There are so many unsung heroes in my artist toolbox. They help me no end and yet are rarely mentioned in the various ‘how-to’s you may find on framing or stretching canvases or packaging artwork.

The big three – the staple gun, the canvas pliers and mitre saw – are obviously pretty essential. Having said that, I did, at first, make do without the pliers – much to the aggravation of my fingers and thumbs. But some of the more obscure tools can shave hours off the working week and vastly increase your sense of wellbeing.

Take this guy. I wouldn’t know what you call this fellow (A poker? A pointy?), but in making little holes where the hooks and string are to go, it can turn a fiddly twenty minute affair into a two minute breeze.

My handy-dandy all-purpose Swiss-wannabe set of pliers. Ten quid from the petty and invaluable for all those miscellaneous jobs that seem to crop up – pulling out staples, tightening corners, getting into my newly delivered rolls of canvas…

Having two sets of scissors instead of one – one for cutting the various sticky tapes I use (which can become quite gluey) – and one that stays pristine so I can use it to slice neatly through bubble wrap without getting in a tangle.

Another one is the good old-fashioned Sello-tape dispenser. I finally learnt this lesson after I chipped one of my incisors from a year’s worth of biting off bits of tape. Oucho!

Anyway, I was interested in finding out just how many processes there are in making a piece of art (specifically, a canvas print) – from its conception, to its execution, to its printing, framing and packaging, and all the admin and promotion too.

I may split this up into three or four distinct stages, but however I do it, you shall see the results in future posts, and hopefully, the result will be of use to somebody somewhere. If it is, drop me a line and let me know. And let me know of any other areas you want me to talk about, because I’ve got one eye on my Artist Resource section of this site which is crying out to be filled…