painting area

[Hadier]

so i was wondering if anyone has a specific suggestion you see my painting area is...semi-mobile and folds in half but here is the issue im finding i own 3 cats, a medium sized dog, and 2 birds who find great pleasure at spitting their seed at me so can you suggest a way to cover and protect my minis while im away. ill post up a pic of my table...once i get it assembled(I bought it tuesday evening)

 

thank you

 

p.s. im not against the idea of modding this desk in anyway to enclose my work area

[chipchuck]

4 kennels and 2 cages? :)

[Inarah]

With a little patience cats can be trained to stay off the table. Usually. Like small children, they often want to see what you're doing and taste the little figures or the paint. If you can get across the idea that looking is ok but touching is not, you'll be ok.

 

Being able to close the door to the area is your best bet.

[Marsya]

Before I moved I had a similar problem I had a wood burner and two dogs between the two my area would collect dust quickly. Air duster was my best friend and I used tupperware and kept my minis in progress in tupperware when I wasn't painting. Luckily in my new house I have room for gaming and painting no dogs allowed.

[Darkstar]

Here's my mobile paint setup:

 

 

I have 4 cats so I have to keep everything pet proofed as well.

 

This is the condensed result of about 10 years of experimenting with different mobile setups.

 

List of stuff in this setup:

 

1.Black plastic tray, designed for office supplies, perfect for my needs.

 

2.Tupperware with lids for water and a sponge for cleaning brushes during use. Rinse with water, wipe with sponge, no need for paper towels. Lids to keep pets from drinking or spilling when I'm away from the area.

 

3.Brushes

 

4.In the two clear paint bottles are Water for thining paint and diluted flow aid for when that's needed.

 

5.In the little white container near the brushes is retarder, for when that's needed.

 

6.Postit note with pencil for writing down color choices, sketching freehand etc...

 

7.Ceramic leaves to rest my brushes on (there's two, only one is visible) so as to keep them from rolling around.

 

8.Mini

 

9.White sponge to wipe my brush tip and wick away excess paint before touching the brush to the mini.

 

10.Paints. I have alot of paint and I'll typically bring with me the paint needed for whatever I'm working on in larger quantities than shown here, I have a few different containers of paint I bring with me, all stored in their various boxes, bins, carousels etc...

 

11.Palettes. I have two here, small porcelain artist's palettes which are perfect for minis.

 

12.Sharp metal dental tool for poking through dropper bottle nozzles when they clog.

 

 

 

Now with that little setup I can bring my paint setup wherever I need to in the house, by a windown, in the kitchen whatever. I wear an Optivisor when painting and I have my lights attached to that, bright LED lights that give proper painting light wherever. But, I end up painting in the same couple of areas typically so I've installed bright lighting in those areas anyway for when I need it.

 

Let's see...anything else, I have a second setup in one of these trays for sculpting, basework, converting, cleaning minis and whatnot that I keep in the same fashion, although I tend to do all of that work in my main studio. But it's there if I need it.

 

Just sharing my take on the problem after many years of different approaches, this is what works for me in a house full of pets when I need a mobile setup. I do have an entire room devoted to "the craft" though, but I like to bring my stuff out to the main areas of the house from time to time and paint by the windows or whatever.