Doug Savage

Doug Savage, cartoonist Vancouver, Canada www.savagechickens.com "Here's my desk, where I draw Savage Chickens. I always listen to music while I work, so I've got my stereo and turntable hooked up to the computer. The LP currently on the turntable is the Lou Rawls album 'All Things In Time'. Great album." "Dead Dog Bob lies on my scanner. I made him out of leftover scraps from my Grade 7 home economics class, where I supposedly learned to sew. Dead Dog Bob was one of my first cartoon characters. The fact that he was dead limited his narrative possibilities. But not as much as you might think." Here's my computer, showing my web site. My mousepad shows Brandon "Bird's 'Lazy Sunday Afternoon', which features Christopher Walken building a robot in his garage. That yellow thing is a chicken that I made out of modeling clay." "I doodle in my sketchbook to get ideas for cartoons. Then I try out the ideas on sticky notes. People have asked me if I use a template for the cartoons, but no - I draw each one on a bona fide sticky note and then scan it. I use Staedler pigment liners and a variety of sticky note brands. There are some early drafts of recent cartoons on the right." Godzilla watches from above. When I don't feel like working, I look up and Godzilla admonishes me. He's the Shogun Warrior Godzilla thatshoots flames when you press the lever on the back of his head. And he can shoot his right fist off. This is the coolest thing I own."-DS

Jeff Szuc

Jeff Szuc, illustrator, Toronto, Canada. www.jeffszuc.com www.thefivebysevenproject.com Welcome to my studio, before I give the tour though, I'd like to be totally honest: I did clean things up a little bit before I took the photos. I wish I could claim 'organized mess' or something similar but, in truth, it was just a desk load of dirty coffee cups and the dumpings of the miscellaneous things that end up accumulating in my pocket throughout the day. Anyway, enough introduction, into the studio. This is my space, I'm fortunate enough to have allot of window. Although I mostly work at night, I still like too be able too see my work in natural light in order too see what it really looks like. I Also feel I'm more able too sit for extended hours in a room with a window no matter that it's closed and the blinds are completely drawn (Feng Shui?). Here we have my desk. I try to keep it bland; colourless and devoid of artwork on the wall (both my own as well as other peoples). I think it's better for the creative process that way -less external influence allowing you too focus on balancing the colours in the piece at hand. I once the painting I was most pleased with on the wall above my desk but found I was forever referencing it and trying to redo aspects I'd thought succesfull. Anyhow, the piece tacked up to the wall is a sketch of the last piece I was working on. I don't like to work things out too tightly ahead of time so that I leave a little room for improvisation in the actual painting. Don't get me wrong there's lots of artwork in my room; it's piled thick with it. It's just all on the wall behind me when I'm working. Most of these are the five by sevens I've been working on as well as a couple larger illustrations and the full sized paintings on the ground. I keep it all on rotation through out the rest of the house. Lastly, in the opposite corner, we have my computer desk with my mac g4 (I'm staving off the daily overwhelming urge to upgrade since it's still more than adequate for everything I do.) Also of note on this desk we have just a few of the requisite toys and novelties, the sushi desktop picture I found on the Internet, and just a few of the odds and ends that when you clean up you never quite know what to do with. And that, I think, about wraps it up for anything I can think of worth showing or telling about my space. -jeff

Joseph Scarano

Joseph scarano, illustrator / graphic designer, monroe, new york, www.joescarano.com www.misterstitches.com My desk... pretty basic. FYI I'm not a David Blaine fan by any stretch of the imagination... but I do like the poster, mostly for the illustration! Anyway... paints, computer, the aristocratic chicken, all pretty straight forward stuff. Here is a full view... It's pretty small but it does the trick. We'll be moving soon and I'll finally have room to set up my drawing table, that'll be sweet. Storage area for paints, sketch books, vintage science books, etc... We usually try to see how high we can stack those cat food cans before we take them to the recycling bin! This is where I currently store most of my finished work. Mostly to protect them from the three morbidly obese cats that occupy this room during the daytime hours. This would be one of said cats... her name is monkey. we also have a dog named piggy. this will undoubtedly be confusing for any children we bring into this world. I took these photos at night so I couldn't take a picture from the window behind me... so I grabbed an old one. But this will be the view from my window in four-five months.

