Home Creative Space Inspo

Since moving into my new spot in Nashville I’ve recently been cruising some ideas for my home art studio and three of the sites I stumbled upon were too inspiring not to share!

The photo above is a little glimpse of my new setup. I think I need more plants and possibly more art on the wall too, but at least my easel and lightening are good to go!

This first one has really great, specific tips on how to set up a creative space in often overlooked areas with some seriously envy-worthy organization and layout idea pics. Oddly enough this post comes from a storage unit website, but it’s right on point, so I’m sure you’ll love it too! Your DIY Guide to Designing a Home Art Studio

This page has some fabulous ideas for all kinds of creative spaces if you have an extra room in your house, the first half of the article features rooms that look especially nice to have during these times of staying at home constantly. 13 Ways to Convert a Bonus Room into a Usable Space

And this last one is for the realist in all of us - ha! These are actual working art studios (some with the artist in them!) that are such a delight to peek into. No joke, one of my faaaaaavorite things is to see where and how other artists create - both neat n tidy and full of frenzy. Sometimes I feel so torn between wanting to stay in my small-home art studios or eventually getting a spot with 10 foot ceilings - they both just seem to explode with possibility! 44 Stunning Art Studios That Will Inspire You To Get Back To Work

If you enjoy tours of artist home studios, I’ve created a few from the various places I lived in Hawai’i on my YouTube channel. You can also see tours of the two tiny houses I lived in on island too!

2.25.2021

How to Set Up an Art Studio at Home+.

Now this is probably no surprise, but most artists choose to set up their art studio at home since it is the most convenient and cost effective. But sometimes setting up an art studio in a small space can be tricky so today we are going to go over the essential studio needs for an oil painter, as well as how your easel should be set up not only for maximum artistic potential, but to be healthy for your back and shoulders.

References:

Mediums + Thinners

Simple 5 Color Artist Palette

Best Oil Painting Brushes

Setting Up an Ergonomic Art Studio

Complete Guide to Oil Painting

If you need to add anything to your own studio, please consider going through my special affiliate link for art supplies: https://bit.ly/36vvPr8

Any purchases through my special Dick Blick art supplies link helps to support this channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

11.15.2020

Bungalow Shoot with Amanda Leigh

I am always so humbled when I get contacted by a photographer to be a muse for a day:) 

Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to have Amanda Leigh of Bee Leigh Imagery come visit my little studio bungalow and take some gorgeous shots with this incredible morning light streaming in through the palms. We had just 'met' through Instagram (I super love connecting with other creatives btw! @caleighbirdart) and I simply adored Amanda's use of natural lighting to really give her subjects a heavenly vibe. 

So when she told me how much she loved my studio tour and felt inspired to shoot me in my Nest I was beside myself with excitement! Yay!! I love to work with photographers and am especially thrilled to work with a female photog that was close to my own age. 

It's just so much fun to see yourself through the eyes of another artist! And I am beyond impressed what Amanda was able to do using nothing but natural lighting  - no flashes, no reflectors and totally spur-of-the-moment setups. 

It's hard to get a good, candid laughing shot!

To my fellow Hawaii residents,  Amanda is available to book for elopements and portraits. Seriously go check out how talented she is right here. 

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originally published June 18, 2018

Tiny House + Outdoor Bathroom Bungalow Tour

Welcome to my tiny house bungalow life! Last week I showed you all the details of my artmaking space + art collection, and this week I'm taking you all on tour of the rest of my tiny house life (including my incredibly beautiful and relaxing outdoor bathroom!) here in gorgeous, sunny Kaimuki, Hawaii.

I feel so fortunate and proud to have this incredible space to create and thrive and now that I finally have things arranged just right I am thrilled to invite you in today:)

If you missed the first part, check it out here

Plus I have a quick 2 minute overview tour here

Check out these incredible shots from an amazing photographer and new friend Amanda, Bee Leigh Imagery, that just visited my bungalow about two weeks ago. Stay tuned for more shots from that glowing morning on my blog next week!

