Studio Completed

Summer

Studio Complete...Took only 4 1/2 months.

With the help of Mark and David Carder, my husband, and encouraging comments and suggestions from many of you, the studio is complete. I could not have done it without you!!! I have tried to incorporate all of your ideas in this studio. I'm going to put it on a tour list next year and give Mark and David the major credit. It may even bring in a few new members to DMP. @MeganS I took your suggestion about having more carpet protection and added another mat. And since I couldn't find a set of wheels with at least two brakes, I'm wrapping the back wheels with a rag to keep it from sliding just when I paint. Both good observations Megan. @martenvisser I took your mention of the dust factor - another good observation - and solved it with wire and lightweight bed sheets. I cleaned up the studio just before I took these photos. You wouldn't believe what a mess it was before and is now. If you have any questions or observations on how I can improve this workspace, please comment. Hope this serves as inspiration to some of you. Oh, and I want to add that we built the drying rack because we have no wall space left to lean wet canvasses against as both Mark and David recommend. Their recommendation of leaning canvasses wet side facing the wall, away from falling debris and dust, is the easiest and best way of drying canvasses. Summer

MikeO

@Summer You go girl!!!

rgr

nice!

EstherH

Perfectly prepared to start searching for your masterpiece! Congratulations !

Carmel

I have serious envy. I'm curious about the cage, is that for your models?

Summer

Thank you everyone for sharing in my joy. @Carmel you guessed right, my rat terrier Mona Lisa will be the subject of a few paintings next year and the years to come.

marieb

looks great, I am cringing looking at the pale coloured floor. What about opening up some plastic garbage bags and spreading on the floor? You could then throw them out when they get soiled.You wouldn't have to put them under the table feet or wheels. I bet you can't wait to get started

Summer

@marieb I have actually started but was too embarrassed to show it in the images. Good idea about covering more of the floor space. I have two very large canvas drop cloths that I might put down but I like your idea of the plastic bags better. I do have to say that I am a meticulous painter and will certainly have one of your plastic bags on my lap--haha. If you think of anything else, I hope that you will post again. Thank you. Summer

marieb

Play music loudly to drown noise from plastic bags....yes anything that can be thrown out when it gets dirty because there is nothing as bad as walking wet paint onto a nice clean bit of floor.

Ron

Your setup looks terrific. Have fun (really) painting in the new small studio!

Ronna

@Summer, what an awesome studio!

Summer

@marieb I think that I get your meaning now. Thanks. See attachment.

Anwario

How bout an extra carpet big enough for the entire area?

Summer

Anwario, That is a very good idea. Thanks. Summer

dencal

Summer

if those footprints are paint I advise repeating the pattern over the whole floor.

Denis

some

Summer, that looks great.

MeganS

@Summer It looks great. I'm too embarrassed to show you how much of a disaster my studio is at the moment. I try to clean before the next project but I usually don't clean during a painting. It's too much hassle...and I'm not concentrating on cleaning, I'm thinking paint! When you get into the really deep throws of a painting, you will have many dirty brushes. Many of them will fall to the ground at some point. Like when I turn in my chair and the rag I'm using catches on the first brush which then dominos many of the other brushes to the floor. Swear words are often used. I do have a few splatters on the wall behind my easel. It's messy business.

I am going through growing pains. My next painting is quite big: 48x32 inches. It's making me move everything out a little bit more. It's space I don't have! Gah.

Don't be embarrassed to show your work. We all start somewhere.

Summer

@MeganS Thanks for the heads up. I know your right about unexpected accidents. My brushes are sooooo long that there are days I just want to stop what I'm doing and draw a cartoon of Edward Scissorhands with long paintbrushes for fingers instead of scissors. (Maybe @Castillo would have fun creating an image like this.) I'm telling on myself but our dining room, utility room, garage, and kitchen, are also extensions of this studio filled wall-to-wall already. As for the main studio, today I've decided to put down two very large canvas tarps covering the mats and carpet for when I start "dropping" the brushes, wearing a smock and putting a plastic bag on my lap. Thanks, again, for the warning. And good luck with that 48 x 32 inch painting and finding the space to paint it in. Summer

Castillo

@MeganS it can't be worse than this, even so that is just a sign of a well used studio space.



