Make your art easy

I have been struggling to create art lately. I am not sure if it’s bad time management, procrastination, or having things out of site. I have been thinking that one reason is that my access to my art and supplies has become crowded. I have all these supplies laying around but no system to get productive. Some art supplies are in drawers or cases. Some of my projects are on loose paper or put away in binders and folders. To be honest I believe I forget about what some of those projects are until I start cleaning up.

I have for most of my life now worked in the back of the house of a kitchen. I have learned to cook, clean, and keep clean while working. It is a necessary thing for food safety and organization. While working like that I thought to myself, why don’t I just use those skills with my art studio?

Let’s talk about inking. I have been putting my works to be inked on some wood boards taped up, so the edges of the paper don’t get damaged. This way it’s easier to put away too. I have started to place them on top of my fireplace so that they are always in site. Knowing that they are there makes it easy to reach out on a project that I know needs to get done. The art becomes inspiring and I look forward to work on them.

I keep my inking tools and inks simple, only three ink bottles and two pens. The bottles are black, black wash, and a white ink. I have a fine tip nib that I use on occasion and a regular nib that I use most of the time. I also use a white gel pen to clean up lines. I keep it all in a purple pencil box. I have more inks and tools in a tool case but I only go in there when I need something special or a fancy ink.

To keep things clean I use gloves, napkins, and a piece of jean fabric. The gloves help keep my hands clean and let me know when I am getting too sloppy with my inks. Napkins for general cleanup. Jean fabric is for cleaning nibs.

In conclusion I try and keep things simple with my works space and tools. There can be a lot of clutter at times as an artist and wanting to use all kinds of art tools and paper. Sometimes things can get overwhelming and not knowing where to start but by keeping things to the minimum one, can get to work faster and clean up.

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Written by Esteban Mendoza

Edited by Ashley Ulibarri

Journey with Art

Working on art and starting a blog. This blog will be about my art journey. The works in progress and the works completed. I will be writing about topics on tools I use, pieces I’m on, and books I’m reading. I will be writing about things someone would appreciate on a artist level or who wants to take a look into the life of an artist. As an artist, I have a lot of art ideas I want to create. I want to be able to share my art the best way I can.

I have been working on this piece of art for quite awhile and I am almost finish. Its has come a long way and has been part of my life. As I work on it more I get more ideas on other projects I want to work on. I will have to finish this piece first. I will need to get some good photos after I finish so I can create some prints.

I have been thinking of a story about her. One day I will create a comic or book about her. Until then I will just create a series of art pieces.

This piece is of a sea Cecaelia, a Greek myth.

Name: Sea Cecaelia

Charcoal on paper

20'“x24”

Written by Esteban Mendoza

Edited by Ashley Ulibarri