Finally setup for painting on my easel done. It has been doubled as an additional table top for temporary storage of garbage for a long time and now, I have at long last prep it for painting watercolour.To save space, I did not extend the legs of the easel fully because I only have a small passage way to another working area. Yup I am living in a small space. I have a trolley for my water container, brushes and additional stuff like my pigments and spray bottle. This is placed right in front of me so stuff can be easily reached. On my right is another tripod with a painting palette tray that I used to clamp down my palette. I lowered the tripod so I could reach it while I am sitting down. So the basic setup is done and I tested it by painting a house from imagination.
This is a space that I have left unused for a long while. It has been a temporary store room for all the extra stuff I have. It used to be where I worked when we just moved in to the apartment, now it has been a room where I stacked all my things together. After a long while of cleaning, throwing and organising, I have moved a table to the window where I could setup an airbrush station but in addition an additional workstation for working with traditional mediums like ink and watercolour so I could free my computer station of the clutter. Now I am able to leave my WIP on the table without having to clear it. The easel on the bottom right will let me paint a larger format if I want to. The setup is not completed yet because all the drawers and cabinets are not properly organised and categorised. I need another couple of weekends to do that. For now, I could live with this and I am pretty happy with the outcome.
Every man needs his own personal space, a cave, or a safe house regardless how you want to call it. Its where he can be himself away from the noises of the world, that's when he can reflect, ponder and find his bearings.
I like to work in an organised place, but it has to look chaotic, messy to the outside world. I spent my free hours organising things around, and to come to a state like this, it took me a couple of months or more. And finally I am about 85% happy. At the moment, things are put into their right places, grouped and tidied up, some labelled, and some stacked as a common category. Still not perfect (nothing in this world is perfect, and I am not aiming for perfection), but so far, quite satisfactory. There were a lot of background work that wouldn't be seen but now, at least I know where to look for my stuff.
Sometimes I wonder how did I become a hoarder of art tools and materials. Was it because I was afraid I might run out of certain things? I have no idea how on earth I have collected so much in a short time. Books especially. I wish I could part with some of my older collection and give them away but I realised I am not that benevolent after all. They are my precious, all mine. Lord help me.
Not long ago I was sifting out those I might want to give away. I posted some on FB and no one responded to me. I wasn't even selling them, I was giving them away free of charge. A person even wrote to me, said he wanted to browse them first and only take those he wanted. I removed the post instantly, and told myself I am not giving anything away again. I have to find a way to organise things so everything can fit into my 4-room state-owned apartment. There would be something that has to go, and I did managed to discard quite a bit. Well, more to go. I just have to do it bit by bit so I don't get too tired through the process.
And here's the result.
[caption id="attachment_1946" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="My Messy Work Desk"]
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[caption id="attachment_1945" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="My Work Desk Tidied"]
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Want to know my secret? I visited GIANT and got myself 2 addition plastic shelves, costing no more than 30 dollars for both. Reorganized everything into nice neat bundles and I am definitely feeling much better about my work space now.