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originally published May 30, 2018

2 Minute Tiny House Art Studio Tour

Welcome to my tiny house art studio bungalow! I love my little sunny Hawai'i home and I have done so much to create the perfect, most efficient, most inspiring art making space I can! Come on in and have a looksy, and if you'd like a more detailed tour, check out these link because I have two more videos detailing my painting station and the rest of my tiny house living :)

Painting Station + Art Collection here

Bungalow + Outdoor Bathroom here

If you didn't see the pics I posted last time, check those out here. 

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originally published May 16, 2018

New Studio Tour Sneak Peek

Oh my gosh I cannot believe it has taken me this long to do a proper studio tour! Ha! What can I say, it takes a while for me to perfect my little work space nest ;) 

Today I am only sharing a few photos of my bungalow so you'll have to tune in Wednesday for the 2 minute quickie tour and then I'll have detailed vids of my art setup as well as my living space, lanai, and outdoor bathroom (which is beyond amazing!) coming out in the following weeks. 

This where the magic happens! I prefer a standing easel for pretty much all my art-making.

I'm literally sitting on my ergonomic chair sitting at this desk typing right now...

I built this elevated bed myself!! Can't wait to show you how I did it!

So that's most of the inside area - tune in the next three Wednesdays for the detailed tour inside and out!

**Or pop your email down below to get the tour delivered to your inbox all neat 'n tidy:)**

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originally published May 14, 2018

Always Room for Improvement!

[Please Note: I am out of the studio on vacation for a few weeks so I am resharing some useful posts that I think merit fresh eyes] 

'You don't have to be better than anyone else, just be better than yourself.'

I'm trying to turn that old saying into truth once again, as I'm sure most artists do from time to time. I've been challenging myself to have more of a tender touch in my drawings lately, especially with the white chalk on my figure studies, and I'm already noticing progress. It's amazing what mindfulness can do for you and your art!

I already practice mindfulness in my day-to-day life, mostly focusing on nutrition and mental clarity, but I have noticed that a little intention can go a long way in many more aspects of one's artistic and professional life as well. Once you decide to practice mindfulness it easily becomes like second nature, and just deciding where to channel your new power first will be the hardest part! 

A mindful smoothie-in-the-sunshine moment

What is 'being mindful'?

When I use the term 'mindfulness' I am referring to performing an action or having a thought with intention. So much of our daily routine happens automatically, and even though we are conscious of what we are doing, we are not being conscientious about each specific task at hand. To bring mindfulness into our routine, one must only pick one aspect of your day and ask 'why?' Why do I do this in this way? What prevents me doing it another way? Or perhaps, Is this the way I want to act or think about this action? Is this daily decision going to help me or harm me in the future? 

By taking the time to ask ourselves these questions occasionally, we can help ourselves maintain a healthy and productive life that is always improving. I cannot emphasize this enough, there is always, always room for improvement in one's life. I am constantly evaluating my health, happiness, productivity, and outside relationships to find small ways to clean house or spruce up my own mind and body. In no way am I trying to gloat, but I am currently in the best physical shape of my life, in the healthiest relationship in my life, am making the most strides as a career artist, and am living the dream in Hawai'i... and I can truthfully credit it all to mindfulness and self-critique. 

If you don't like something about your life, change it.         Progress needs a proactive attitude.   

One should never stagnate or be content with the status quo. Every day you can be a slightly better version of the you you were the day before. I'm not trying to sound like some dental office motivational poster, but take a page out of the old Tony Robbins handbook and look at what you're doing and ask yourself if you like it.

Now as I was saying in the beginning, whenever I take that same daily mindfulness and apply it to my art, I absolutely notice improvements, and usually much faster than naturally occurs. Of course if you practice anything long enough you will get better at it regardless of how consciously in-tune you are trying to be, but why not practice with intention and get better by leaps and bounds?! 

The best way I have found to improve with intention is to be very specific where I am channelling that energy. I don't just tell myself, 'get better at drawing'. I would tell myself, 'get better at drawing hair', or more specifically, 'get better at drawing dreadlocks', then 'get better at drawing straight hair', and so on. Practicing your focal point is crucial of course, but practicing with intention by really concentrating on each line and referencing other artists' techniques or photos and doing it over and again until you get it right on every piece you work on will give you dramatically better results than just repeating steps alone or copying other artists.  I find that trying to envision my desired effect before beginning each piece really helps to train your hand to create what's in your brain.

