My way of storing pencils I am using!

[Jazz]

I thought this might be useful to other artists, although I am sure we all have our own ways of making it easier on ourselves :) .

What I have is a little plastic red tray which Jay has fixed onto the metal sliding section on the bottom of my drawing table. I have one of those drafting tables from an office, which has those metal wires etc for working the metal bar at the bottom. Anyway I will show you a picture so you can see what I mean.

The red tray fits on my metal bar and can slide along it from left to right so if you find it easier and you have one of these tables you can have it on the opposite side from where I have it. Of course if you dont have one of these tables you could still use the polystyrene idea in a tray sat on a table.

I cut out a shape in Polystyrene -you know the kind that electrical equipment is packed with, it normally surrounds it in the box to hold it in place and protect it from bangs and bumps. Anyway, I used a normal kitchen knife, once I had marked it out to cut it to the shape I needed.

I then pressed it down into my tray and with an old pencil but with a point (although you can do it without a point), I twisted down into the polystyrene at about half inch intervals to create holes to hold whatever pencils I am currently using on my work. My tray holds 27 pencils with an extra whole for my blender pencil.

The good thing about it is you can push down flat packets at the back, like my blu-tac packet and a packet of graphite pencils.

You could even cut a shape into it to fit a hand held sharpener or your eraser.

Anyway here are the photo's of my set up -

I hope some of what I said made sense? :o

[Greg]

Nice set up you've got there Ali. Mine is still the kitchen table. Don't even have a drawing board. I keep my pencils in a tupperware carrying thingy.

[Norma69]

Hey Ali - Everything is moving so fast around here haven't got time to catch up before I'm behind! :annoyed: Thanks for sharing your space and ideas - I'm with Bob - I'm set up on the kitchen cupboard - but I have a nice view of the ocean from here - but don't see my space getting any bigger in the near future :D

BTW just love your banner - Now get theose leaves done so they can be added

Norma

[KarenCardinal]

Hey Ali!

Hope you're having a great day today! Getting ready for your honey to come over tonight... ;)

I really like your pencil box! Very Clever! :D

Don't feel bad those of you who still use the kitchen table... that's where I draw too. There's not a square inch in this house for anything else to be put. It works alright for me though. I only use 8 or 9 pencils on a drawing, so I usually just keep the ones I'm using in a ziplock bag with my handitack and a figernail file (for keeping the pencil sharp) and a little brush (for keeping the "crumbs" off). I set up with my paper, my sketches, my baggie, my pencil sharpener and a big cup of coffee and I'm good to go for several hours... until someone decides they actually want to sit down to eat. ;)

Someday I'll have an actual studio... but 'till then, I'm happy that I've got somewhere to go.

I'd love to see everyone elses set ups too.
I know some of you out there (like Ali) have come up with some really clever ways to store your pencils or create a space. I wanna see! :D

[Jazz]

Thanks Guys :) ,


Greg -I hear ya! I know how lucky I am to have a whole room for my computer and drawing table. The professional table is thanks to my fiance, he heard of one going to be thrown out from an office across from his building and went over there to find several. he had to pay and to this day he wont tell me how much it cost him :annoyed: :D .

Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do my art if it wasn't for having this drawing board. Because of my back injury I can't sit in my chair or at a table and work because the bending over your work ie -straining your neck would badly affect my back. PLUS another important point is I dont have a kitchen table (My kitchen is too small) and I dont have a diningroom so no table there either ;) . So I am in my spare bedroom and it is perfect as it gets the morning sun but doesn't get the afternoon glare.

You could still use my idea for a table top container.

Norma -Oh I am jealous, I would swap you the room and drawing table for that view, I adore the ocean and am drawn too it. I live several hours away from the nearest beach and ocean. Thanks, Karen designed and put it together for me, I know I can't wait to add my leaves to my banner. I feel so silly only having two cp pieces to my name -I work so darn slow!


