How to Be an Organized Artist

Artists can be notoriously messy, but it isn't because they are lazy or dirty -- they're just too creative to deal with the squareness of staying organized. But an organized artist is a more effective one, able to spend more time working and less time searching for paint, cleaning off the workstation, or figuring out how to effectively sell their work.

Method 1

Organizing Your Supplies

1. 1
   Keep related supplies in the same area. If you're a photographer, keep all the necessary lens, cords, and batteries in the same quadrant of your home or studio. Paints should be kept with brushes, cleaner, and canvas, print supplies should be by the ink, etc. Make broader groups and areas for your supplies to make finding them easier, limiting your search to a much smaller area. Some ideas include:

   • Essential supplies area -- the things you use every day.
   • Inspiration and reference area.
   • Dedicated work area .
   • Infrequent or secondary supplies area, tucked out of the way.^[1]
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2. 2
   Make an effort to clean a dedicated workspace after every session. This doesn't mean cleaning the entire studio, it just means keeping the area immediately around the desk, easel, pottery wheel, etc. clean each night. Discard trash or unnecessary materials and wipe down dirty surfaces. Endeavor to leave the workspace in a way that you can sit down the next day and start working immediately, without having to do any work or tidying.

   • Even if the rest of your studio is a bit disorganized, an organized workspace will help you get down to business every time you want to make art.

   
3. 3
   Place loose supplies in large, clearly visible containers. As visual people, a lot of artist clutter comes from a desire to keep track of supplies visually instead of tucked out of sight. By using jars, old glasses, vases, and cheap, clear plastic drawers, you can keep things in sight without leaving it strewn about haphazardly. Some ideas, beyond those just mentioned, include:

   • Canvas shoe racks on the back of the door
   • Wine racks with cups in each slot to hold pens/pencils.
   • Plastic restaurant squirt bottles for paint, pigment, etc.^[2]
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4. 4
   Use clotheslines and clips to hang sketches, photos, and reference material. Simply string up the wires across a wall or along the ceiling and use them to hold essential papers that you don't want to cut or ruin with tacks or tape. Cheap and easy, this is also a good way to handle papers and ideas you touch regularly or need to pin up and down for inspiration.^[3]
   
5. 5
   Use every inch of the room for storage, especially vertical space. Shelving is an artist's best friend and is a cheap and easy way to get more room in your studio or art space. Don't be afraid to get up high either, especially for infrequently used supplies. The upper reaches of the room are often the most under-utilized, but provide vital space for all your tools and materials.^[4]
    
   
6. 6
   Use chalkboard paint to make space for drafting ideas right on the walls. Turning one wall into a chalkboard gives you a perfect space for ideas, sketches, and planning without requiring extra equipment or space. You can even use it for smaller areas. Paint over jars or storage equipment, allowing you to relabel them with chalk as your needs change.
    
   
7. 7
   Purchase a label maker to make your organization strategy semi-permanent. A lot of disorganization comes when you keep moving the location of things, trying to optimize your space by reorganizing frequently. This usually has the opposite effect, leading to lost items and uncertainty when cleaning, but an afternoon with a label maker can solve everything. Instead of spending all of your mental energy looking for or storing things, you can just follow the labels, freeing your mind to think about art.^[5]
    
   
8. 8
   Make a habit of throwing out old, excess, or useless stuff each month. Once a month, do a purge of your studio. If it isn't essential or part of a project, either throw it out or file it away for later. Artists are constantly making new things, experimenting, and making a mess. This is a good thing, but only if you set aside time to declutter. It may not be fun at the moment, but it is a lot more fun than spending 30 minutes digging through junk to find the right paint or an old sketch.

   • Don't be sentimental here. If you haven't used it in the last six months there is little chance you'll use it in the next six months. Toss it.

Method 2

Organizing Ideas and Projects

1. 1
   Keep your reference materials, sketches, articles, photos, etc., in one easy to find place. As you start planning for a project or work, you'll likely be gathering scraps of inspiration and test sketches. While everyone has a strategy, there is nothing more maddening than digging through a book or the internet to re-find the cool idea you saw three months ago. Try out:

   • Dedicating 1 notebook, preferably with insert folders, to each project.
   • Making a bookmark folder for each project on your internet browser to easily compile online inspiration.
   • Tacking up physical inspiration on a wall or cork board near your workspace.^[6]
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2. 2
   Make "studies," or practice sketches, to organize effectively for larger projects. Very few artists simply dive right into large projects. Almost 100% of the time they instead work on related, smaller projects called "studies" to prepare for the larger work. You might practice the face of the portrait you're making, sketch our different composition ideas, or practice a vulnerable or difficult part of a sculpture. Keep these organized as a way to prepare both the skills, ideas, and supplies needed for the final project.
    