@Summer

Summer

@Castillo This is absolutely right on! You are a true genius with image processing! I couldn't hope for anything better! Thank you so much. Love it!!! Summer

Summer

@shirley_seput I believe that Shirley has said that she paints with as many as 50 paint brushes at a time. This just reminded me of that. Just thinking.

saugeangel

I want your studio!

billj

Great job, I'm jealous. Here's why.

Summer

Thanks @billj. Now I'm jealous. You have an unbelievable niche carved out for yourself there and it's nothing to feel bad about. A real working studio. I see a wonderful mind at work. Your studio reflects your high intelligence. Summer

billj

Summer; Wow! Are you talking about me? Even if your joking my new Stetson is going to be too small for my big head.
I'm going to post this photo of the painting I'm working on when I get a better photo. Till then I'll show you what I jokingly refer to as my "studio" with this painting in it.
Ether way thank you for your very kind words, they are much appreciated.

billj

The painting is 44" x 48". About half my studio.

billj

Summer; How do you like the easel you show in the photos of your studio ?
The easel I'm using in this photo is the one Mark built a while back, with a few changes. It does the job very nicely .

billj

Castillo ; You definitely win the most used studio. Reminds me of my Daughters room many years ago.

Summer

@billj How do I like Mark's easel? It's sturdy. It's heavy so you don't have to add any weight to it for stability. It's easy to adjust because of the counterweight pulley. I'll be able to adjust it in my nineties. (Just thinking waaaay far ahead.) Something I wasn't familiar with was the compression versus tension methods for holding canvas frames and it does both very well. It is also very well designed and implemented for hardboard, which I am using now. Just to be picky, we modified it slightly to hold hardboard under compression to a greater degree. My husband added needle points to the tension plates to grab the edge of the hardboard. This wasn't really necessary however. Now I have to be very careful around this modification and was thankful that it didn't come that way originally. It is simply too dangerous to sell to the general public with this add-on--unless it comes covered with plastic removable sheathes the way sewing notions are sold when products are pointy and dangerous. We also added a removable lap board which I use sometimes. It's a good thing that the feet were adjustable and removable because our floor space required that we remove the two front ones and adjust the back one a wee bit to maintain the necessary upright position of the easel for painting. Turned out real good. I'm totally happy with it, and, would buy it again, only in black--which became available after I bought mine. I hope Mark's sales of this item are doing well. Summer

critterisfun

I hope to have one like this someday. Very nice

oilpainter1950

I am soooo jealous. Can't wait to see a painting. Have fun.

Ron

Interesting comments all around. I may have to invest in Marks easel as mine is starting to act like my cat, Very independent and does what it wants!

some

All your hard work will pay off. Give your husband a discount on your paintings

Summer

@some Thanks. Hope so. Good idea about the discount but he hasn't asked for one yet. I'm guessing that this one will be on the house. Summer

Summer

Ron said:

I may have to invest in Marks easel as mine is starting to act like my cat, Very independent and does what it wants!

@Ron If you have any questions about this purchase I'm sure Mark, David, or even I would be glad to answer them for you. Just saying. Summer

Ron

Thanks Summer, I've built my own easels for years, until the one I'm now useing. The problem with this one is the way it has to be handled when raising or lowering, It's stif.

Summer

Raising and lowering is a breeze with this easel and because I have inherited longevity, I hope to be making the adjustments myself into my nineties. Built your own? WOW. My husband offered to build me one but I chose Mark's instead. Not sorry I did. And, you shouldn't have to get another easel for the remainder of your career.

dencal

Ron

The problem with this one is the way it has to be handled when raising or lowering, It's stif.

What about some sandpaper and beeswax or some silicone spray?

