Where They Draw

Blog showcasing the work spaces and tools of artists

Curated by Jordan Shiveley

Rafer Roberts

The office/studio of Rafer Roberts and Plastic Farm Press

Our house is about 100 years old and at some point one of the previous owners put a 10’x10’ addition on the back. This was a huge selling point when we were house hunting and I believe I declared this addition to be my new studio during our first walkthrough. One of the walls is brick and was originally just the back of the house. If I ever get motivated I plan to strip the paint off to reveal the brickface.

Here are some highlights:

OVERVIEW



1 - Corkboard. Contains random scraps of paper, mostly notes or ideas for stories. A lot have already made their way into comics and remain on the board because I don’t know where else to put them.

2 - Toolbox. Filled with extra ink, brushes, nibs and paint. Extra inventory.

3 - Filing cabinets. Filled with stacks of finished pages. Eventually I’ll spring for portfolios to put all these in, but for now the cabinets works.

4 - Floor. Where my paper lives, apparently. (I use Strathmore Bristol, both vellum and smooth, windpower when I can get it.)

5 - Drawing desk. I’ve had the same antique drawing table since late middle school. I bought it at a garage sale from someone who had bought it second hand and who had used it for 30 years themselves, so it’s hard to say how old the thing really is. It’s wobbly and the surface is pocked and grooved (I have a piece of smooth particle board sitting on top of it) but I’ve carried it with me through high school and college and a dozen or so moves and I’ve drawn nearly every page of comics I’ve ever made (all the good ones, anyway) so replacing it isn’t something that I’m eager to do. On the other hand, the slant isn’t very steep and the nearly flat angle is killing my back.

6 - This stool came with the table. My ass has worn out the padding and so it has been replaced. Now it is a seat for the cats so they can watch me draw.

7 - Entertainment. I listen to music, audiobooks, radio and sometimes play old movies and TV shows in the background while I draw. The TV is also wired to the computer so I can use it to display reference pictures at a larger size.

8 - Books. Mostly “how to draw” style books and giant books filled with pictures of single subjects. A big book of guns is prominently displayed.

9 - Mailing supplies. A big ugly pile of boxes and mailing supplies that block the door to the outside (which I never really used anyway.)

10 - Whiteboard. One of the most useful things in the office. Helps me to not miss deadlines and to draw things in order.

11 - Technology. Computer is a Mac. Printer is a duplex that I sometimes use to print out mini-comics. Scanner is the MIcrotek ScanMaker 9800XL. (I draw big and got tired of cutting up my artwork or scanning in multiple passes.)

12 - Letters from Dave Sim and Larry Young. They were really cool letters so I hung them up.

WHERE I SIT



13 - Circles within reach.

14 - Assortment of drawing utensils, some used more often than others (details later)

15 - Wrist glove. Fights hand cramping and helps with keeping my sweaty hand from smudging my artwork.

16 - Sketchbook. It sits in this spot while I am in the penciling stage.

17 - Light table. When it’s not helping me to draw cars or buildings, my light table lives behind my desk.

TOOLS



18 - In this big mess of drawing tools you will find:
Brushes: Mostly Loew-Cornell 7000 round, sizes 2-4
Nibs: For cross-hatching and some lettering
Ink: I use a variety but have been mostly stuck on Speedball Super Black for a while
Ames lettering guide: for lettering
Toothbrush: for drawing stars or blood
Also in there somewhere: rulers, various Pitt pens, razor blades and scissors. There is also a clay sculpting tool in there, but I don’t know why.

FINALLY:



19 - Pandora. The cat who likes to watch me draw. She will claw at my leg and meow if I am drawing, but if I put her on the old stool she will be a good girl and just quietly sit there.

The end.

My studio is basically like a long closet or hallway. It’s pretty narrow but it’s got a nice window and it can contain all my clutter so it works.
a. The drawing desk is the only piece of furniture I bought for my studio. Above it is my light table which is probably the most valuable thing I own. I found it for free (someone was just giving it away!). I think it could be homemade, it’s large and durable and super bright. I love it. I pretty much always draw on it, even if it’s not turned on. I also have an old bank lamp that I use at night. 
b. I can watch for the postman out this window. This dress used to be my mother’s I think. I don’t remember hanging it up but I guess I did at some point and I’ve never taken it down. It’s been there for so long I don’t really see the point anymore. 
c. This is my ‘guest desk’. It was left by an old roommate so now I try to keep it semi-clean so people can come over and work on it if they want. I also use it for projects when my other desk gets too crowded with papers and stuff. 
d. This paper bag is where I put my trash. You can also see my high school boom box which I use to blast music. Sometimes when I work I need music that’s louder than my thoughts and this does the trick. 
e. I’ve been hanging up my completed comic pages on the wall. This might not be good for them but I like it. 
As far as materials go, I’ve recently started using cheap bond paper for thumbnails and pencils and then drawing right onto vellum. I use ink sometimes but my next comic is all done with pencil on vellum.

