Rebecca Green (3/4)

Rebecca Green from Michigan, United States, makes such beautiful illustrations. They often feature cute girls with glasses, but also animals and nature, as she’s fond of all these. She lets us have a peek at how she works and lives.

One of my favorite parts of my job is my workspace. And maybe not my workspace so much as the simple fact that my career gives me the valid excuse to have one. It’s so important for every artist to have a place specifically dedicated to their work. Whether it’s a corner of a room, or an entire building, a workspace is a must. Early on in college, I rented a space in my school and developed a deep appreciation for creating an inspiring workspace.

(photo by Amber Stout)

After graduation, I moved into an old warehouse with four other artists. We cleaned and repainted the space, and each took a spot in the large old room. It was a great space despite the missing window panes, the extreme hot and cold and the wasp problem in the summer! It was so great to be working around other artists, sharing inspiration and bouncing ideas back and forth.

After moving to Phoenix, I joined a space called The Lodge studio with two other artists. Now that I find myself working regular nine to five hours, it’s much quieter, and I am finally starting to value my time spent working alone. At first I had a tiny spot in the building…

But then I moved into the front room with lots of natural sunlight.

It’s filled with artists’ work that I love, little random objects that for some reason I cannot part with, old photos of family and strangers, and of course all of the materials that I love to work with. I am a messy worker too, so it’s imperative to have a place that I don’t have to clean everyday. And believe me, it gets so messy.

As you can see, in the last three years my workspace has shifted quite a bit. To start your own workspace, no need to go out and rent an old warehouse! You can set up a little desk in your home and place all of your inspirations around you.  What I do (although I do feel terrible doing it) is to find a great art book and I tear all of the good art out and paste it on my walls! No need to let those lovely images sit in a book. Until next time, good luck setting up a workspace! Now I have got to go work in mine!