How I Set Up My Art Table to Make More Art

Setting up your supplies shouldn’t use up your painting time. When your paints and tools are organized and within reach, you can start painting quickly, even if you don’t have a dedicated space. This post covers how I keep my art table organized, plus the full list of what’s on it.

______________________________________

 

 

How to Set Up Your Art Table So There’s No Excuse Not to Paint

Have you ever sat down to paint and spent so long hunting for a brush, or digging a tube of paint out of the clutter, that you ran out of time and left it for another day? Then another day goes by, and the painting never happens.

Start With Having Everything Ready

It’s so important to have everything ready so there’s nothing standing between you and the painting. I’m lucky to have a big space that’s always set up. If you don’t have a dedicated space, what matters most is how you keep your supplies organized, so you can set up anywhere and start painting quickly.

Keep Your Paints in One Place

I have all the Art2Life colors, but whatever paints you use, you want to be able to get to them easily. When a table gets cluttered and the paint isn’t coming out of the tubes, it gets in the way. So I keep things minimal. I have a certain number of colors, and I don’t keep duplicates, because they just create noise for me.

I use the four-ounce Art2Life tubes, and instead of spreading them over the table, I keep them in a box so they’re always organized. I’ve color-coded the top, so I don’t even have to think. I can just look, and the box suggests colors I might not think of for a picture. When I’m looking at what I’m making, I can almost see which color will look great in it. It’s so fun.

The Few Things Right on My Table

I use a ton of black, so I keep a pint of it right on the table. Next to it is a pint of white that’s always full, and a pint of gloss medium, which I use for gluing things in, sealing things, and sealing pastel.

For brushes, I use the one-inch brush so much, along with some little fine brushes and flats. I don’t use the big brush for sketching. My journal comes in different sizes, but lately I’ve been enjoying a bigger one. I do a lot of this online, and the size lets people see it better, but I have to admit I’m enjoying the bigger format.

Then there are the little tools. I keep sandpaper, scrapers, pencils, a trowel, my paint guide, a squeegee, and the palette I paint on. That’s it. It takes a little room, but when you sit down and everything’s ready, it just goes so much easier.

The Full List

In today’s video, I shared some of the essential items on my art table, which you can purchase in the Art2Life store. Here’s the list of what I keep on my table, if you want to get any of them for yourself:

• Art2Life black paint
• Art2Life white paint
• Gloss medium
• Essential Expression Brush Set
• Bloom Book Journal
• Trowel
• Paint Guide
• Paint Smoother
• And check out our NEW Art2Life Baja Orange Paint!

 

Also This Week…

 

BLOOM WEEK Is Coming! 🌸

I’m so excited to be hosting another BLOOM WEEK on October 26-28, 2026. BLOOM WEEK is a guided online experience with me and the Art2Life Creative Team, designed to help you make art that’s honest, alive, and unmistakably yours.

It’s an hour a day for three days, with tons of painting. I’ll teach you my journaling process and how to approach your art in a way you wouldn’t normally, which makes it easier and brings out art that feels more like you.

Learn more about BLOOM WEEK here.

A Documentary About Letting Things Flourish

Kerry Scott, New Zealand artist and BloomStudio Host of The Still Studio, every Wednesday at 4pm PT, shared one of her favourite documentaries with me. It’s called Wilding, and she described it this way.

“Pure uplift, watching the land and animals flourish once they’re left to it. Reminds me of my creative state when I let it be.”

Leave a comment below and let me know how you set up your own space for painting.