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Inge Ivens PSA
Nevada City, CA
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I live in the old gold mining town of Nevada City, in the Sierra foothills, north-east of Sacramento. Being a true beginner with no real knowledge of pastels, I initially used the dining room table, but then moved into a guest room space with a table easel. About three years ago, I established my current larger studio with a stand-up easel. Itβs in the basement of the house and has a large window and door to the outside.
The pastel table layout is V-shaped towards the easel, so I can step far back to look at the painting. There is a second, smaller easel to βageβ a finished painting, look at it for a while, and see if I should call it truly done! My main palette is sorted in trays and easy to reach on my right side.
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There is a second room in the back, used for cutting, mounting and also for paper and frame storage, which conveniently keeps everything clean and separated.
I tried to keep the new studio layout simple, limiting the amount of furniture that could catch pastel dust. Luckily the room has two large storage closets with doors, where I keep supplies. Initially purchased due to the smoke from nearby forest fires, I installed two large air purifiers behind the easel and to the left, to draw any dust back. The tall rack, where I store spare pastels, has wire shelves that do not need much cleaning.
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I keep a little gallery with some of my favorite paintings (NFS) and two or three from my early days, when I just had started painting.
The other table to the left of the easel holds more backup pastels and is also used as a work table and for various underpainting techniques and liquids.
| To facilitate things, I have my trusted helper-dog keeping me on track. | | |
Recently I have installed overhead LED tube lights in the studio. Before that I had used two tripods with daylight bulbs (cool 6500 Kelvin daylight). The setup would cast shadows when I moved in front of the easel.
My new overhead LEDs were regular tube lights but I learned that their flicker could be responsible for my eye strain and headaches, when spending more than one to two hours in the studio. I may be one of those people who are sensitive to light flicker. I searched for flicker free LED light tubes (yes they are more expensive). They were installed, and I seem to feel a difference.
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Nicole Huggins
Evergreen, CO
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I live in the beautiful Rocky Mountains outside of Denver at high elevation. The sky is often clear and bright. My husband made me a studio in our house with big windows. The windows catch the incredible light revealing the nuances of value and color of my beautiful pastels. The view is always an inspiration, although I also enjoy painting images from my travels, still life paintings, or portraits from life.
This photo shows how I typically set up to paint. I rely primarily on the natural light coming from the large windows. The pastel sticks, as well as some pastel and charcoal pencils, are generally placed in a pastel box by my side for easy reference. If I am painting from a memory of something that caught my eye, I tape a few reference photographs nearby. I may also pull up a few references on my computer. When I take photographs, I often think of the composition, with this process in mind.
| | There is a dresser in my studio that used to belong to my son, when the room was used as his bedroom. Since he's on his own now, he told me a few years ago it was okay to use his room for a proper studio. The dresser not only is used for art storage and framing, but it reminds me of my children. I repurposed an old chest in my studio for the same reasons. My family is a wonderful source of support and inspiration for me. | | This photograph of my studio highlights the large three-pane window in my studio. The bright and clear Colorado light is important to me, since it lets me see values and shades of color clearly. | | This photograph shows my typical set-up, with the pastels on one side and the large window on the other. Whether standing or sitting, I place my easel so the light shines directly on the pastel paper and the pastels are next to me. I have a large and small table, where I can place objects that I want to paint from life, my computer, or photos for reference. I also have a comfy armchair in the back of my studio, where I can rest, or just step back to take a look and contemplate what I'm painting. | | | | |
