I finally organized my paint shelves and now I can't find anything
Spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon reorganizing all my acrylics by color family instead of the chaotic system of "whatever shelf had room." Looked so satisfying. Took a picture. Felt very accomplished.
Today I needed my raw umber and I stood there for a solid 30 seconds staring at this neat rainbow of bottles like I'd never seen paint before in my life. Could have grabbed it in 2 seconds from the old pile.
My 8 year old said "so you made it worse" and honestly she might be right. Anyone else's attempts at organization backfire this badly or is it just me?
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oh this is so familiar 😅 i did the same with my pastels last year, sorted them by colour in a beautiful wooden box i found at a flea market. looked like a dream. then i spent the next month not knowing where anything was because my brain only remembered positions from the old chaos.
it's like the colours lose their labels when you move them? raw umber hiding among the browns feels wrong when you're used to it living next to that one random tube of burnt sienna you never use.
your daughter sounds like she's got a future in ruthless honesty btw. kids are brutal in the best way.
The flea market box sounds worth it even if you can't find anything. Good container is half the battle.
The positional memory thing is real though. I work on the floor, everything spread around me in a specific mess, and if someone tidies my tools while I'm in the middle of something I'm lost for days. My hands know where things are better than my eyes do.
Ha, a good container really does make you feel like you've got your act together even when you absolutely don't. Might have to hit the flea markets this weekend.
And yes, the hands knowing before the eyes do, that's exactly it. I had my palette knife in a specific coffee mug for like two years and my arm would just go there on autopilot. Moved the mug and now I'm digging through a drawer like a raccoon.
Right?? The flea market box sounds gorgeous though. I bet it at least looks nice while you're wandering around lost.
And yes, exactly, raw umber next to burnt sienna for years and now they're separated and I feel like I'm betraying some kind of paint loyalty 😂
She's definitely keeping me humble. Last week she told me one of my paintings looked "almost like a real photo" which I'm choosing to take as a compliment.