State of the Studio

Here's what the studio looked like back when I had hair and a shar pei. I was probably twenty-six, twenty-seven when I drew this. Man, I hated working with watercolor.

So Karen's class started unexpectedly and I'm up here in my bathrobe listening to her say, "Now keep your butt clenched, and sweep from your knee." The ease and relish with which she leads her classes will be swiped and used in the novel...

While I'm up here, I may as well do a post on what I need to do for the studio. Honestly, these posts are more for my benefit than yours... I should just write 'em down in a notebook or something, but here they are.

Anyway. My life has a pattern of big hauls interspersed with long droughts. My response is to sock aside most of any haul for future living expenses, set aside a bit for a temporarily increased standard of living, and then make a few big investments in my infrastructure. So part of what I'm going to do is to improve my studio.

The first issue is the big window in the above drawing. You see how it's filled with a pine tree? They cut that sucker down a couple of years ago and it has been plain and fancy hell. The heat, the light fading my books, the backlighting of my monitor making it difficult and unpleasant to work in the afternoon -- it's been bugging me a lot for a long time. It's also going to be hell of expensive. That window is big, it's set on a slant, and it's over a spiral staircase. Installation hell. But it's time to drag the blueprints down to the store and get the ball moving.

Right now the studio is properly set up for writing, digital image work, and playing guitar and bass. I need to make it work for drawing, painting, using the drum pads and keyboards, and recording music.

In order to draw while at my workstation, I'll need to get a stiff foam pillow shaped to hold a drawing board at the proper angle. This will also allow me to edit manuscripts here instead of in bed, thus ending my paranoia that I'll inadvertently pull a Clarence Thomas and deliver a pubic hair along with the deleted passive tense. "No, I did not mean anything. It's probably from the dog or my wife or something. Stop looking at me like that."

And while I'm at it, I'll have a similar pillow made at an angle suited for holding manuscripts while I'm word-processing revisions. Currently I use a regular pillow folded in half, and occasionally it springs up and hurls paper about to comical effect.

Getting the music station set up properly will be nice. As it is, it's an awkward eyesore that blocks access to the bookshelves and threatens to tip over. I want a stand for the keyboard.

I do wonder if I could get a rolling table of some kind for the computer keyboard and mouse and such, or if there's such thing as a keyboard stand with space for such gear.

I want a folding table of some kind. When I do ink blots and such I go out on the deck and crouch and it hurts and I'm tired of it.

I want to get my working computer hooked into the sound system, and I want to be able to work on our recording computer from my workstation, and I want to have the drum pads and keyboard ready to plug in and play at a moment's notice, rather than being too much trouble to get around to. I've had a low-end pro recording setup for a decade and I can't do anything with the damned thing. Since I'll probably be doing more spoken-word stuff in the future, it would behoove me to be able to record myself.

I'm also going to get a stereo. A real, grownup component stereo that works. I am fed up with buying boom boxes at yard sales. It's hurting my faith in human nature. "Yeah, it's fine, works like new, we just got a new one..." Liars! I know that all the music in the world is available for free on-line, yeah, yeah. But I don't care. I just don't do it, much as it seems like a good idea. So I want to play my stupid old records and CDs and tapes and let the MP3s go fuck themselves.

I need to do something about the floor and I don't know what. But the floor is raw plywood and it's starting to splinter. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

I need to have my light table set up so I can put it fully upright to use as a surface for story blocking, and back to a proper drafting angle. Right now it's at a perfectly useless angle.

I don't have a printer -- but I do have a very interesting idea revolving around the acquisition of one. I'll tell you more about that soon.

And I need to get the lighting situation sorted out. I still don't have a decent drawing/reading lamp, and that's a necessity. And I need to either find out how to get the subwoofer fixed, or get rid of it and put in a shelf instead.

Shwa. Man. And that's not all I have to think about... But when all that's done, the studio will be a better place to work. I've already cleaned the damned thing up, so the worst is over. And honestly? This kind of thing really does make life a little nicer, especially when you appreciate it.

Creative Spaces 5: Deathtrap!

There have been four responses to the Creative Spaces call... Here's the full listing!

This broom will very probably increase my lifespan by a significant figure. How can this be, I hear you ask.

Well, for years I had to stand on this ledge...

... to reach this window. (Or the books on the upper shelf.)

Here's the drop from the ledge. And remember, that staircase is steel -- it is quite unforgiving. These days I use the loop on the end of the broom to open and close the window, so I'm only imperiling myself when I need to grab a book from the top shelf.

And yes, that's my gut. I'm leaning backwards with my hips thrust forward, bringing its magnificence into prominence. Yeah, I'm on a fat boy plan and yes it's working, lost a couple of inches around the waist -- but I'm a big guy, I'm forty-five, what the hell do you want from me anyway?

