A Tour of my Workspace

I thought I'd share a look at my desk! It's messy, but most of the mess is stuff I reach for on a regular basis. Here's view number one:

Stuff you can see in this photo:

•My bulletin board. Full of reference, inspiration, art from fans. •A t-shirt I designed for a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk team, featuring the BSC's very own Stacey. •Below that, a cardboard box full of fan letters. I need to answer these. •My laptop. This has my script on it, plus music, reference, email, and the inevitable Twitter. •Empty teacup number one. •Old photos. I'm working on a book about my sister and I when we were little, so, old family photos are helpful! •Pens. Brushes. Lip balm. •A bunch of old sketchbooks. •The paper (Bristol board) for the pages I'm drawing. •A necklace made of sculpey, of the happy face from the cover of Smile, made by my fans/friends! •Under the desk: an old monitor somebody gave me, that I haven't found a good use for yet. And view number two:

•The page I'm working on! •My pencil, eraser, and blue layout pencil. •More photos. • Full teacup. •Little IKEA desk lamp. •iPod speaker doc. •Empty teacup number two. •Used tissue. I've had pretty bad allergies this season! •Color wheel. I don't use this much anymore, but I like it. •Cup of water for rinsing my brushes. •Bin full of ink, thumbtacks, pencil sharpener, scissors, and miscellany. •Space heater, down below. My studio is badly insulated, and FREEZING in winter! •Outside the window: Queens, New York. My view is of a couple of parking spaces, a few trees, and the apartments across the way. There are a couple of stray cats that like to sit on top of my neighbors' cars, and I like watching them. The window faces west, so I get some pretty nice sunsets here.

I don't always work at my desk!

What about you? What things are essential to your workspace?

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This essay was originally posted on Inside A Dog. Copyright Raina Telgemeier.