Five More Art Studio Must Haves (that aren't art supplies)

#1 Desk Fan

I moved to New England in an old house and they don’t have ceiling fans here. I miss ceiling fans. So I got this lil desk fan and it’s the best. I also found one that matches my color palette, so I feel happy every time I look at it.

Also, on my tik tok video version of this post, someone commented asking something like “What is the fan for? Just moving air I’m from a different county?” And I can’t stop thinking about a country that is so temperate to never need a fan.

#2 Hanging shelf thing.

Also known as Thing to Put Your Sketchbooks and Papers and Stuff In. I’ve had few different versions for this function, I used to have a thing on my ikea peg board. A magazine rack would work. I tried a paper tray on my desk before, but I tended to just forget what ever was on the bottom of the stack and then stack supplies and other stuff on top. For what ever reason, having it off the desk but in reach is best. I got a few of these hanging shelves from Family Dollar for my last studio and it worked out that it fits nicely on my shelf. (Should I paint it yellow to match my fan?) Also, Dollar general and family dollar have a lot of pretty good, basic organizational items for waaaay cheaper than big box stores.

Desk Fan

Hanging shelf

Related side tangent, I have feud with Too tall shelves and too deep drawers. The reason I got the hanging shelves in the firs place was because my old studio had these built in shelves, which were great, but despite taking up the whole bloody wall there wasn’t enough actual shelving to place things on. Mots art supplies are only a few inches tall. Am I supposed to stack them on top of each other? It’s dumb. Anyway.

#3 Idea wall

I really recommend hanging your own work up for reference in addition to other inspiration. How do I like drawing trees again? Oh just look up on the wall. Does this character have a bag, what are the proportions? On the wall. What pigment did i use for this environment? On the wall. What is supposed to happen in this scene again? On the wall. Some people just tape things to the wall, you could use a whiteboard with magnets, or a wire grid with clips. I was fortunate to score this big corkboard from goodwill my only regret is that I didn’t buy more. I have it set up for a writing beat sheet which is super handy when I’m working on a story. But I also have this smaller one where above my painting area.

My cork board

My little baby cork board that sits above my easel. I like to put stuff that relates to my current project here.

#4 ZONES

this isn’t so much a thing as just a tip. especially for us adhders, it’s imperative to reduce friction in your art practice if you want to be productive, and if you spend a lot of time art making you don’t want to waste time setting up and taking stuff out. So the best way to do that is with zones. Painting zone. Writing and admin zone. Permanent for my scanner. Utility zone. This also helps with organization because all the stuff associated with a zone lives near that zone. Obviously if you have a smaller space, you probably won’t be able to implement this to the extent I have, but you can think of other ways to reduce friction.

Okay the thing I regret buying is this lil desk vacuum

Having a tiny desk vacuum would be really useful but this one just straight up doesn’t work. The target value section tricked me. Don’t buy this if you see it at target.

I have a whole studio reno series on tik tok if you want to see more into my process for planning my studio space. I had studio rooms in other houses before this one, and I really feel like I’ve started to perfect it. If you are just starting out, I really recommend just using what you have, making note of what bothers you, and getting creative with solutions to make your work easier. You do not need to buy all new furniture, set up or supplies all at once. Even if you have the money to do that, I would caution against it because you can end up wasting your money and the stuff you buy.

Also, it may seem silly to non-creative people, but for me having a beautiful space to work in has become really important. When your primary job is based on aesthetics and creativity, your space needs to feed your inspiration and keep you in a good mood. Coming into my studio instantly boosts my mood, and puts me in the mindset to create. So whether it’s buying a yellow fan instead of a black one, painting squiggles on the wall, getting rid of all your furniture except an easel, or filling the room up with funk-o pops, it’s worth it to work toward creating a space you truly enjoy.