G A N Z E E R . T O D A Y

studio

Praise all Gods, the imaginary and fictitious.

Both inboxes are at a reassuring zero. And, my workspaces are fully organized and ready to receive me and my [work] load head on.

Shall we take a little tour?

Let's start with the office:

The Office

The chair at the far end near the window? That's where I sit. Not to do any drawing (that's reserved for the drafting table in the foreground to your left), but to do all the other things; email, graphic design, writing, etc. You'll notice a narrow draw/erase board for weekly to-dos, right above a magnetic strip where I put up important future dates to keep in mind (deadlines, scheduled talks, travel, etc.).

When it's time to draw, I drag the chair to the drafting table, where nothing is in front of me but the drawing at hand:

Dafting Table

Focus is the name of the game. You'll notice a small rolling side table to the left. Typically, that's where I place only the tools I need for any given drawing, most of which are now placed on the shelf above the drafting table. What is on the table now is a small stack of some recently finished pages. I may have to find another place for those (Perhaps add a bottom shelf to the rolling table? Right above the wheels?).

You'll also notice a small magnetic strip above the drawing table, where I keep a few other tools I need to reach every now and again (sharpeners, nibs, erasers). And of course, the big HELLBOY ARTIST'S EDITION looming over me (Because Mignola is one of the greatest comix storytellers of all time and his work is to be studied for all eternity. I'm also considering getting Steranko's NICK FURY one, but... I oughtta sell a couple paintings first.).

Now you might ask; but Ganzeer? Where do you paint your large canvases and do your other odd artsy things?!?!

I'm glad you asked. It's been a while since I've been able to do that sort of thing with any level of comfort. Now, however, I have this:

Ganzeer's Garage

Welcome to the garage.

You'll see at the far end there's the pegboard and Craftsman thing where I keep a large number of tools pertaining to painting as well as handyman stuff. Next to it are my flatfiles where I keep my printmaking results as well as other works on paper. And above it is where many supplies pertaining to the making of that stuff is kept, as well as packaging and shipping supplies (to fulfill online orders with a degree of efficiency).

The table on wheels is of course very important (it was time to chuck out my trusty orange one, no wheels). The bookshelf is for books and comix and magazines as well as my own files (because frankly, there just ain't any room inside the house). I should also note that my bookshelf is... very full and I cannot under any circumstances acquire any new books without first getting rid of some (which means, I need to read my unread ones very quickly and decide on which ones I'm cool to let go of).

In the extreme foreground, to your left are a number of folding chairs (for myself as well as visitors). A couple boxes filled with used packing stuff that I should just go ahead and toss out. A little trolly there containing numerous painting supplies, and those tall boxes? One of them contains plain canvas, the other contains a half-finished painting I started in New York earlier in the year, and the third contains three paintings on canvas ready to ship out to their new owner.

The clothes rack? That's my makeshift solution to hang work-in-progress paintings and things. Current unfinished project dangling off the thing and jeering at me every time I walk in?

Ramy Essam's Jacket

Denim jacket for Ramy Essam's stage presence. It was once white, and now it's just stained. But soon enough... it will look entirely different. 😈

Future plans include installing a big sink (but... I oughtta sell a few paintings first). Gotta keep them brushes clean and you don't wanna mess up the sinks inside the house.

I quite like that I get to work out of a garage though. When the weather's good, I just roll the door wide open and it's like I'm practically working outside. I've never had a garage before, but that didn't keep me from naming my online store Garage.Ganzeer, which must've been some peculiar form of magical foreshadowing. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

#journal #houston #studio