Denis

rstall

Hi Summer. Ive been out of town working now going to finish my studio, so just one more thing to build before i paint the rest of my studio furniture...your painting drying rack!. Can you give me some pointers on its construction which will save me time and others too? Are those mainly 2 by 4s or something else. What is the overall height, the size of paintings it can hold and the lenghth of the legs and the size of the top? is that 1/2 inch plywood? and anything you would have done differently in retrospect in its dimensions and stability?  Thanks! And yes, Ron, im still avoiding painitng haha. Im thinking that the supporting pieces of wood that hold each painting could be smaller in the vertical dimensio or perhaps some metal or woroden dowels to hold more paintings?

rstall

Oh yeah, how wide are the cross pieces (llooks like there are two of them?) and the length of the feet? Most importantlyly, is the top flush with the back, hard to tell based on the view? Thanks again,

Boudicca

Here's a YouTube link to a down and dirty quick and cheap rack

rstall

thanks Boudicca,  that is a cool solution , good if you have floor space, can be put on top of summers one as well....he has some good ideas.....i like his one about his 5 favrite new products, i ended up buying some raymar panel holders for plein air

Summer

@rstall Thanks for asking about the drying rack. It's been a while, and I hope that I can remember enough to answer your questions. I didn't keep notes (bad habit). I've had excellent results with this drying rack and plenty of use already. This last week, using a spray gun with Mark's brown stain recipe on 7 canvasses/boards, I dried 3 different sizes in 48 hours. Next week I'll spray 7 more. I even set a large gallery wrapped canvas on the floor and leaned it against one of the inside legs for support and it dried beautifully without any dust or floor marks on the bottom edge that touched the floor. So it can dry seven canvasses/canvas boards at a time. No dust or smears appeared on the canvasses and I have the unit placed in a utility room which is well ventilated. The only thing that I would change would be to add some braces between the verticals to keep the unit from wobbling because the screw joints keep loosening up. So, I would recommend screwing and gluing those wood pieces together. This is only the joint areas between the horizontal and vertical 2x4s. This is just annoying and isn't keeping me from using the rack for which it was intended. I used Ace black steel Phillips flat head drywall screws throughout in several sizes. To help with the assembly I used thin nails that I removed later. I used very tiny metal Phillips flat head screws to hold the thin strips of wood pieces together on the removable top piece. I have another make-shift system that I use for smaller canvasses/boards which I will post at another time.

This design can be easily modified--especially the removable top piece. And, the decorative angles can easily be left out. Hope that I have answered all of your questions. Let me know if you have any more questions. 

Are these mainly 2x4s or something else?

• There are 2x4s and 1x2s except for the top. For the top piece I used 1/2x3/4-inch pine strips ripped from a larger piece of a special grade of pine on a table saw and later cut into five pieces.  The other part of the top piece measures 29x3 1/4x1/2 inches and is also made of a special grade of high quality pine.

What is the overall height?

• 59 inches is the height.

The size of paintings it can hold?

• I've been drying mostly 24x24-inch canvasses and boards, some larger and some smaller.

The length of the legs?

• 16” top leg lengths to hold smaller canvasses - there are four of these racks, 8 pieces

• 18” bottom leg lengths to hold larger canvasses - there are two of these racks, 4 pieces

• 24” floor leg lengths but 6”of that extends beyond the back to support the structure, 2 pieces.

The size of the top? Is that 1/2” plywood?

• The entire top is made of a high quality pine. The entire structure is made of high quality pine except for the 2x4s.

• 30x33 inches is the outside measurement of the entire top. The main support is the largest piece and is a rectangular piece of board which has a screw assembly in the middle.  It's the largest board in the top and serves as the main support piece of the top and measures 29x3 1/4x1/2 inches but it measures longer when the wood strips are glued and screwed to three of the sides (30x33).

• Three sides of the top piece serves as a frame and measure 1/2x3/4 and tere are 5 of them, all the same size. Two are placed strategically for support lengthwise about 9 inches apart on the inside. The other three form the frame for the other three sides.

• Two thicknesses of wood were used to construct the top and there is a removable black plastic screw in the middle to attach the top to the main structure and hold it in place.
  

• I use a black king size light-weight sheet that I throw over the structure to keep the dust out. I put it in the dryer with a dryer sheet to remove static cling and dust just before each use.

How wide are the cross pieces?

• The cross pieces of the main structure are 19” wide--outside measurement. (16” inside measurement)

Is the top flush with the back?

• Yes, the removable top, that supports the sheet, is flush with the back. The removable top sits on the main structure. It is made removable with a special black plastic screw anchor assembly. The anchor is put into the top 2x4 of the main structure. The removable top piece is then attached to the main structure and screwed in place. The removable top piece is removed easily when necessary. Nothing extends beyond the back of the unit except on the floor where 6 inches of the 24” boards, called the feet, give stability to the unit.