So for my most recent drawing-with-intention exercise, I have been trying to have a lighter touch with my charcoals and especially with the white chalk I use on the toned paper during the weekly figure drawing sessions I attend. When a subject is bathed in bright light, it's easy to record it as all the same value, however, fine-tuning and slight adjustments is what makes a good drawing into a great one. Usually I am a very careful drawer, but, alas, I am human and can get lazy from time to time so my intention is to be more sensitive all of the time because.....

One should never waste an opportunity to create beautiful art! 

Above and below are examples; the drawings on the left are perfectly fine figure studies showing showing correct proportion and volume, but the drawings on the right depict specific musculature and slight bone protrusion and are all-in-all much stronger pieces. With just a little forethought and clarity of intended result, my figures gained a new level of realism. And these drawings were done only about a month apart and in the same amount of time, so this was not a result of great leaps in learning. This difference is all credit of my decision to be more conscientious about how hard or soft I press with my charcoal pencil which goes hand-in-hand with paying closer attention to slight variations in the model rather than blanketing him or her in the same even lighting. 

To sum up, basically I looked at my past work and decided it could better. Then I figured out specifically how, and made a mindful decision each time I worked in charcoal. The results are already notable and very pleasing. This is actually an ongoing focal point of my mindfulness so I will be concentrating on this aspect for a few months until it becomes second nature. Once I am satisfied in my advances, I'll probably find some other little thing to nitpick and so on and so forth. I have spoken with professional artists two and three times my age who say they still make advances in their art so I greatly look forward to forever improving:)

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Words to Live By: Always make sure you are being an active participant in your own life.

I would love to hear about your current or next art-with-intention focus! Leave me a note in the comment section. 

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originally posted: December 29, 2016

Studio Tour :: Art Wall and Studio Storage

Welcome back to the studio! Last Tutorial Tuesday was the detailed tour of my painting station, with tips and examples on how to be efficient when creating artwork, and today I'm happy to show you the other half of my studio, which includes my inspo art wall and my teeny tiny office desk/supply area. 

When I moved to Hawai'i in 2015 I was incredibly limited on what I shipped out here, plus we are pretty much tiny house living, so I have made it a point to stay very minimal and highly organized. Hopefully seeing my studio with these certain constraints can be an inspo for others' creative spaces as well!

PLUS, check out my very first tutorial ever all about creating the perfect art wall you see in the vid here.  

Do you have any especially easy or effective ways to keep your creative space organized? Feel free to share in the comments! 

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originally posted: April 15, 2017

Painting the Glass in a Pair of Glasses

Hello fellow artistas! Today you get a real time demo and instruction on painting glass in a pair of glasses. It's not a difficult feat, but it does take care and a tender touch. 

I like to start with a dry painting for this paint layer because it makes blending the glass sheen a thousand times easier when you don't have to worry about it mixing with the skin or surrounding area. 

I only used Titanium White for the shine, and added some Payne's Grey for the earrings (and the same with my "oopsie" you'll see at the end of the video). I prefer Payne's Grey to any kind of black because I feel like it has a richness that regular black lacks; I'll go into more detail about their differences in a later blog post. I also used my linseed oil and turpenoid to help thin out the translucent white area. 

As always, feel free to leave feedback for me and if you liked it, give me a subscribe on YouTube too so I know folks are getting something out of my vids. Thanks friends! 

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originally posted: April 4, 2017

Painting Eyebrows, Eyelashes and Really Short Hair

Welcome to another Tutorial Tuesday! Today I am continuing with my 'Nubia' portrait in an oil painting demo to share with you of my technique for painting her eyelashes, eyebrows, and super short hair. Since I tend to paint my works in color/object/surface texture groups with dry time in between, I will have another video showing me painting her thick braids. 

Today also features the first exclusive video release to my Patreon page as well. Woo Hoo! (Don't know about Patreon? Click here for info) For my wonderful loyal viewers I have this speed painting demo available here and on my YouTube channel, but for my $5 and up Patreon contributors I will have the same video in real time PLUS step-by-step explanations.  

I also have a tutorial about painting rich melanin skin tones right here.

Do you love my muse as much as I do? You can find Nubia and see her fantastic and creative makeup artistry at
https://www.instagram.com/nubiasilvermakeup 

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originally posted: March 21, 2017