Chris Braun

Chris Braun, Graphic Designer Andover, Kansas www.studio928.com "Here's my desk. Pretty boring really. Just the usual stuff – computer, toys, photos, PDA, post-it notes. The little black/blue phone is a new Skype phone I'm trying out. Unfortunately, I don't really know anyone using Skype, so if you want to call me feel free. Plenty of photos of my family – inspiration to get to work. If you look closely at the middle photo being cut off, it's me and my youngest son with Ric Ocasek (the Cars). We ran into him last year on our vacation – a thrill for me because he has always been one of my favorite musicians. Oh, and it looks like I'm supposed to call my dad and pay my AT&T bill:)" "Some of my toys. Enough said." "Pictures of my boys and some of their artwork. I think they have a real future in art. My oldest son drew the train when he was three. The hairy son in the middle is Mr. Bones. If you ever think about getting a Boston Terror (not a typo) just let me know and I'll be glad to come over and kick you in the groin. It will be less painful. Actually, he's kind of growing on me. I think it's his face that only a father can love." "Here's the boring side of my studio. My large scale printer, server, and back-up work station. I really need to do something with those blank walls." -CB

Sean Kane

Sean Kane, Illustrator, Victoria, BC, Canada www.seankane.com This is the main working area of my backyard studio. I feel very fortunate to be able to spread out and to have three work areas -- a digital area with two old monitors cranking out the radiation, a drafting table painting area, and a workbench area on the left. Pantone paper over the windows for low-tech control over the light streaming in. Fancy!" "Painting area with my handy metal cabinet that rolls around to just where it needs to be and holds all of the usual suspects: acrylic paints, brushes, printing inks, rollers, printed papers, sketchbooks, etc." "Postcards, personal work, and a gift from a young artist in my family populate this area where I cut and paste, frame, and pile up various stuff to be dealt with, eventually." "Somewhat organized chaos and personal paintings occupy this corner. Also work by a few artists that inspire, including Toni Onley, Tony Fitzpatrick, and Scott Westphal." "The entry room of the studio holds the books and storage files (out of view), and makes for a nice spot to read over manuscripts and to brainstorm. There's a small blue press for etchings and relief printing in there. The shelves and walls hold a variety of found objects and photos that keep me thinking of the great outdoors and places I've visited." "Some signs at the studio door, including pick-ups from Japan, Mexico and Italy. And my "world time center" housed in an old typesetter tray (along with ageless rocks and shells that I shouldn't have taken home with me over the years) keeps me in sync with friends, family, and clients, wherever they are." - SK

Blair Kelly

Blair Kelly, Illustrator Toronto, Canada www.blairkellystudio.com This is my desk area, which is what i like to call 'an organized mess'. Its in a wood panelled basement which gets really hot in the winter and really really cold in the summer, because the furnace is in the next room. I took these pics at night, hence the mood lighting. There are a few of my prints on the mantle above the fireplace for inspiration This is a really old bookcase, (it actually used to be a Tv from the 50s) which is full of reference books & my favourite art & design books. I have to limit myself to the amount of books this thing can hold or else the whole room would be full of books. My shelf of cds. I am not sure what i would do without my cds, especially when i am up working til the wee hours, i would probably go mad. lol Radiohead baby!

Leo Hillier

Leo Hillier, Illustrator, Cambridgeshire UK, www.leohillier.com My drawing table and shelves. and over the other side is... My adding machine. It never crashes even though some may call it 'an old gent' of the computer world. Other important things are the scanner and printer, and the clock which is too fast for my liking. On the right of that is... My stereo and cds. It does have two speakers, but the other one is hiding under the table. The fan is important for the many hot days we have in England. And in my garden there might be... Little creatures like this. He lived in a bucket with a friend all year, not wanting for more company until the summer. And this meadow is where I sometimes walk off my lunch and think of new pictures.