Sam Spina

Picture ONE: 
Here’s my desk! It’s tucked in the corner of our living room. 1. This is a very clean version of my desk, usually it’s covered in papers and dirty dishes and stuff, with just enough space cleared to open a sketchbook. I like having that huge cutting board on it so I can just cut at will.  2. My wall is decorated with little drawings and prints that my artist friends sent me. 3. I think my lamp is the best thing my desk has going for it. A good light source is key. 4. Jim Mahfood skateboard I got for a steal! Luh dat. 5. Pug Calendar 6. One of like seven boxes of my Xeric book. I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of them all. Buy one? 7. I have a ton of art supplies and junk in all those plastic drawers that I’ve been collecting since high school. I’ll never use most of the cheap paints, dollar brushes and crappy pens. My backpack is mostly where I keep all the tools I actually use (I pretty much never leave the house without it), which takes me to…
Picture TWO:
1. That’s my BA pen case/bag/sheath. I got it at jetpens.com and it was worth every penny. I like that it’s not that big so I have to be choosy about what I take with me. For comics I use a pilot Vball pen (mostly for letters), a pentel pocket brush, .7 mechanical pencil, a G nib, a W&N series 7 #2 brush and one of those clear brush pens that you’re supposed to fill with water for watercolors, but filled with an ink wash instead. 2. My favorite thing, a little handmade ceramic inkwell that I use almost daily made by my bff Jon Garza. 3. I have a minimum of three sketchbooks with me at all times, a regular one, a comics one and a pocket one.
Picture THREE:
Close to my desk is my big comics shelf! 1. GO COCKS. 2. All my graphic novel-y comics. 3. Floppies and a white container of minis. 4. All my completed sketchbooks so far! 
Not Pictured:
My closet filled with all the boxes of mini’s I’ve made and my scanner with the complete ‘Bone’ book that I use to press my sketchbooks down to get a good scan.

Emily Partridge


1. small inspiration wall. includes a Stefan Thompson painting, russian propaganda, a picture of James Dean, among other things
2. makeshift tablecloth curtain. fun fact: i live on the ground floor and am terribly afraid of my window
3. sometimes I take pictures of things
4. Orwell lives in here when I’m not around

5. art supplies. I don’t have any brand loyalties to share since I usually just use what I can get for free or cheap
6. reading supplies. lots more books on my floor. also two cans of beans
7. craft supplies. felt, buttons, sewing kit, etc
8. chalk board whale. current drawing by Ryan Pequin.
(special things not numbered in this picture: Canadaopoly)

9. palette and other art supplies, currently not really in use
10. Orwell also goes in here
11. it is probably obvious what these are. my macbook was a birthday and early christmas present from my parents, and Ryan bought me the tablet to persuade me to work on my comics more
12. beloved sketchbook

13. beloved assistant/pet/Orwell

Emily’s Website

Sean Ford

Notes for photo 1) View of my homemade drawing board. It’s at about a 30 degree angle (for some reason, drawing on an angle feels more official and helps me focus more), but I like that I have flat desktop next to it so my pens and ink don’t go rolling everywhere. I use an ikea desk clamp light. And I have a bunch of pens and brushes in coffee cups next to the desk. You can also kind of see my external hard drive, pencil sharpener, box of white-out pens and the handle to my dusting brush. And there are a few comics pinned to the wall - Spirit no.17 and Uncanny X-men 168. There are a few random images from movies on the wall, too.

Notes for photo 2) This is the small room I use for my studio - my landlord mentioned it as a potential third bedroom, but it is about the size of a twin bed, so I can’t see that working. The way I worked it out with my roommate is he gets the big bedroom and I get the two smaller ones. Anyway, I love this room. I like that it can be a kind of sloppy work space. In this photo you can see my crappy/functional Mustek scanner (under the Jordan Crane print, to the left of the ikea floor lamp). On my desk is my Canon printer, which I was given as a gift years ago and am finally starting to use. If I’m in printing mode, the printer goes on the desk, if I’m in scanning mode, the scanner and printer switch places. To the right of all that is my trusty Mac and computer speakers. Then to right of that is my drawing board. There are schedules and rulers pinned to the wall. I always like to have a visual schedule/calendar mapped out for myself. Oh, under the printer you can kind of see my piles of paper. I mainly use 14” x 17” Aquabee Vellum Bristol - I think they’ve stopped making it though, so I might have to switch.

Notes for photo 3) Here’s a close-up of the drawing supplies I use the most. A Tachikawa nib holder with either a G-nib or studio pen nib and next to it a C-5 nib for panel borders and sometimes word balloons/lettering. Then a pentel brush pen and some microns. I always like to pencil with those blue Staedtler in 2H. I don’t know why there’s a sharpie there. I really like that little green pencil box if I decide to go draw in a coffee shop or something.

Notes for photo 4) Leonardo stands watch.