Summer

@Boudicca  I like the idea that you have presented here for drying small canvas boards.  I may have more building to do--haha.  Right now, when I'm staining small canvasses and boards, I'm putting paper on the tops of the washer and dryer in the utility room and placing the boards on top and covering them with large plastic laundry baskets which have holes in the sides for ventilation.  This would not be a solution for long-term drying though, but it is working for now. 

rstall

Excellent Summer! That was really thorough! You make really nice furniture. The only part that I don't follow is the top... where you say 29 by 3 1/4 by 1/2 inches did you mean 29 by 30 1/4 by 1/2 inches? 
I didn't know you could get pine boards that wide. Id assume they were something like 14 1/2 by 30 1/4 by 1/2 inches wide each?  or by two thicknesses do you mean two sheets of 1/4 inch plywood glued together or more like this picture below? And Just curious , why the removable top? Totally unrelated, but I guess the sheet stays on all the time? And once the paintings are touch dry do you move them on to somewhere else, or you keep them there until ready to varnish and/or frame? 

rstall

As seen form above 

Summer

First, I want to say that I will be posting a picture tomorrow of the top--some time before noon AZ time which will provide clarity.  On the inside, the top measurement is 29 (28 5/8) by 3 1/4 by 1/2 inches and not 29 by 30 1/4 by 1/2 inches.  When all the pieces are in place, the top measures 30 inches across.  The whole thing is made from 2x4s and 1x4s and all the smaller pieces were then cut down to size.  The 1x4s were ripped into strips to make the top.  There was a lot of cutting.  No plywood was used.  The image I'm posting tomorrow will really clear things up.  Oh, and by the way, I even dried about a half a dozen glass palettes on this rack so I was glad for the sturdy arms.  And, I will let the paintings dry on the rack for as long as is necessary which will depend upon what I'm doing with each painting--some even as long as a year.  I just remove the top when I'm storing the rack, but soon, the rack will be in use full time.  In that case, you could make the top permanent to start with--if you're never going to put it in storage.  And, yes, the sheet stays on most of the time.   Hope this helps.          

Summer

Here are the pics.  The rectangle piece alone before the edges are assembled measures close to 29 inches (28 5/8).  After the whole thing is assembled, the top measures 30 inches across.  I'm sure that you have your own ideas about what fits your needs and hope that you will show us pics of the changes.  Hope these help to get you started on your own customized version. 

Summer

davidwwilson said:

This is driving me ever more insane, Summer - Will you PLEASE paint something before I die?!

OMG you and me both!  Working on two paintings at the moment.  One of them should be ready by April 15th or before--the "pet" challenge.  That is in just a few weeks. 

rstall

Thats really elegant! Thanks Summer. i realized its time to paint and get back to the furniture a bit later....i just put on my second coat of the the paint on the glass palettes last night....what weird is the first coat took almost two days to be touch dry, while the second coat only took like 6 hours (although probably thinnner), for two 24 by 14 inch glass palettes and one smaller one it took an entire small tube of the alkyd burnt umber and still may be a bit light, but there is no damn alykdburnt umber at any art store in southern oregon.   It splatters a lot when applying so better not to paint on the palette stand in my opinion and painting the edges is great if you can because of the way the light refracts.. I

By the way Summer , I havent' forgotten to post photos/instructions of the paper towel holder, just not done yet.

Summer

@rstall I feel your pain reading your post. You gotta have good wheels to travel these roads and it looks like you have them.  Paper towel holder: Can't wait to see the design that you came up with.  We're working on a prototype add-on to convert most normal paper towel holders into a durable stable brush wiping station that others here might like to build.  When I get this painting finished that I'm working on for the challenge, I'll post it--sometime this month.  Though this information is a bit late for you, Amazon will ship the alkyd burnt umber in two days if you have or can find someone with a prime shipping account.  A good thing to have for the future.  About the painted palettes: Painting the edges was a good idea.  I waited two whole days between coats for all the palettes to dry because I didn't trust the touch dry method.  Even longer wouldn't hurt in some climates.  I painted them outdoors on a papered board over two sawhorses and let them dry in the drying rack instead of trying to paint them directly on the droid.  Just saying....  Good luck!