For years the missus has expressed concern about my climbing around over the staircase. This is understandable. I'm a fairly clumsy fellow, and as you can see, that's a nasty drop. Honestly? I worry about it a little myself. That staircase is murder.

I figured out the trick with the broom after I had a little adventure a few months back. I was standing on the ledge, facing the bookshelf, and a moment's clumsiness shifted my center of gravity past the point of recovery. I started to topple backwards.

Now, in my blog post yesterday I made reference to feeling comfortable in situations involving violence. That's actually just part of it. I'm good in general emergency situations. I'm a danger ranger. I don't panic. I think.

So as I started to fall backwards, Emergency Guy took over. Everything slowed down and I had a chance to figure things out. Stupid as it may sound, I thought to myself, "Hmm. What would Spiderman do?"

And then I visualized his actions.

And then I acted.

I pushed myself off the ledge, jumping backwards, and pushed harder with my left foot so I spun in midair. I landed on my feet in a crouch at the top of the stairs. It was fucking perfect. I had no idea that kind of thing was within my capacities.

Right then I figured out how to open and shut the window with the broom. Talk about your deadline inspirations.

So now I've got to wonder. Am I the only person in the world whose life was actually saved by Spiderman?

Creative Spaces 3: Decor by DeFault

I don't see myself as the decorative type. However, a lifetime of gifts, yardsales, and thriftshops has wound up accumulating into a rather distinctive style.

If you click on this image and roam around a little bit, you'll have a fair notion of what it's like inside my skull.

Of course I have bowls of dead bugs sitting around. No, they're not for snacking.

Of course I have random piles of carrion scattered about. No, they are not the result of snacking.

I saw this in the grocery store some twenty years ago and I knew that some day I was gonna run across a turkey that needed lifting. I'm ready for him.

Yes, that's a sickle and a mask. Everybody needs a hobby.

It's funny -- I picked up the Poe and Van Gogh toys on two consecutive weekends at two different yardsales. Paid fifty cents for one, a quarter for the other. They're both important figures to me. (Shit. That's a pun, isn't it?)

But just remember, oafboy, you want their drive and their talents. Not their fucking careers.

Creative Spaces 2: The Workstation

So you may ask yourself: What does Metron, one of Kirby's Recording Angels, have in common with the oaf? The answer is simple. We're both all about the chair.

Here's the deal. My back is bad; I can't sit or stand too much without experiencing elevated levels of pain. Too much can put me down. So I needed to create a workstation for myself that would let me work comfortably. This meant laying down. My first was based on a laptop, a media cart, and a homemade chaise lounge.

But the laptop got old, and I found myself unable to do art on it. So when I came into a small inheritance a few years back I decided to drop some bucks on a new setup. This is the single biggest investment I've made in my life and it's paid off for me, so far. This is my guilty secret -- I do a lot of poor-mouthing for good reason, but when I had money I spent thousands of bucks for one of the nicest workstations I know of.

A few years back I had a stay in a hotel room that included a recliner. During that stay my levels of pain were reduced considerably. The recliner was better for my back than any other furniture I was familiar with. So I knew I wanted to work from a recliner -- but how the hell do you do that? I got a vague mental image of what I wanted and hit the internet.

So here's the computer. Yeah, I'm a Mac user -- when I started off you needed to have a Mac if you were going to do graphics.

The biggest problem I faced was mounting the monitor. I searched diligently for monitor mounts and stands -- and when I found this one I knew it was the way to go, since it offered me the option of mounting the computer itself on the same stand. It's quite stable, knock wood, and it lets me get the monitor exactly where I want it. It's a Mack Bailey product. Can't recommend it enough.

And the monitor itself is a real indulgence. It's a Cintiq, which lets me use a stylus directly on the screen. I'd hoped it would let me ditch paper entirely; this has not been the case. But the Cintiq has become an important part of my workflow, especially when it comes to 'painting' and making selections. Saves me a lot of time and produces superior results.


After shopping around and test-sitting a number of different recliners, this is the one I settled on. Interestingly enough, it's called a Perfect Chair. It's disturbingly comfy. Unfortunately, the company's a bit of a pain to deal with -- very, very slow in delivery. In fact, I'm still waiting on my foot support extension.

But this chair has changed my life completely -- I'm easily five or six times as productive and my chronic pain has been greatly reduced. Without this I wouldn't even be able to consider full-time work. (Which I don't have. Which I want.)


And here's the finishing touch. I have small tables mounted on the sides of the chair to hold a split keyboard from Comfort Keyboards. This allows me to touch type in an ergonomically acceptable fashion. Got my little Wacom on the right side and I'm good to go.

So you want to know the secret of my productivity? The most comfortable place in the world for me is my workstation.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at some of the decorative touches that make my studio disturbing. Won't you join me? There'll be dead bugs and straight razors!