Farm Pond

5x7 inches
acrylic on panel
silver plein air frame
Purchase at:
www.lindablondheim.com




Painters Tip



If you are just beginning a painting career and setting up your studio for the first time, here are some things you may need:

Good sturdy easel:
This is number one. Buy the best studio easel you can afford. It will last for many many years and serve you well.

Tools:
Pliers, blunt nosed and needle nosed. A set of good screwdrivers. A good hammer. A variety of screws, nails, picture wire, d-ring hangers, Scissors, tape measure, heavy duty stapler, regular stapler, t-square and various length steel measuring sticks, canvas pliers if you stretch your own.

Assorted large brushes for sizing, grounds, varnishing.

Assorted brushes for painting, canvas in various sizes, panels for painting out of masonite (hard board), Masonite is a brand name for hard board. Birch or MDF if you prefer wood. A table or skill saw if you wish to cut your own. I hire a carpenter to do mine because I am lazy and I buy stretched canvas for the same reason.

Assorted paints in whichever medium you prefer. You may want to purchase a tube squeezer.

I keep clear tape, masking tape, white framer's tape and scotch tape in the studio for various needs.

I use marble tiles 12x12 inches for palettes. You can put four of them together for a large palette or use them for small individual palettes. They work great and are less likely to break than glass palettes. I usually buy a neutral colored marble. They are easy to scrape too.

Furniture:
You can make studio furniture out of old dressers, chests, etc. I buy old stuff at garage sales. I took the drawers out of a chest and cut plywood to cover the bottoms. Now I have a nice shelf unit for flat files or storage. I used an old dresser to make a framing table. I put double layers of bubble wrap on the top to make it cushioned for framing and I keep my framing tools in the drawers. I used an old night stand to make my palette table. I opened the drawer and nailed it open for my paints and I put my marble palette on top. It works great. I used an old microwave stand and put a large plywood top on it to use for a large palette table.


If you are going to do framing you will need a miter saw, mat cutter, glass cutter, etc. I purchase frames from various manufacturers and install the paintings myself in my mini frame shop because I like to paint rather than spend time framing.

Lighting:

If you are lucky enough to have good north light that is great but most studios are in garages, warehouses, closets or spare bedrooms. I bought a bunch of plug-in shop lights which I hung around the room in strategic spots. They work great. You can use a mix of bulbs for natural light imitation.


There are a lot more things you can buy and put in your studio, but I like to keep it simple.

More on studio set ups next time......