Marina Caruso

Marina Caruso, Illustrator, West London, www.marinacaruso.com

Meghan Murphy

Meghan Murphy, Illustrator, Rochester NY, Murphypop: the Illustration of Meghan Murphy Kawaii Not: the Webcomic for Cute Gone Bad My desk, and my main workspace -- small and cramped, but it's all my own. (And yep, that's some pretty ugly wood panelling you see in the background. Sometimes I think all that fake wood grain is driving me a little nuts.) You'll take note of the two devil duckies flanking my monitor. They protect it from bad hoodoo. Usually. Close-up on some of the books I keep on my desk for easy access, and the folders where I try to keep all of my business paperwork as neat as possible. I had to buy pretty colored folders to bribe myself into some form of organization. More books, these are up on the adjacent wall. I love all those Taschen Icon books -- ten bucks a pop and filled with beautiful/crazy/bizarre/just plain cool images. Still more books, these by the window behind my desk. Lovely light pouring from the window, a stack of good books, and an aquarium filled with glittering fish -- that's a recipe for inspiration right there. I swear there's actually fish in the water. Maybe they're camera-shy. Here's my latest sketchbook. I've started drawing on the backs of all the pages because I'm long overdue for a new book. On the left is my initial plans for my latest Kawaii Not strip, while the girl on the right seems to think the whole idea is ill-advised. But I went ahead with that particular idea anyway. I've never taken advice very well.

James Yang

James Yang, Illustrator, New York City, www.jamesyang.com Yangblog World This is the "digital" part of my studio where I do eveything these days. You will notice I have little toys around to remind me that creating is fun. My "analog" desk where I still do sketches and occasional paintings. My friends joke my desk is a museum since I rarely use it these days. The cutout is my wife from one of her perfomances in Hong Kong. Another shelf with toys. As you can tell from the Beavis and Butthead dolls, I'm a very sophisticated guy. The tennis ball is from the US Open where Mark Phillapoussis hit a serve that barely missed my head. His serves go 142 mph.

Piepke

Piepke, Artist/Illustrator Belgium www.piepke.org "A little self fabricated wall around my light box helps giving me the feeling of being in my own world. I like to hide in here and think of new ideas and sketch them out. Also to trace illustrations that I than scan into my computer to color or to adjust or manipulate them for my paintings. I do some commissioned illustration work for magazines, flyers, t-shirts, slip mats, books... and I'm currently working on my first comic book, a collaboration with the original Blitz Kids as authors. My paintings are more free work, only the commissioned portraits are made to fit the client." "Always the help from moby, my big pussycat, we both like the warmth of the light box, especially in winter. (we live in Belgium, cold long winters) So we agreed on sharing the thing, mostly I end up with the smaller part. I wouldn't want it otherwise, I adore him." "My computer, for my illustrations the perfect tool to color and finish things. To make lay-outs and texts, and to work on my site. For the paintings it's easy to try out some drawings, color wise. And some of my (art)books, my fetish." "The painting table and some old and new stuff. At the moment my space is not big but I manage to squeeze everything in. It looks quite tidy on this picture because I'm just starting a new piece. At the end of making a painting you don't see much of the floor anymore. So i make myself clean up after I finished a painting, otherwise you couldn't get in after a few days. And I really don't like to invite people in here, this is my space, my world..." I'm hoping to be able to move my work space to a bigger location in the near future, because as you can see its starting to be full." -Piepke

David Carillo

David Carillo, Artist, Los Angeles, CA myspace "I currently work at Rendezvous Entertainment as an executive assistant. I've done 2 CD single artwork back covers for two of our artist, Tom Braxton ("Let's Stay Together") and Jonathan Butler (Mandela Bay-will be on iTunes July 11, 2006). Full time starving artist. Sorry, no website, not yet at least. I prefer a paintbrush to a mouse, but willing to adapt..." -DC

