Re-adjusting my art caddy

Some time ago you may recall I decided to alter the way I set up my art caddy, a little thing I had since my teen years and haven’t felt the need to get something else. If you’ll recall (or just click the link in the previous paragraph) I was unhappy with having the pens on the bottom set of holes because they flop around, Plus I was worried about the coloring pencils being lost in the big holes as they get used up.

That was back in January of last year. As I’ve used it I found more and more that I may have been in error. Or maybe it’s just because I use more pens.

At the time I only had a few inking pens, four Faber-Castell PITT pens, which I recommend to artists who don’t mind disposable pens (clumsy oaf that I am I’m sure I’d spill an ink well all over my artwork, my desk, my floor, my pants…) and a few Microns for really small lines. Another concern is that I wasn’t finding the holes for the pencils and they weren’t being returned to the right spot.

With this arrangement I had three pencils in the big holes which I thought would help with the organizing; just find the hole with only two pencils and there you go. That didn’t quite work as planned. Also, I added some new Sharpies and a Pentel Pocket Brush pen, recommended by a friend of mine, and that plus an extra small nib PITT pen lead to one more issue. Here you see the pencils can be moved out of the way to reach the pens. When there were fewer pens that wasn’t a problem. With all the extra pens the pencils often get in the way of the one I want, making it more difficult to put away and taking time I could be spending on drawing.

So now we’re back to the drawing supplies on the bottom rung and the coloring pencils taking up the top two spaces. So what happens if I forget where it goes? I was doing that anyway, so unless I remove more than one I’ll have to hope I can find the right hole. And if the pencil gets too small for the taller holes? That’s one I’m going to have to think about when the time comes. I don’t color with the pencils as often as I do the computer.

But now I can get to the drawing pencils and inking pens with a little less hassle. I also picked up this:

My desk is too small for larger paper. If it’s on a pad that isn’t an issue but for a stand-alone sheet (which I will probably use since I don’t want to leave indentations in the Bristol sheet below) this is better. I decided to leave the plastic on rather than have marks on the board and I gained the added bonus of having static cling keep the paper in place if I rub it…although that only stays in place for a while so I also use removable tape in the corners. That corner also makes a good place to set up my usual 9 X 12 paper so I usually don’t have to readjust my chair or move the paper to get everything. I like that.

It’s not much but it’s some cleaning, and one I’ve been wanting to do since my art supply count increased. We’ll see how this setup goes.

 

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