🖌️ Art Studio Tour: I don’t have to draw on my floor anymore

#13 Create a safe space dedicated to creating art

Mar 17, 2023

Dear little demon,

Welcome to the edition #13 of the Art Missive! We are now 2613😈 in this newsletter: thank you sm for reading ❤.

Last week was really intense as I was busy moving to Paris. It feels like a fresh start for me and Tsuki. New goals, new adventures, new setup… This is so exciting!

If you haven't already, you can also:

Read all the previous Art Missives
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In this Art Missive

1. I use to draw on the floor

2. Designing before settling

3. Studio tour!

4. What comes next?

I used to draw on the floor.

For the first time in my life, I have an entire space dedicated to art and creativity.

I have started to draw consistently in 2020.

The past three years:

I grew an art community of more than 100k demons;

I grew an art community of more than 100k demons;
I created hundreds of drawings;
I recorded dozens and dozens of art processes;
I opened a shop (then closed it 😂);
took commissions;
created a course on about Art Reels;
started a newsletter

All of this, on the floor of my bedroom.

Well, not entirely cause I also had a tiny desk to squizz my laptop next to my bed.

Until now, this is the setup I used all this time to create my art and record my art process :

Nothing fancy right? But at least, it was really fun and made me flexible.

This is all thanks to this humble setup that I was able to ✅ improve my art so much ✅ gain tens of thousands of fans in our tribe ✅ make up my mind to give up on everything I have and become a full time artist.

So honestly, having an art studio is a real privilege.

As one of my dreams is coming true, I absolutely wanted to share it with you!

In this edition #13 of the Art Missive, I’m going to walk you through my new (and first) art studio!

Maybe, you’ll get some inspiration to improve your own art space.

Designing before settling

If you think about creating or improving your art space, you might wanna start by strategically designing the space before putting down your first pencil.

This is particularly the case if you only have a small space dedicated to your art practice.

Here are all the questions that guided me through designing and optimizing my art studio :

👉 Question 1 : What is the purpose of this place ?

I needed a space where I could focus on art improvement but also on recording and editing my art process for social media. Accordingly, this space was supposed to fulfill the duties of an office desk, an artist workshop and a content creator station.

When answering this question, I highly suggest you anticipate future needs, to make your space as resilient and evolutive as possible.

👉 Question 2 : What space do I have and do I need ?

I knew that I would spend my entire day in that space working on building a full time artist career so I needed it to be spacious enough. That’s why I decided to turn my bedroom into an art studio.

Sometimes, the solution is not so obvious. Maybe you don’t have the means to dedicate an entire place for your art. In that case, there are many ways to turn something else into your art space : a part of your living room, a basement, a shed, under the stairs, a garage… you could even turn a large closet into your art space.

👉 Question 3 : How the light ?

As I draw traditional art a lot and as I record my process, the lightning is a very important part of my life. For recording, natural light is always to be prioritized so I needed to take this into account to position my table.

Taking the light into account also means

Understanding the intensity of natural light you will get at certain hours;
listing the light material you need in addition to the natural light if needed;
positioning your art and recording material in the proper way.

👉 Question 4 : What type of desk ?

According to me, the most important furniture of your art studio is the table. As you craft upon this desk, you wanna make sure it is spacious and stable enough.

For example, as I do both traditional and digital art, I wanted two desk to avoid moving my setup around all the time.

👉 Question 5 : how much storage ?

Your storage is also important because you want to keep your space clean and functional.

👉 Question 6 : What do I need to feel productive ?

If you are tired of being distracted and unfocused when you have to draw, designing your space in a more effective way will drastically improve your consistency.

As far as I’m concerned, I realized that I needed 3 things to stay productive and creative :

1️⃣ A minimalist place : I often see artists on social media being surrounded by many many items in their workspace. Well, it’s too distracting for me, so I decided to keep my art studio as simple as possible. Every item in this room must have a purpose serving my practice.

2️⃣ Art inspirations : Surrounding myself with many works of art helps me stay motivated as it constantly exposes me to new ideas, techniques, and styles. This exposure helps me expand my artistic repertoire and push my creative boundaries.

3️⃣ Games and puzzles : I noticed that things like chess, Rubik’s cubes and other puzzles really helped me stay focus. Each time I feel distracted or I want to give up, I’m rushing on one of these games to help me stimulate my creativity and problem-solving abilities instead of losing my time on Instagram or Youtube. Knowing that, I needed to make sur that, when I am unproductive or unfocused, it is way easier to reach these puzzles than to open Instagram app.

