Caution:Artist at Play-Artwork by Shana Rowe Jackson

      As some of you may know, I am renovating my art studio. This has given me the chance to look over what I have and to reflect on the tools that I have gathered over the years.       This got me to thinking about all the tools that I have in my studio that are not actually art supplies. I decided to compile a list and share it with others who might find it helpful when setting up their own art studio.     Many of these tools are seemingly uninteresting, I mean, buying paint and pencils is the fun part, right? Who wants to shop for tape? However, it takes more than just pretty art supplies to keep a studio running.     Here are a few of the things, in no particular order, that I touch on in my video. To hear more feel free to watch the video below! * Rags, studio wipes and paper towels. Great for cleanup, to wipe your brush on and for creating certain effects in your work (just make sure you opt for lint free if you are touching it to your artwork.) * Spray bottles for re-wetting p

   What can I say? I'm guilty. I am guilty of buying sketchbooks, using them a few times and then casting them aside. It's not that I am not into creating. Quite the contrary, I think it's the fact that I am so focused on making finished pieces that can can be hung on a wall, that I don't have much time for anything else. Most of the time I do realism which takes a lot of time, leaving me less time to work in a sketchbook.     I see my sketchbook as a place to explore and be creative. A place where I don't necessarily have to work realistically or "perfectly" (as if perfection actually exists.) It's also a place to work out ideas for larger paintings, or to just do some quick, gestural, from life sketches. So to me, there is a lot of use for sketchbooks, yet I rarely make time to use them. That being said, I recently went through my abandoned sketchbooks and found some hidden gems. A couple of highlights are pictured here.    What sparked me looking at

  A different way to use dry media!   Did you know that chalk pastels, soft pastels, and charcoal are all actually water-soluble? I learned this little trick in one of my drawing classes in college and I was flabbergasted the first time I heard about it!    Left-Right-Top-Bottom- Generals charcoal pencil, Pan Pastels, Conte pencil, Royal Langnickel pastel pencil, Derwent pastel pencil, Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel pencil,Blick charcoal, Koh I Noor extra soft pastel, Sennelier extra soft pastel, No name student grade chalk pastel, Grumbacher chalk pastel.    Using water with these very dry mediums can open up a lot of doors for creativity. It's an excellent way to blend, create expressive marks, and to create a painterly feel with your sketches. I love using this technique when I am feeling particularly experimental with my work. You can introduce brush marks, splatters, and washes into your drawings. This technique is also great for plein-air sketching as it requires very little tools