   
3. 3
   Limit the supplies you leave out to the project at hand. At the end of the day, artists are visual people, and tucking everything away neatly and cleanly may not be conducive to the artistic process. Of course, neither is losing or misplacing essential supplies. Find a compromise by packing away any supplies not currently in use, and leaving a little bit of "essential" clutter. It's okay to have inspiration scattered around the studio -- just make sure it's the inspiration you need for the current project.

   • Just because you "aren't organized" is no excuse not to make an attempt. Don't feel like the only options are perfect cleanliness or an utter mess-- there is a middle ground.

   
   
4. 4
   Keep an updated list of all of the necessary supplies, and the quantities of each. Nothing is worse than spending a long night on a painting only to realize you've run out of white paint halfway through a section. Once a week, or more frequently if possible, check in on the quantities of your supplies so that you can refill them before it becomes a problem.

   • A simple spreadsheet or notebook, marked at the end of each artistic session, is a quick and easy way to keep tabs on your stuff.
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5. 5
   Break down bigger works into more easily completed parts. Deciding to paint a mural is a huge undertaking. But sketching the idea, transposing the image onto the wall, painting the basic colors, then adding shading/detail are four separate and more manageable projects. Organization is key to big projects, even if it feels "constraining" to your creativity. In reality, organizing your work and progress frees your mind to actually be creative, instead of worrying about logistics.

   • Figure out the building blocks of each part of the project, tackling each at once. Don't jump around across all parts of the project haphazardly.

Method 3

Organizing an Artistic Business

1. 1
   Keep all of your past work organized and accessible. When you finish a project, whether it sells or not, don't just stuff it away in a drawer. You never know when you'll want to revisit and idea or, more excitingly, when interest in your current work will drive up interest in past projects.

   • If you do electronic work, back it up every 3-6 months on a dedicated hard drive. There is nothing worse than an accident destroying all of your old projects.^[7]
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2. 2
   Record all of your artistic contacts and connections in one place. More than many industries, successful artists need to cultivate a diverse network of other artists, curators, instructors, and gallery assistants to be successful. You never know when someone will hit it big and provide a helping hand, or when you'll have some work you want to place in a friend's art show. Don't leave meetings and connections up to chance -- organize and compile your contact information in once place for later. Make notes of:

   • Phone number
   • Email
   • Location
   • Role in the art world
   • How you met or connected.^[8]
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3. 3
   Log the costs of supplies needed for each project. If you're looking to make a living off art, you need to treat certain aspects of the process like a business. This, however, does not need to interfere with your creative process. Simply holding on to your receipts and writing them down in one sheet is a great first step towards financial security and autonomy.

   • You can often write off almost all of these receipts on your taxes, as they are private business expenses. Keeping expenses organized isn't just about time, it is about saving money.^[9]
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4. 4
   Find out how much it costs you to make and sell each piece. If you're making the same or similar pieces each day, you can figure out how much each piece costs you to make them by dividing the cost in supplies by the number of pieces made. So, if 10 wood sculptures cost you $100, each sculpture cost you $10 to make (100/10 = 10). This may seem trivial, but you need to have a complete picture of your finances if you hope to make money off your work.

   • At the very least, ensure that you are not losing money on each piece.

   
   

   
5. 5
   Pay attention to what other, similar works of art are selling for. If you want an organized, productive artistic practice, you need to know about the trends around your work. Keeping organized is about more than just your own studio, it is about understanding the art market you're a part of. Peruse Etsy, visit galleries and show openings, and follow art blogs and news to keep abreast of the latest developments and prices.
    
   
6. 6
   Consider the "cost" of your time when pricing work. While it doesn't have a dollar value, make sure you value your time as well as your materials. In the earlier example, don't forget that it cost more than just $10 to make the sculpture. Your hours of work and experience are essential too, so don't sell the piece for $20 if it took you a week to make. While pricing your work is difficult, don't balk at the high prices you see other artists selling for -- not everyone can do what you do, and people are paying for your talent and experience.

   • At the very least, consider what you'd be paid if you used your time otherwise. Twenty hours spent painting could be worth $15 an hour at another job. You should consider this "missed" money when pricing work.
   • If you want to make art your living, you need to price the work high enough to take care of yourself. Careful financial organization is essential to pulling this off.