Duck Pen Completed

I finally have the duck pen done! Finished it up at night with the truck headlights in 20 degree weather. Next morning it was 6 degrees so I'm glad I put the extra time in that night. The ducks have a heated water tub... Sort of a mini spa for them. 

Duck Pen Distraction.

Instead of working on the shelves I had to take a break and get a pen built for ducks. Was planning something smaller, but kept re-thinking what I wanted. Dug out about 25 tons of dirt to get the ground level. Put back in 1 ton of gravel. It's a 9'x 8' x 20'. 

Getting close to being done. Got rained out this evening so I'll finish the front wall & door tomorrow. Then just attach the fence.

Ducks will now be close to the studio if I need a quick reference shot or someone to sketch. 

Shelves in progress

Have the wood cut and stained. Now need to get them put together. Decided to router out the grooves for the shelves. It will take a bit longer overall, but will make for stronger better shelves. Hopefully next week!

Hughes Easel is here.

Got my Hughes 4000 easel in its new home today. It's an incredible easel! Look forward to working with it.

Very high quality workmanship by Don Andrews in Punta Gorda, FL. 

    Mine is a Hughes 4000 made from walnut. Check out his easels at http://www.hugheseasels.com 

Don is an excellent craftsman and designer. Very nice to have been able to meet and talk to him in his shop. He goes way above and beyond to make these easels the best. 

3 pieces to assemble. 

(I have a 4' x 8' white board for dry erase markers. Still need to stain the wood trim and finish the area above it by the a/c vent.)

Casters on. 

Final assembly. 

Makes my other easel look tiny even though it is 6' tall. The new easel makes me want an even taller ceiling. Although it's fine for pretty much of anything up to a 5' tall painting. The Hughes easel will hold up to a 6' tall canvas that I could have the bottom of the canvas at eye level when standing if I had the extra ceiling height. 

Lights are on. Door is installed.

Playing around with some ideas with the lighting. I like the idea of being able to change the color to see how it influences the final painting. Using LED lights. 3 5000k daylight & 3 5000k daylight with the ability to change the color.
Door is installed!
Have the walls primed and the paint ordered. I'm going with the brightest white that Sherwin-Williams makes. Need 15 gallons so it won't be here until Friday.

Drywall & Heating / Cooling installed

Drywall pretty much done. They will start taping and finishing tomorrow. Furnace / AC hooked up today. Propane tank delivered. Need the electricians to install the new service box. After that the front door will be installed and then we will be done with the inside work. Interior painting we will do ourselves.

More insulation & drywall

Getting a little farther along. Some insulation board on the ceiling. More of the drywall done.