Karen -It is Saturday morning now and Jay (hopefully) is sound asleep in the next room, he has had a very busy week and so I would like it if he managed to sleep in, we'll see :) .

Thanks for the comment re my set up -I know how extremely lucky I am, but as I explained further up, if I didn't have this table I wouldn't be able to do my art :( because of my back injury. If I had to lean over a table and bend my neck I would work even less on my art.

PLUS lets face it I would gladly give up this spare bedroom for a child, which is why most of you dont have your own space because you have children. I would sqeeze myself into the livingroom if it meant this room could be a nursery :(

Anyway, on a lighter note -thank you again for my banner, I have had mane remarks about it all highly favourable :D . I look forward to being able to add more artworks to it, or more likely cheekly asking you if you could do it for me, seeing as i am such a dufus with computers :blushing:

Karen -I just love your avatar -is that what colour your hair is right now? I love it!!

Huge hugs guys,


[B]ALI

[Denise]

Ali- I am very slow and am just working on my third cp, so I know how you feel! :(

My space is currently a drawing table behind my sofa. I have a great chair from the office supply that's very comfortable and an ott light clipped to the table. My table is next to a bank of windows that stretches the length of my living room, so I have really good light. When my children have permanently flown the coop, I will inherit one of their rooms for my studio. Unfortunately the lighting is terrible in the one I think I'm going to end up with. The one room w/ good light was prewired for my husband's computer stuff so I don't have much chance of him being benevolent and turning it over to me ;) . At Christmas time the LR is too crowded w/ my table but I have adequate room in my bedroom for it, only thing is I don't do much work when it's in there. I've just started painting again and hubby bought me an easel for Valentine's day. Not sure where it's home will be but for now it's next to my table. I'll try to take some pics and post them. I currently have all my pencils on the floor in my bedroom in color piles sorted neatly. I'm gonna build a taboret pretty soon like one that LeAnne made and displayed on "the other place". Right now I have a rolling stack of plastic drawers for "stuff" and my table has 3 small drawers, good for electric eraser, small drafting brush, notepad,etc. Pencils I'm currently using are kept in a organizer/carry case made for pencils. It holds 96 and is quite handy :)

Denise

[KarenCardinal]

Denise, your set up sounds great! It's so much fun to draw when you can be around the family... although if I'm in the zone, I'd rather they were out of the house. ;)

I'm looking forward to your pictures. Don't forget to take some of your taboret when you get it built. :D

Ali, I have one of those "bad back" chairs (I don't know what they're called). You sit forward in it and lean on your knees. I also wear a back brace when I draw or work on the 'puter. Between those two, I really can sit for extended periods of time. ...although I do have to do extra streaches when I get back up. ;)

Thanks for noticing the new avitar! That's how I had my hair last year. I used a red that didn't naturally occure in nature and yellow (not blonde but yellow) streaks in it. Not as cool as LeAnne's pink... but still fun. :D
My profile pic is what I look like now. My hair's longer, much much messier and an almost believable red color. I think next year I want to do blond with red and purple streaks. ;)

btw: I am looking forward to adding your leaves to your banner whenever you are ready! :D

[Brenda]

Snowflake says, Hello!
http://okrid.org/images/snowflake.jpg

Snowflake is a frequent visitor to my work area. My husband and I recently built an addition to our house. It's not finished but we're using it like it is. Anyway, we built a large cabinet just to the side of our new family room. The cabinet is for my supplies. I have a north facing window right where I like to draw. I can sit there and be with my family but still be able to set my projects up and not have to worry about having to put it away each time.

Well, except for the times Snowflake wants to sleep in my pencils. Then we have problems.

http://okrid.org/images/visitor.jpg

[caulfield]

Great info here!

Brenda - that is an amazing photo of your cat! I hope you put it in the reference library when it gets started (a not so subtle hint :) )

Nicole

[Brenda]

Snowflake is a sweetie. She's always looking for a lap. She's all white and her eyes are different colors - just like you see them.