Rob Dunlavey

Rob Dunlavey Boston, MA USA web: www.robd.com blog: drawger Here's a panorama shot of the space I generally work in. There's computer/home office paraphenalia on the left and more analog stuff for painting on the right by the window. It looks cluttered but it's not too bad... yet! I sketch and paint in different sketchbooks early in the morning. There is a complete set of old CREATION Magazines on the shelf below. They really have formed the bulk of my formal design and illustration training. As far as I'm concerned, any material that will make a mostly permanent mark on another material is good. What you see here is various inks, gouache, watercolor and screenprinting ink. Stay open and flexible to your materials. I think of Dubuffet a lot regarding picture making. This setup is pretty tame compared to his. Maybe I'll get there someday. Brayers, stencil brushes, markers… happy, albeit somewhat neglected, clutter I'm scared: my daughter is into making scary masks. I post a lot of her work in the studio. The local God who must be appeased. sketchbook entry (detail below) Toys... whatever. I guess we have to collect something besides those huge checks!

Mark Porter

Mark Porter, Artist Chicago, IL www.markwporter.com "My living space is also my workspace which lends well to my process. I create kinetic sculptures based upon ideas that I develop through the creation of Preliminary Drawings. The Preliminary Drawings are the basis of my sculptures, which are constructed of found and custom made objects. The sculptures I create are mechanical in form but express human attributes through their functions." -MP "My work table" "My work table with drawing in background" "My drawing supplies, I use various types including colored pencil and graphite" "My drawing supplies, I also like to use oil sticks" "a sculpture in progress" "a finished sculpture"

Ian Stevenson

Ian Stevenson, Artist London, UK www.ilikedrawing.co.uk "I draw using my hand and pens."

Annie Bissett

Annie Bissett, illustration and woodblock prints Northampton, Massachusetts www.anniebissett.com Woodblock Dreams (blog) I've been an illustrator working digitally for nearly 20 years, but about a year ago I began to work with moku hanga, the Japanese method of woodblock printing. Since moku hanga is done without a press, it doesn't require as much space as many other forms of printmaking. Nevertheless I began to feel that I was outgrowing my small home office, so last month I moved my studio to a larger room. I have two desks side by side, a flat desk for the computer and a drafting table for working by hand, sketching and woodblock. Here's the drafting table all cleared off and the supplies that I keep close at hand. For carving wood blocks, I have a portable table that I use for fine carving. Tilting the block up this way really helps save my back and shoulders as I don't have to lean over the work as much. Here's the setup for printing. Water-based pigments are used in moku hanga and the paper is dampened to receive the ink better. Because the paper needs to be kept as uniformly damp as possible, one needs to work quickly. A neat and consistent setup is essential in order to get consistent results. I just got my first set of flat files ever to store all the prints I've been making. These are old library card catalog drawers that I found at a local antique store. I plan to strip off the green paint and refinish the lovely oak underneath. To learn more about moku hanga, check out my blog and follow the links there.

David Sones

David Sones a.k.a Pickledog, Graphic Artist/ Illustrator Ontario, Canada DavidSones.com GoPickledogGo.com My creative space is known as "the office." I have been working digitally (Illustrator, Photoshop) for five years now. On my desk is my Power Mac, scanner, backup drive, printer, cutting area, and a few nicknacks. Our cats are natural helpers, and it is impossible for me to work without at least one kitty assistant. I start by sketching in blue pencil, and then import the sketch into Illustrator for development. I find that using blue lead keeps my drawings loose. Pictured is my "Fat Robin Hood" with the initial sketch in front and the developed cartoon on the screen. My cutting area, and a crazy sketch of Jack Black signing (drawn while watching TV.) Epson is my flavour of scanner, and colour printer. Ernie approves one of my latest printouts. Because of the cats I need to store things away in these wire baskets that are mostly cat proof.