Making Linen Panels

Hi, if you are looking for the posting about making your own linen panels, I have moved it to the tab titled "Studio Notes."

The WHEEL Pastel Boxes

So, isn't this a cool idea for pastel boxes? After chatting with some folks on a pastel forum who really liked the boxes from the post below (where they are on my nested table) I thought I'd lay them out on a table to see if they would work well that way, too.  I love this set up so much that I called Larry (the maker of all things cool) and asked him if he would make them for other artists and he said that he would. Whoohoo!

I consider the color wheel to be my single most important tool. Having my pastel boxes emulating the colorwheel makes working with them feel very natural and logical. If you want to see some other pictures and read more about ordering them, visit ArtStudioTools.com.

Happy Dusting!
Sandy

Beneath the Guard

detail of On Guard (24 x 12 dry pastel sold)

click for a larger view

On Guard, aka Joe Llama, started out as a very colorful guy on Pastelmat. Since I posted the under-painting for Dibs on the Red Chair, I also wanted to share the colors that went beneath this fella. I find white fur so interesting once I start to study all the stuble colors that are in it and around it and bouncing off of it.

First, I'll show you the uncropped version of the painting.

And, now, the "under-painting"

This guy is also the star of a recent book I published on Blurb.com that is also a fundraiser for Precious Life Animal Sanctuary in Sequim, Washington.

I haven't used this plug-in from Blurb before, so I hope it works okay. It should provide a full preview of the book which includes images of some of my paintings and some prose from my heart.

If the plug-in doesn't work, or you would like to see a larger preview, you can go directly to my book, Fine Art for Animals, on Blurb.com.

Fine Art for Animals by Sandy Byers | Make Your Own Book

On Your Mark...getting organized

(click for a larger view)

Ah, I simply can't express in words how good it feels to be organized! I have torn this studio apart from one end to the other and put it all back together again. After a very long time of walking around the elephant, I decided to simply have an honest discussion with it. We came to an understanding. I need to be organized in order to feel at peace in my working environment. Once I started, I couldn't stop and I suppose that was a good thing because now I'm DONE! Yay. And, the benefit is that I love my space.

Admittedly, I did not love spending days peeling labels off of pastels I had stacked away in corners of my closet. I had little bits and pieces in boxes everywhere. For this organizational task, every little spec of pastel was addressed. It became part of my color wheel (see the picture above) or it ended up in my recycle bowl so it will become a new pastel. Now, I no longer have to wonder if I have a color tucked away somewhere. I know what I have. If I don't have it in plain sight and I need it, I better go get it.

I was lucky enough to find this cool table when my hub (Larry) and I went to get some stuff for my slatwall. It was in the back room and was on sale because it had a couple of minor scratches and a little ding in one of the legs. We nabbed it in a second and then Larry made the custom boxes for my pastels. As you can see, they are double stacked, so the ones I don't use all the time are still sorted and easy to get to but are under the primary set. I LOVE how these boxes emulate the color wheel! It feels so natural to work with them set up this way. You can probably tell, the table rotates to stack within itself so, when I'm not using it, it takes up even less space in my studio. Sweet.

So, that's where I've been. Now, I am going to paint!!