Russ Cox’s Studio Tour
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative medium.
Hello, my name is Russ Cox and I play banjo as well as juggle moose in the quaint town of Pittsfield, Maine. I also illustrate, and now write, children’s books. My wife and I, plus our 4 cats, moved up to Maine 6 years ago after living in an old city row home (early 1800s) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We always loved Maine, so when our last kid adventured into the world, we bought a little house in Pittsfield.
My creative mediums are my sketchbooks, which I try to draw in daily, good old pencil and paper, along with my Macs and various software including Painter, Photoshop, and recently discovered Manga Studio. I still like the feel of pencil to paper. There is an emotional connection for me to using those two tools. Although I have started doing thumbnails and preliminary sketches on the computer to save time. I like Painter for sketching. It has more of a natural feel. As far as my banjo playing and moose juggling, they are works in progress.
Describe a typical work day. Are there any rituals you have before you start creating?
What would you say is the most useful tool in your studio?
My light box. I use it more than my computers. I bought it at a print shop that went out of business. It is big enough for me to do larger pieces of artwork. Plus, one of our cats likes to sleep on it.