Saturday, July 5, 2008

Seth's workspace

This is the photo that is visible in the picture from the Library exhibition, of Seth's workspace in Japan. He had a stool that he sat on, which he moved from the drawing table on the right to the computer on the left. There are a few books on the shelves next to the table, but he had left the greater part of his books here with me. He decided that he no longer wanted to use references, but to draw entirely from his imagination. Earlier he had used reference material to help with clothing styles, architectural styles, mechanical things, and so on, but by the time he had this space, he knew how things worked well enough for accuracy, and he didn't want crutches for his imagination.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting: I assumed Seth would have one of those upright artist desks with the angled drawing surface. Did he draw 'flat' then? Also, is that a light box peeping out from between the drawers and the desk on the bottom right? I have one, but if this is a lightbox, then it's much slimmer than mine.

Great photo, though - always really interesting to see how other artists work.

Vicki said...

Gareth,
Seth used to have an angled artists' table, but in their apartment in Japan, space (not to mention money) was so limited that he went with what he could get and what would fit easily. He mostly drew Batman at his tiny apartment in Tokyo, while sitting on the floor with his paper lying on a small low table that they used for everything else. By the time of this photo he had made a point of being able to draw anywhere, with or without the amenities. At least he had a room almost entirely set apart for artwork.
I think that is a light box; he had quite a slim one as I remember.
Also there is a space heater in the corner--the room heater was only in the living/sleeping room of this three-room apartment. And a large high-resolution scanner next to the computer.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I take your point about being flexible being a virtue. I work just about anywhere, but I also think there is a minimum of 'kit' that makes things easier. I think, if I had the money, a slimmer lightbox and an A3 scanner would be my investments (and perhaps a drawing table, and a Mac, and a dedicated room - with a view out over a wooded valley, with perhaps a little stream running though it - but that would be it, I swear!).

Thanks again for sharing, Vicki.

j_ay said...

Thanks for the photo, Vicki!
Like Gareth my first reaction was, ‘Seth drew on a flat table?!?’

Nice to see where the magic happened.