Madeleine Flores Hello! This is my Drawing Space- I don’t have a proper desk, so I just put a nice table cloth over my night stand. 1. This is Big Toe my Ugly Doll- my mascot. 2. Halloween lights, so I can see better… 3. I just like the color of this bag, it’s nice. 4. Scott C Print! 5. Katie Shanahan Print! 6.Noelle Stevenson Print! 7.Naked Burt Reynolds on a Bear Skin Rug. 8.I got this canvas frame print as a gift. 9.Hamburger 10.Computer/Speakers 11.Paper to draw on. It’s pretty low maintenance. I draw on regular paper and carry my pencils and brushes in a little red pouch. The End.

Madeleine Flores

Hello! This is my Drawing Space- I don’t have a proper desk, so I just put a nice table cloth over my night stand.
1. This is Big Toe my Ugly Doll- my mascot.
2. Halloween lights, so I can see better…
3. I just like the color of this bag, it’s nice.
4. Scott C Print!
5. Katie Shanahan Print!
6.Noelle Stevenson Print!
7.Naked Burt Reynolds on a Bear Skin Rug.
8.I got this canvas frame print as a gift.
9.Hamburger
10.Computer/Speakers
11.Paper to draw on.
It’s pretty low maintenance. I draw on regular paper and carry my pencils and brushes in a little red pouch. The End.

Patience Biggs

My space is tucked away in a corner of my dining room, I have never had a designated room for doing art, (although I can’t wait for that day) - I have a cheap assembled desk I use as a surface for my laptop (yeah, it’s a PC. I don’t follow the Mac cult) as well as drawing/painting. The shelf above my desk holds all my watercolors/pencils/pens. I use a 12-pack variety of Dr. Ph Martin’s Radiant Concentrated Watercolors in glass bottles with droppers for color, and either Super Black Speedball India Ink or FW Liquid Acrylic Artists Ink for my blacks. There’s tons of cups for holding rinse water (even though most of the time I use my own spit to shade) as well as a tiny plastic tray I use to keep my paints on for mixing. I also end up using and trashing a lot of rags for drying off my brushes. I paint mainly traditional style tattoo flash, but delve into realistic portraits as well as some fun experimental stuff. There’s a drawer-style tuff tote tucked away completely packed to the BRIM with acrylic paints, as well as two jars full of different types of brushes. All my reference books are kept on the bottom shelf of my bookshelf, as well as sheets of Arches & Strathmore watercolor paper, a roll of transparency paper, and tons of random sketches and stencils tucked into a folder. I like to keep books of all kind on hand for reference..Sailor Jerry stencils, Dover publishing books with random imagery - anything that inspires me. There’s a lightbox propped up against the wall that helps me put a final drawing together, to get everything clean and perfect. I keep art hung all around my space to inspire me - some of it’s my own, some if it is other people’s. I like to do paint-trades with random tattooers all over the country, so it’s interesting to see a combination of different styles hanging on my wall.

Lucy Knisley

For notes on these pics go HERE

Brian Fukushima

pic1:

I live in a pretty small bachelor apartment so my workspace is actually the same room as my kitchen and bedroom. I work with my back to my bed (out of sight out of mind) I moved from Vancouver to Toronto about a year ago and got rid of most of my possessions, I’m trying to live and work pretty simply and minimally. I have fewer tools to experiment with, but ideas and creativity can thrive with limitations too!
pic2:
I’m sure to have a guitar and mic available at all times so if musical inspiration hits I can switch modes immediately. Nothing kills the creative mood more than having to set a bunch of stuff up. Also I find if I get burnt out on drawing I can switch to music. It uses another creative part of my brain but gives my drawing muscles a rest. The mixer is a Behringer Eurorack UB802, the mic is a Shure SM58, the pedal is a Boss DS-1 and the guitar is a Squier Tele. (I also have a couple acoustic guitars not pictured)
pic3:
Just a bunch of pens. I try to put them into a jar but when I’m working on something they all just stay out. I like to have everything out where I can see it, it often causes a lot of clutter but I am more likely to work on something if it is already out and all the materials are ready and in place. I don’t use very fancy or expensive equipment for drawing or music and I’m not very fetishistic about gear. I use what is comfortable, convenient and available. I don’t think the songs I write will be better with a $2000 guitar and I don’t think my drawings will be better done with a set of Rapidographs (I own some that I never use anymore, too bothersome!) The pens I go for now are Pilot HI-TECPOINTs and Pilot G-TECs. I also like grey Copic markers, cheap brushes for inkwashes and Faber Castell watercolour pencils. There’s also a stylus for an tiny old Wacom Graphire that I rarely use anymore.

Richard Short

Since I moved to London where I draw is just a writing desk in the corner of my bedroom. My glass drawing table is still in my parents’ garage, so sometimes I have to trace against the window. Other than that the writing table is fine, as usually I’m just drawing on A4 printer paper, with a HB pencil and a crap fineliner.