Nicole, feel free to have at this. I have the large file if you want it. Just let me know and I will send it to you.

I think it's going to be my next project.

[Nancy]

I like your pencil box! I'm not sure it would work for me with my cp's, but it might work with other items. I'll have to give it a try.

Here is my storage system (pic at bottom). I like it. The only thing the cp case doesn't hold is the doubles (back up cp's for when I wear one down too far to use anymore). I store those in the red box, along with the little nubs of pencils that I can still get some use out of. I have two boxes of graphite pencils which I keep in their cases, and converted canvas pencil holder for my brushes, and I use foamboard that I tape my ref pics next to my WIP so I work side by side. I haven't made any really big paintings yet, so this is an easy way for me to paint. Right now I have to work on my dining/living room table and it's real easy to clear off if I have my work on foamboards. I also throw a towel over my WIP's when I'm not working on them.

The cp case and the red plastic case work great for me because we're constantly traveling back & forth to Shiloh, a 3 1/2 hour drive one way. I usually paint my pics while my hubby drives, so I a need portable means of storing my supplies.

It's interesting and informative to see how everyone stores their art stuff, and what their work area is like. I'd love to have an area with a great view and lots of sunlight. Hopefully soon........ :rolleyes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Npingree/MyArtSpace4-Small.jpg

[Brenda]

Oooh, look at all those pencils! Great way of storing them, too.

You work on your drawings while your husband drives? How do you keep your color even? Maybe your roads are better than ours in Oklahoma. Ours are always full of potholes and dips.

[Nancy]

Well, it's mostly highway, which is, for the most part, smooth. I don't work on fine details in the car, that's for sure! I learned that the hard way. Usually he'll warn me if we come to a bump by announcing it far enough ahead so I can stop til we pass it. If he doesn't, he gets a very ugly look from me with daggers in my eyes. I hate wasting time and I can't just sit for 3 1/2 hours doing nothing. If I didn't paint, I'd just fall asleep. I get so much done while traveling because I can focus, uninterrupted, on my work. :D

[Jazz]

Nancy - I couldn't work like you do in the car -I would throw up all over my artwork and pencils :eek: :D I get terrible motion sickness and even looking down for a second makes me feel dizzy. I would love to be able to read a book or sketch in the car but even motion sickness tablets dont work that well, I envy you that :) .

Your stuff is all beautifully organised but I guess it has to be if you have to travel with it :) Good for you!

karen - I know the chair you mean and I can't think of its name either, LOL. I might look into getting a back brace to work in, it might help me work for longer on my art, as I still have to lean forward some and stand up sometimes to reach the uppermost sections of the artwork. I have what is known as an ergonomically designed chair, I got it through a disabled student grant when I was at University. A good job too because if I had to buy one if these it would cost approx 400 pounds :eek: . Anyway, when I got it a guy came to my home and set it up for me personally, there are zips in the back which when opened show levers etc that are adjusted so the back of the chair is fitted to the curve of my back only. It has three levers under the chair as well, one of which does what all office chairs has and that is to lower and higher the height of the chair, another enables me to tilt the chair either forwards or backwards and the third one frankly I can't figure out, LOL :confused:

LOL -thanks for that karen -not like I was hinting or anything, hehehehe! Seriously though -I hope you dont mind adding my leaf piece when its done, I wasn't really being serious -I would have found a way to do it myself, as I feel you have already done more than enough for me :) But I do so appreciate your generosity, thank you honey, really :)


Brenda - Snowflake is gorgeous, her coat is so beautiful, I cant get over how white she is! :eek: and I just love her two different eye colours and each colour is so beautiful! :) That is wonderful that your set up enables you to still be with your family, it sounds perfect for you.

