Sequence
Work moves slowly from a rough sketch to a test piece to a final run. A log sits open on the bench and gets a line after every step. Speed is not a goal here; a clean second attempt is, and it usually arrives.
Prime Sunbeam is a studio for sign painting, and these are its working notes. Nothing here is finished writing; it is the bench talking to itself. The subjects are ordinary: what is on the shelf, what happens at the bench, and the room around it.
The room
One room, one bench, and a window facing away from the sun for even light. A stool, a lamp for the dark months, and a kettle that is rarely cold. The door is usually shut, less for privacy than to keep the dust in.
Sources
Materials come from a handful of suppliers and the list of them rarely changes. Every delivery is unpacked, labelled and tried before it goes on the shelf. Offcuts are kept for studies, and the studies are where most ideas start.
From the bench
DrawingMost of the work here starts on paper, with loose sketches and a few measurements. Only when the sheet is settled is anything cut, mixed or printed. Proportions are checked against a single card of ratios that has not changed in a long while. A shape that is hurried at the sketch stage tends to stay hurried all the way through.
MaterialsEvery batch of finish is labelled with the day it was mixed and the wood it was tried on. Pigments are ground by hand from a short list: raw umber, yellow ochre, bone black. Offcuts go into small studies instead of the bin. Ash and oak from nearby mills, linen and undyed cotton, linseed oil and milk paint.
RoomRain on the roof is loud enough that the radio stays off on wet days. The building has kept its skylights and a concrete floor that stays cool in summer. The studio is a former workshop with north-facing windows and a long bench along one wall. A desk by the window is for drawing; the bench is for everything that makes dust.