How to Make an Art Studio

Collect art supplies. The basics are colored pencils, acrylic paints, sketching pencils, erasers, and sketching paper. If you would like, purchase oil paints, watercolor paper, watercolors, pastels, and more. You will also need scissors and glue. Salvage supplies from your basement from when you were a kid, or ask friends and family for extra supplies. You can buy your own if you have the money. If you are a painter, buy an adjustable easel. You can also scope out an arts and crafts store like Michael's. They sell sketching and painting kits, beading kits, and other supplies.

Find an empty closet, a spare bedroom, or any other private space with a door. This room can be an attic in your house. Make sure that this "room" is big. Generally, the bigger the better; it gives you space to put up inspirations and organize art supplies. You will always need an adequate light source. Sunlight is the best source of light. At night, use full spectrum light bulbs, which lets you see colors accurately and eliminate glare and eyestrain. If the floors are carpeted, spread a tarp on the floor where you'll paint. If not, purchase some wood cleaners in case paint gets on the floor.^[1]

Put furniture in the room. You will need a flat table, at least three feet long. This can be a desk, just a table, or other. You might want to purchase a bright light for your table. From your stockpile of supplies, take out two or three sketching pencils, an eraser, a pair of scissors, and a big batch of sketching paper to put on your desk. Put everything but the paper into a pencil holder for easy access. A chair or stool will be necessary as well. Wood or plastic is preferred, as chairs/stools with cloth or cushions may get stained. If you do choose to add a chair with cushions or cloth, make sure the cushion/cloth is removable and washable. You can add other furniture for breaks, like sofas and small coffee tables.^[2]

Find empty containers from around the house and put them into your studio. Or, purchase them from a store. They can be plastic, colorful, with lids, without lids, whatever. You will need open boxes for paper, watercolor paper, canvases, etc. Gather all of your crayons, markers, paints, paintbrushes, pencils, and any other art supplies. Put them all into separate containers, while rooting out supplies you think are broken, dried, or unusable. Label the containers with index cards or labels.^[3]

Store these boxes under your table, if there is room. If not, stack them on the side, or put them on your desk. Make sure the labels on the boxes are facing out. Put open boxes on the floor. If you have any shelves, you can put the boxes into the shelves and pull them out like drawers.^[4]

Decorate your studio. Paint the walls a funky color. Take photographs of things that inspire you. Find photos of your friends, family, pets, and home. Clip photos from magazines and buy books of interesting and beautiful things to base your art on. Tape all of these photos and images on the wall above your desk to inspire you. Hang things from the ceiling, like little Christmas ornaments, lights, or even just random things you find with yarn, binder clips, and tape.^[5]

Get ready to be an artist. Bring paper towels and cleaning sprays into your art studio to make cleaning up messes easier. Find old t-shirts and smocks to protect your clothes. Begin thinking of projects. Be prepared for the worst of messes.