff that I will generally print things on from home. And
then sorted into these plastic pockets are some more potential bits to stick in my journal or
sketchbook. So this is all scraps and memories; different photos and receipts and business cards
and things that would just be nice to stick into my sketchbook overtime to recall certain things.
Stuff that people have included in orders, tickets and postcards and magazine pages and book pages,
patterns and things I think would look nice stuck on a page, plus a few of my pieces of
work that I've done for Patreon as well. Then in the coloured and textured paper folder…
well that’s quite self-explanatory. Just pieces of paper that are different colours and textures.
Then I’ve got loads of letters here and this isn't even all of the letters that I've ever been sent
by you guys but this is just like the most recent selection and the same thing here with this art
folder, art that you guys have sent me, some art of my own, and I keep this to hand for
hanging up in my house whenever I want to do some decorating or to stick in my sketchbook.
Back to the final shelf in that cupboard, are just a couple more books and some larger
sketchbooks and also some of those tiny sketchpads I love- I really need to think of something to do
in these little ones. Let me know if there's anything you want to see painted in miniature.
We’re moving on to the gallery wall now. This is what I get to look at all day
while I'm sitting at my desk; a selection of prints by artists that I love. And if you want
to know more about them you can check out my studio decoration video where I talk through
choosing these but we have Liz V. Art, Matt Forsythe, Jenna Vincent, Lilly Pfaff,
Veera Foorsman and Leigh Ellexson are all up there and it's just lovely to look at while I'm working.
And what a lovely way to bring us back to where we started. Thank you so much for joining me in here
today. I hope you enjoyed having a little poke around and I will see you soon in the next video.