the exact temperature my studio has to be or i can't paint
okay this is such a ridiculous thing but i literally cannot start working if the room is above like 72 degrees. my watercolor dries too fast on the page and i get this panicky feeling like i'm racing the clock instead of actually painting. i have a little thermometer on my shelf that i glance at probably twenty times a day and if it's too warm i just sit there grumpy waiting for the air to shift.
my partner thinks i'm insane because i'll open the window in december. like sorry i know it's 40 degrees out but my WASHES need this.
it's funny because when i was in school i painted in this unventilated basement studio that was basically a sauna in spring and i convinced myself i just had to adapt. but now i'm like... no. i can just make the room the temperature i need. that's allowed. it's still a weird shock to realize i get to decide these things.
anyway what's your weird non-negotiable studio condition that sounds insane when you say it out loud
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Temperature's different for watercolor than what I work with, but I get the principle. Stone cuts different when it's cold. Steel moves in the heat. You learn to work with it or you fight it all day.
You're not insane. Materials have a window where they behave right. People who don't work with their hands don't understand that the environment changes what the material does. 72 degrees is a hard line for you. That's just information.
YES exactly, thank you. "Materials have a window", that's it, that's the whole thing. Watercolor is basically this constant negotiation with the air and if the air won't cooperate you're just fighting yourself.
Stone and steel though, that's so interesting. What do you work with? I genuinely have no frame of reference for what "stone cuts different when it's cold" feels like but I'm picturing something really physical and satisfying. My whole job is staring at a piece of paper so I love hearing about materials that require actual force haha.