The Dorm Studio

[jvgig]

For those of us that are not art majors, how are you handling drawing/painting (traditional materials) in your dorm? I am at PSU and due to the huge population the art facilities are more or less reserved for art majors only, both classes and studio space. Also it tends to get quite cold here, making painting outside not much fun. After all, given that we are not art majors, I can think of no reason to paint if it is not any fun. I brought a few sketchbooks, and some paper and boards with me as well as a selection of my supplies, but am having trouble using it. My desk is small and by the time I put my monitor on it, I am down to about 12" of desk space. I find that this limits the size of my canvas to 14-16" tall before I start to tip it as I draw on the part that is overhanging. So, I had my parents bring up one of those foldable A-frame easels so that I could use my 24"x36" sketchbook and hopefully do a painting or 2. From my experiences so far, these easels are almost worthless as I find myself trying to catch my work as the whole thing comes tumbling to the ground. Due to space constraints, my room mate will not appreciate my sturdy easel as it would permanently eat up a good chunk of our floor space right in the middle of the room.

What the rest of you doing to continue drawing/painting in college? Any solutions to these problems?

[KarylGilbertson]

Paint digitally, or work smaller?

Also, I found a small tabletop easel that is roughly 14x16" like this:

http://www.manufacturer.com/images/product/www.alibaba.com/1213/c/studio_easel_lyre_easel_folding_easel_children_eas el_wooden_box.jpg

maybe buy a little TV Tray table or something to set up your painting stuff on so it doesn't compete for desk space.

[Flake]

Behold my mighty studio..

797340

There's a door to the left of the pic so it's worse than it looks.

I get around it a bit by taping stuff to the walls until it's dried.

Yeah, it's crappy but you make do with what you have.

It's either that or stop painting until you have that perfect north light studio that most of us will never get.

[Kaycy is tanning]

Paint digitally, or work smaller?

Also, I found a small tabletop easel that is roughly 14x16" like this:

http://www.manufacturer.com/images/product/www.alibaba.com/1213/c/studio_easel_lyre_easel_folding_easel_children_eas el_wooden_box.jpg

maybe buy a little TV Tray table or something to set up your painting stuff on so it doesn't compete for desk space.

I've seen some put a tablet in those. It's a cheap way to not having to buy a reclining table.

[Flake]

Kaycy, just shush.

Chill for a bit, make some paintings or get out.

You are cluttering threads with nonsense posts...

[Viridis]

I lived in a pretty small apartment my first two years of college and honestly? I worked on my bed. I had a 24" x 30" or so drawing board and I just taped whatever I needed to that, sat down, spread my materials around me and worked from there. You can make do with very little space if you have to-- I've even heard of artists painting in their bathtubs because that was the only space they had.

Alternately, depending on how much space you have in your room, can you try getting a cheap folding table and setting it up somewhere? Most dorms have a common room of some kind, or you may even be able to work in a hallway if no one's around. Get creative. You might even make some friends if people come by while you're working.

[Nadesican]

My room is particularly cramped, and I don't even have the use of a whole desk! (Gotta put the computer somewhere, after all!). I've had to get creative with my workspace, and by creative, I mean I bought some stuff that helped.

First and foremost is an easil, the collapsable variety that can be set up anywhere, including the outdoors. This combined with a drawing board takes care of most of my major work.

For studies that aren't done digitally, I have an interesting little collapsalbe table. It was originally designed for a laptop, but with an angle-adjustable surface and varying levels of height, I find it perfect for putting down in the center of my room and doing studies. (For an example of this, look up the "My Place" laptop desk)