👉 Question 7 : what do I need to feel comfy and safe ?

If you spend a lot of time crafting your art, you want your space not only to boost your creativity but also to feel comfortable and safe.

That’s why, I absolutely wanted to add (useful) things that make me feel cozy and safe : plants, warm lights, a sofa and some pillows…

Now you know how I designed my space… Tsuki and I are waiting for you in our art studio ! 

Studio Tour !

When you step in…

and here is the view from the desk :

Welcome in my art and safe space!

1️⃣ I placed the desks according to the natural light source. The digital art space is right under the window while the traditional art desk is on the side as the natural light spreads out more evenly in this position.

2️⃣ The studio is still unfinished. I was so impatient to show you my first studio that I couldn’t wait but there are actually very important elements that are still missing. We’ll talk about it later during this visit.

3️⃣ I made space for future needs. I wanted to keep it as empty as possible to have enough space each time I will be needing new furniture for new needs. For example, I know that in the coming years, I would like to open an online shop : with the space I kept, it will be easy to add the required material like a printer or more storage. My creed is really to keep it as simple and as minimalist as possible to make your space resilient and evolutive.

Traditional art erea

👉 This place is where I will be creating my pencil drawings and recording the process to put it on Instagram.

👉 I only kept my drawing essentials of the moment on the table : a little easel, my canson paper block, my graphite pencils (there’s hidden behind the easel on this pic)...

⚠️ What’s currently missing :

My recording material that I did not have the time to set up but don’t worry, Missive #14 will be all about my recording setup!
My standing easel for big size art projects that I’m gonna get back asap.

Digital art and content creation area

👉 On this desk, I’ll do everything that’s digital : drawing, content creation, biz management etc..

👉 Right now I mainly have my laptop and my tablet, but also some motivation items.

⚠️ What’s currently missing : What you don’t see here is the computer desktop computer that is way more powerful and fluid for digital painting. I’m gonna get it soon, but for now, I just use my laptop. I also think about buying a new recording setup dedicated to digital art so that I don’t have to move my recording setup for traditional art around.

👉 This desk is a standing desk ! Which means I can vary its heigh to use it sitting or standing ! I’m really glad I bought it because I don’t like to spend the day sitting. Standing is also a more efficient posture when it comes to drawing!

Storage area

Storage is one of the most important parts of an art studio.

👉 about the drawer :

- Top : my painting material : gouaches, watercolors, ink, more brushes, more pencils…

- Middle : my sketchbooks + my stickers and prints

- Bottom : old sketchbooks + big size sketchbooks.

👉 about the cart : it includes anatomy books, art books and biz strategy books and also some other material that I use like brushes and alcohol marker (the black bag at the bottom).

👉 this area is the one that is the most likely to evolve alongside my own practice.

Resting & chilling erea

👉 As I spend 80% of my time in this room, I needed a space to rest, chill and sometimes even sleep ! In the drawers, I store my tablets (iPad, XPPEN devices) and other IT equipment.

👉 I have some blocks and a yoga mat because I like to stretch 2 to 3 times a day, it keeps me mobile and relaxed.

What comes next ?

There are three things I absolutely need to do in the coming days :

1️⃣ Hanging Art on my walls

You already know that surrounding myself with art inspirations is very important to my art process. The next step is pin all these beauties on the walls :

With these, the studio will fully embody a place of creativity and inspiration.

2️⃣ Setting up powerful computer

In the coming months, I plan to focus on getting a pro level in digital art. That’s why installing my computer is an important and urgent next step to take.

3️⃣ Building a hut for Tsuki

She spends most of her day following me around, that’s whyt this art studio is also hers! I need to make sure she has a cosy couchy safe space to rest after her fiery nights.

Next week

That was my art studio tour! I hope you like this space as much as I do.

In the coming months, I’ll share an update of the studio because I’m sure things will be moved around a lot (and I know that you really wanna see Tsuki’s hut)!

The only thing I couldn’t really show you is my recording setup which is something you ask a lot about! That’s why the next Missive will be focusing on my recording setup and how you can improve yours, even on a low budget.

I’m done moving in and the Missives will resume as usual from next Monday.. So see you in three days, for edition #14 of the Art Missive!

Léa's Portrait Gems

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