Denise - Us slowcoaches must stick together :D that is wonderful that you got an easel, I have never tried one of those -my mum has one but never uses it but she wont give it to me because it was a xmas present from my dad and brother. It is one of those wooden ones with a place that holds about 24 tubes of watercolour paint and a couple of brushes, all the necessities for watercolouring. She got the lot in one present! :eek: Oh and books on how to watercolour and xtra watercolours too, she is sooo.. spoilt, LOL what makes me sick is that she has never used it!!! :eek: I can't be too hard on her though , when they bought her two xtra boxes of tubes of paint they hadn't realised that they were duplicates, so when my dad wasn't looking she gave me one of them :D I haven't had the courage to use them yet, I have stuck to my winsor and newton small travel set::sheepish look :o

Yes, definitely post piccies when you do the taboret, I am so envious of you having all that beautiful light. My drawing table is set up at a right angle to my window but it seems i never get enough light, plus it is ground floor and I dont have a net so if I had the curtains open, everyone and their mother would be able to see in and nose at what I am doing, wouldn't be able to pick my nose or anything!!! Outrageous!! :D ROFL

I will take some more shots of my study so you all can see my full set up, I will wait till I get round to tidying it up first though :o . Oh and you must bare in mind that the wallpaper was put up by the previous occupants and is from the sixities, although it isn't as bad as when the bathroom was in its original decoration -would you believe bright orange and brown wallpaper :eek: YUCK! I am glad to report that it is now in a wonderful bright shade of Turquoise/aqua now and is my favourite room of the flat. Oh darn! I am rambling again.......sorry folks! :o


Huge hugs to all you inventive ppl,


ALI

[sky]

this is a fun thread!

The way i have my pencils stored are in a self made constuction. I collected toilet holders and pasted them on a board, and then added first a few layers of gesso and finished it off with a few layers of gold spray paint.

also dogfood cups are very handy (make sure you clean them first)

at the moment, since there are so many colors to choose from, i just take a few colors in one or two cups and then I working with these only. To many colors to choose from i find confusing.

[christine]

((((Brenda))))) Good to see you, that cat is amazing -- the eyes just blow me away. I thought maybe it was the light until I read your next post. Uhm, wondering why we haven't seen cp's done of that amazing critter. Does that baby have your time?!? Lol.

[Granny]

Yes, that cat's eyes are something to behold! She must be half Siamese and--in this case--you can see which half!

Pencil storage is something I have definitely not yet worked out. The Prismas I use, when I'm working in my studio, I keep in old coffee mugs and canning jars, Loosely grouped by color. I bundle them up with rubber bands to fit them in compartments of the travel toiletry bag I use in the field. My other types are in tins, rolls, bundles, whatever. I have a fairly large set of Cc'A Supras, the original small set in its tin, the rest in a roll-up holder. My Lyras, likewise have the original tin plus rubber-banded bundles of added ones. Same with my pastel pencils. When I'm working, whatever I'm working with tends to just get arrayed out flat on the table next to me. I appreciate seeing the solutions others have developed and maybe I'll eventually find something that suits me.

[Toni]

((((Brenda))))) Good to see you, that cat is amazing -- the eyes just blow me away. I thought maybe it was the light until I read your next post. Uhm, wondering why we haven't seen cp's done of that amazing critter. Does that baby have your time?!? Lol.

Brenda is still away christine, this is a thread from the deep dark dungeon! ;)

It's good that these helpful threads see the light of day every once in a while. Especially when we have so many new members, and so many new ideas to add to it!

:D

[Jan]

Thanks for all the interesting ideas!!! I like 'em all. :)

I found a ribbon box at Wal-mart the other day (where else do I ever go?) and thought it'd work wonderfully for storing pencils, since it had little narrow compartments and I always sharpen three or four of one color pencil at the time, so I don't have to stop and sharpen so often. I figured I'd stick the different groups of colors in the slots, but the slots are too deep to hold anything but the full length pencils.

Once the pencils get half used, you have to dig 'em out with the nearest handy object, and fingers don't fit.

I have a feeling the removable compartments will come out and the pencils will get thrown in the plastic box and I'll have a nice disorganized mess again. Sigh...