Files tip

During the whole process of creating a painting, I try to be as organised as possible when it comes to my digital files. I quite like my nerdy system, so I thought I'd share it:

I have folders for each year, and in each year's folder,

each painting has a folder, named after the date the painting started (or when I came up with the idea) and a rough title. E.g. "2009-01 Benches" I always write the date: year and month (and sometimes day) because if you list the folders alphabetically, you get them in date order.

In each folder there are 3 subfolders:

1 Source

2 Documentation

3 Finished

1 Source is anything before I start painting. Scanned sketches, photos, photoshop files etc.

2 Documentation is photos of the piece as I paint it. I also save photos that I put here on my blogg in this folder.

3 Finished is photos and scans of the finished work. In this folder are smaller versions for my website and blog. There may be another folder in this folder called 'downloads', where I keep desktop wallpaper images etc.

Hope this is of some use!