The healthy workspace.
Having a healthy workspace is just as important as your medium and subject matter. And like those two factors, everyones idea of what a healthy workspace is should come down to what makes them feel most comfortable. Two things, however, should be consistent; the location should be organized in whatever way supports your workflow and your workspace should inspire creativity.
It’s important to be respectful of one another’s workspaces and not disturb the creative process. However, it is also important to be flexible and not box yourself in, both figuratively and literally.
Over the weekend I was forced to adjust to a floor move that I really didn’t want any part of. While my workspace only moved from one side of a room to another; everything around it changed drastically. I was no longer in a creative environment surrounded by art, I was now shoved in a warm corner trapped by workout and leisure equipment.
This led to a mini breakdown. I had finally fallen into a healthy workflow and I was generating art, suddenly, the place I went to make art in was compromised—I had zero inspiration to make anything. What I failed to acknowledge was that I had not been creating art for roughly a week. I knew this, we all knew this, but it was more important and fulfilling for me to blame someone else for this…to pick out logistics and a ripple in the water as the cause for the collapse instead of the obvious culprit; self-sabotage and imposter syndrome.
“This is where I created issue one and this is the only place I can work.” is not real. While workspace is important, it will change, just like your medium and subject matter; just like your sources of inspiration. Artist’s grow out of their spaces and sometimes they may even scurry back to their old shells; just to catch a feeling or an air of enlightenment.
Have your drawing table.
Have your drawing boards.
Have your various sketch books. Have as many sets of microns as you want, a few pentel pockets, couple 0.5 mechanicals. Take them with you everywhere. Leave them in places you find yourself most, high in a closet or tucked under a couch. Don’t even ask permission.
Read every day, look at art everyday.
Absorb the type of content that you create. And sometimes don’t, just to clear your head. Find peace in your mind. Because that’s the most important workspace, the one you should always keep clear and organized and the one that inspires the most creativity. It’s the one that will grow with you, wherever you are in life.