✓Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! Discover competitions in a variety of media and enter for your chance to win cash prizes, publication in leading art magazines, global exposure, and rewards for your hard work. Plus, gain valuable feedback from renowned jurors. Let your passion shine through – enter an art competition today!
With the help of a lesson in three-dimensional perspective, you can design the art studio of your dreams. Here’s how.
What artist doesn’t fantasize about designing their ultimate art studio? Here, John Roman, an illustration teacher at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, shares inspiration from his art students. Then, make sure to check out his guide for making your own three-dimensional design. May your art studio dreams come to life!
If You Can Dream It
Aristotle, some 2,000 years ago, expressed a realization that the human mind has the power to manifest into reality anything it can visualize in the imagination. He understood that our brains don’t know the difference between a real event or one that’s imagined. And — in either case — it immediately begins responding to the situation. Regardless of whether a danger is right in front of you or only in your mind’s eye, the brain sends signals to your body to flee. Similarly, whether you actually see something you desire, or whether you simply evoke it, the brain sets the psyche in pursuit of that end.
This theory isn’t just some sort of self-help gimmick. Rather, modern-day scientific evidence posits that “outcome visualization” is a part of our nature. Dreams or desires don’t magically materialize, of course. While the brain may get the wheels in motion, it takes both mind and body to realize an imagined outcome.
7 Dream Art Studios
It was with this idea in mind that I developed an “outcome visualization” assignment for my drawing and illustration students at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The project, which spans several weeks, requires students to design their own dream art studio with no restrictions on building size, location, architectural style or, most importantly, cost. The assignment is veiled to guide students on their journeys toward becoming professional artists.
The project’s focus is on learning how to draw a three-dimensional scene using principles of perspective developed by Renaissance artists (see Drawing a Three-Dimensional Room below). My secret intention, however, is to help students construct a clear, mental image of a physical place where they’ve reached their art-making goals. The full assignment involves creating both interior and exterior views, but for the purpose of this article, I chose seven interiors from last spring’s class of 30 students. Take a look below.
1. A Space with a Golden Glow
“My favorite time of day is when the sun begins to set and casts everything with a golden glow,” says Melina Illinger. She imagines her studio by a lake in northern New Hampshire. Her vision includes fairy lights, plushies, and a bay window where she can sit and relax when taking a break.
2. An Enchanted Forest Studio
“My dream studio is set where a rustic, woodland home meets paradise in the forest, or perhaps, an enchanted forest,” Nell Valle explains. Growing up in a small town, the artist was surrounded by antique decor that she found timeless and beautiful. Her studio depicts a cozy space where she can make art at a table in natural light, sleep in a comfy bed or prepare a meal on a wood stove.
3. A Coastal Workspace
Jenifer Treadway visualizes a creative space on the top floor of a refurbished warehouse that overlooks a city by the sea. The interior has exposed brick, concrete floors, giant windows for natural light, inspirational views and lots of open space she can use to step back and view her work in progress.
4. A Bright Hope-Filled Studio
Hayden Brayton always had a drawing desk in his bedroom, and he dreams of the day when he can have an entire room dedicated to his art. Here, we glimpse his private world that includes not only his cat but also hints of an imagined future family. This thoughtful illustration holds the promise of bright hopes for the artist’s life and career.
5. A Workspace Steeped in Reality
Britney Parry envisions a sense of peace and security in her studio hideaway. It’s a place to be free from distractions — somewhere to relax, listen to music, and create. She purposely depicted a setting that she considers attainable, explaining, “I liked the idea of being able to look at the rendering of my studio and feel I could step right into it and feel at home. I hope one day I’ll be able to make my dream studio a reality.”
6. An Artful Countryside Cottage
Sarah Egan pictures her ultimate workspace in a quaint New England countryside cottage. Her homey, creative studio features an abundance of windows, plants, a loft-inspired reading nook and a large desk with ample room for art-making. The ambiance of her dream welcomes all who enter.
7. A Studio with a View
Elena Daly’s dream studio showcases her personal aesthetics and interests. The studio equipment she includes in her illustration offers evidence of her fondness for both traditional and digital art.
Envision the Future
Students and seasoned artists alike can use “outcome visualization” to attain any goal or objective. We can all take Aristotle’s philosophy to heart, and — whether we draw it, paint it or sculpt it — with patience and hard work, we can make it happen.
How to Draw Your Own Three-Dimensional Room
Renaissance artists developed technical rules for drawing three-dimensional interiors, but you can simplify the formula. Here’s how.
1. Floor Plan
To begin, draw a floor plan on grid paper. Each square should represent one square foot. Place the furniture of your choice in the room using the grids to measure. Be sure to show where windows and doors are located. When complete, set your plan aside for later reference.
2. Center of Vision
Early Renaissance paintings viewed rooms straight-on, facing the rear wall of a room, creating a one-point perspective scene. For your design, draw the rear wall, then choose a viewing height (horizon line) and place your “center of vision.” In this example by Elena Daly, the viewing height is 51⁄2 feet. Next, from the center of vision, project a gridded floor into the room that replicates the gridded floor you drew in your floor plan, recalling that one square equals one square foot.
3. Place Box “Furniture”
On the gridded floor, draw box shapes to fit the sizes of your furniture. Use your original floor plan to correctly position the objects.
4. Add Details
From here on, have fun adding details and atmosphere.
You can even put yourself into the picture, as in Daly’s sketch. She went on to produce her art studio scene digitally after planning it with pencil and paper. You can use your sketch as the foundation for a finished work in whatever medium you prefer.
Dream Art Studios in Motion
Take a look at this video featuring all of the students’ dream studios — including exteriors in 2-D perspective!
John Roman is the author of The Art of Illustrated Maps: A Complete Guide to Creative Mapmaking’s History, Process and Inspiration (HOW Books, 2015). He has been teaching illustration at Boston’s Massachusetts College of Art and Design since 1993. To check out his illustrative work and technical drawings, visit johnromanillustration.com.
A version of this article originally appeared in the March/April 2021 issue ofArtists Magazine, on newsstands now!
You may also like:
- 125 Artists and Their Historic Studios
- Inspiring Artist Studio Solutions
- Finding the Perfect Songs for Your Creative Process
