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Back to the drawing board?

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

10:37 / 06.09.04

After many years of straining my back drawing at various tables and surfaces not meant for drawing, it seems it may finally be time for me to go out in to the world and find something that actually fits my needs rather than battling against them.

And so, it seems I need a drawing board. Or a drawing table, whichever one it is. Being relatively inexperienced in this area though, I'm not really sure what to look for, in relation to price/functionality. My primary use for this would be drawing comics, most likely at A3 (but I'll probably need to work at up to A1 size at points. A2 at least) so this means it's really quite important for this table to provide somewhere for me to put my ink/water/brushes etc. If that's possible, I'm sure there are means or accesories for this, right? I'd prefer to not have to rely on anything other than the table itself, because I've got a very limited amount of space.

I'm also left handed, and I've noticed a lot of the tables I've been looking at (online) tend to be rather right sided, although I'd hope you could get most tables aligned both ways. It would be pretty pointless to buy a table with a light on the right hand side meaning you'll be casting a huge shadow of your arm over your drawing most of the time.

So anyway, how do you like to draw? Do you have a set up at home that makes you feel happy, a specific way you like to have things? Or do you just draw wherever you can, on the bus/peoples backs/riding giraffes? I'd like to know!

Oh, one other thing: storage! How do you store things? Do you keep everything so tidy that you weekly go through all of your work (stored in air tight containers) and pick bits of stray dust off it with sterilised gloves, or is all your work just in a big pile in the corner where your cat sleeps?

It's pretty clear I need to invest in some stuff, like.

Dan Fish - @Fish1k

12:40 / 06.09.04

Colleen Doran offers some tips here: www.slushfactory.com/columns/cd/

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

12:02 / 15.09.04

Can I get a bump?

Thank you.

15:18 / 15.09.04

I'd be interested to hear about other people's set-ups too, especially the professionals'... I'm quite space-limited myself and should probably just get a board to put on my desk, but any pros/cons/hints would be good.

As it is, most of my drawing is done in theatre sound control boxes, between cues and in dim lighting, with my sketchbook either on my lap or resting on whatever surface will suffice. Sometimes, if I'm very close to the audience and it's a quiet show, I can't even do any pencilling as it makes too much noise. And sometimes, I have to do some actual work and haven't got time to draw... Not ideal, then. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to persuade anyone that what I really need is not monitors, keyboards, a mixing desk etc, but actually a large easel, an anglepoise and a much more comfortable chair...

All my sketchbooks live on my shelves, wherever there's space and in vague chronoligical order. Pencils, pens, putty rubbers etc. live in old cups or a pencil case (for compact portability).

Here's a question: Inking - brush or pen? And if your answer's "pen", which is the loveliest pen you've ever used? I'm trying to find my ultimate pen as I don't think I've got the discipline to learn to use a brush, but I want more expressive lines than are possible with, say, a Rotring Rapidograph.

03:23 / 17.09.04

Sit on the floor. And spread all the sheets of paper, references, paints, bottles of ink, wine, whatever, all around you. Desks are rubbish for drawing, desks are the evil invention of The Man, desks are only good for piling things on top of each other and filing them away and then working on one thing at a time like a drone. You need to try spreading everything out horizontally so you’re able to sprawl, get up, walk around your drawings, stretch, and sprawl again. Pile all your stuff in the other room/bathroom/outside if necessary. Prop a board on your knees if you want, lean your back against the nearest wall when you feel the need. Just don’t chain yourself to a desk or any other well-organised/static workspace. People dream of becoming artists so they can escape their desks forever. Suede, dude, it's *your* responsibility to live up to their dreams.

Is my advice. Personally, I’m much happier since I gave up the desk. Maaan.

03:25 / 17.09.04

I'm with Bedhead - GO FLOOR!!!!!

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

10:04 / 17.09.04

I dream of a really nice desk/board thingy. I desire it! And I put all my work/references all around on the wall. mmmm. Stuuuudio.

Is it bad that I don't feel sprightly enough to be sprawled out on the floor? Seriously, drawing at the kitchen table has given me severe pains. Now portable sketchbooks/boards are very well, I like drawing like that, doing sketches and tests... but also - I love the feeling of sitting down when it's "real" work. It's like, "Right, now I'm doing the actual comic/pic and I have to try. I'm sitting down and everything, I know what's going on!" I like having a bit or organisation in amongst the chaos. Well, attempting it, anyway.

Plus; you haven't hear the awful noises my joints make. Old before my years! I can't even sit cross legged anymore.

10:11 / 17.09.04

Is it bad that I don't feel sprightly enough to be sprawled out on the floor?

No. Think of yourself as your own employer and make sure you are following Health & Safety regulations. My gf (who is a full-time writer - not even as complicated in its physical requirements as drawing) is about to spend, like, five hundred quid on a fully adjustable desk so she doesn't do any (more) damage to her back/wrists. If you are going to do good work in the long term it is very important to be properly ergonomic. Drawing has specific physical demands and you should make sure you have the equipment/resources to meet those demands without injuring yourself.

Unfortunately I can't offer any specific advice as I know not thereof. But I have a crick across my shoulders/neck at this very moment from all my bad sitting-and-writing practices, so let me be a lesson to you.

10:50 / 17.09.04

Dude - what’s so sprightly about lying on the floor? I must really be doing it wrong. And I think that writing all day is a physically demanding job, and really important to get right, but it’s different kind of sitting at a desk. Different way of using your eyes.

All I’m saying is, if you’re going to be drawing, it can be useful to keep moving around. If your work is laid out on the floor then you keep altering your distance from it as you stand up/lie down/move around, as you walk in and out of the room; You see what it looks like upside down and from the side, which helps you to see what you’re drawing as shapes on a page, and stops you from focussing on any teensy surface detail for too long, which is one of the many traps The Desk has to offer you.

Plus, shifting all your home comforts out of your flat to make room for your Art Work will help you focus.

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

10:52 / 20.09.04

I should probably mention that I'm a big leaner... I dont know, I just need to rest my arm on something, and if I'm on the floor it just doesn't work, having my whole body on a horizontal. I sit badly everywhere, anyway. But seriously, I am a person who cannot sit cross legged without making horrible clicking noises and aching terrible when I finally get up.

It's not for me! And I do keep moving round my work. I always draw with music on - usually I'm completely oblivious to it - but after a really rather successful piece of drawing, it's just there and ready for a celebratory dance around the room/on top of the chair (offering a decent full view of the drawing). I really love how the music works like that, it's always so triumphant. And after the dancing, a little sit down for a rest, checking out the drawing in a ROOM OF MIRRORS. Well, maybe not, but still. I'm always getting on top of my chair to look from a distance... you can't stop looking at stuff you draw, y'know? I think an actual drawing board would be even better as well, because you don't need to be craning your head over to see it as it will look, and you dont get tricked in to drawing something that looks great from where you're sitting up straight, but when you look at the whole work it tapers in like some kind of 3D eye trickery.

It seems like a necessary thing for me, especially with the space restraints I have at present... also, it forces me to actually work on one thing at a time (and just think about all the others) rather than just walking around confused about what to do...