It has two independently operated arms and this double-sided design means that it can also take two canvases at once. A real space-saver, it is surprisingly inexpensive. Specialist easels Apply a watercolour wash to a vertical support and the paint will run downwards, so you need to work at a much shallower angle. Manufacturers have catered for this need by producing specialist watercolour easels. With a similar design to the H-frame, these feature a rectangular wooden frame that can be tilted horizontally — thus effectively forming a table — or vertically, for viewing your work.
Jax Art have also produced an ingenious Pastel Easel with four interchangeable shelves for holding pastel sticks and other materials. Click here. Log in Join. Sign in Welcome back to Portfolio Plus! Remember me? Forgot your password?
Sign In. New to Portfolio Plus? Create an account. Register Fill in the details below to register for your account. Already a member? If you split your painting time equally between home and somewhere else, such as college, then you may want an easel that is sturdy enough to withstand commuting but light enough to carry under one arm or via a strap on your shoulder. I agree that the media you use is relevant but don't get too fixated on it as the most significant factor in your choice of an easel.
Mentally, we tend to think of watercolours and pastels as lightweight, whereas oils and acrylics conjure up an impression of heavy and large and therefore a bigger easel. Yet there are many beautiful large watercolours and equally appealing miniature oil and acrylic paintings. Remember too, that if you're using a single sheet of watercolour paper or pastel it will need to be taped to a stout board, which is the real size you need to take into account when attaching it to the easel.
If your paintings are all around say, 18" x 14" 45cm x 35cm or less and usually in watercolour or a dry media, then you'll certainly be happier with a lighter weight easel than if you're using oils and trying to create 6 feet x 4 feet 1.
However, there's no hard and fast rule on this because, when required, even a decent lightweight sketching easel can comfortably handle something like an occasional 24" x 18" oil painting, for instance.
I mentioned earlier about the advantages of an easel holding a canvas upright to keep dust off oils or tipped slightly forward to allow pastel dust to drop clear of the picture. With watercolours, you may well want to have the board on which the paper is taped lying almost flat to create more gentle blending or glazing. Equally, an easel that allows the painting to be held horizontally for say varnishing means you don't have to find a suitably-sized table at home, with the threat of varnish dripping onto the carpet or the table itself.
An often overlooked component when choosing an easel is a hidden one - that is, where do you keep your palette, brushes and other materials whilst actually painting? In the archetypal scene of an artist at their easel, they are holding a traditional kidney-shaped palette in one hand while flourishing a brush in the other, with several more in their teeth and paint tubes scattered on the floor. That may suit some, but the majority of us prefer to work with a separate table alongside the easel, or at least have a shelf on it which holds brushes, a few tubes of paint and so on.
These artists, for instance, are enjoying a day painting together and happily sharing a lightweight table for their materials. Note the two different types of easel and the quite different sizes of painting being produced. A lightweight chair is also essential if you're going to sit to paint, all of which adds extra weight and bulk to what you need to carry. It's an undeniable fact that watercolours generally require less equipment than other media such as acrylics and oils, but even then, the watercolourist needs somewhere to put things down so they're within easy reach when next needed.
And a pastellist, of course, has dozens of tinted sticks of colour surrounding them as they blend and layer Many of the easels we'll look at have convenient shelves or even storage compartments built into them and if you think this will help you to keep things tidy, then this may be the way to go for you. This is purely down to personal preference. Someone working at a table easel may want to continue this way because the like to rest their arm on the table for support.
On the other hand, many artists value the sudden freedom they acquire when they start to stand up to paint at an easel, finding a solution to creating looser work that they may have craved. This is particularly the case when you're working on a larger item. As I mentioned earlier, your painting arm comes into play so you can execute broad, confident strokes, instead of 'pecking' at the canvas with a small brush. On the other hand, if you're into highly detailed work, a table easel can be a real boon.
The added height at the rear of an angled table easel makes it so much easier to paint comfortably at the top edges of a canvas, as it slopes towards you. In this class, seven people are happily painting in a mix of standing and sitting at easels.
By the way, the lady standing in the foreground of the photo above might think about moving the canvas up her easel somewhat. Otherwise, that pose suggests she'll be crying "Oooh, me back", later on in the day! You may have a gentle, delicate way of painting which sits perfectly with a small desk-top easel or at least a lightweight stand-up version. So a large, heavy static model bristling with cranks, ratchets and thumbscrews would be complete overkill.
Or, you may be the sort of artist who loves to attack their canvas with brushes, paint and knives and relies upon the easel to unflinchingly resist this barrage of aggressive colourizing without it retreating on its castors as you follow it resolutely around the studio.
Probably, you're somewhere in between, but thinking about this beforehand may save you a considerable sum of money as well as disappointment in your choice. Now let's get down to looking at specific easels because there is a truly bewildering range of makes and models. I've also included some general weights and key measurements as a general guide, but obviously, they will vary slightly according to the brand. I haven't mentioned the price because again, there is so much variety between individual makes.
However, a brief look online or better still, in your local art store where you will get good additional advice, will give you a feel for how much your favoured easel is going to cost you.
Let's look at the outdoor and portable versions first, as these are often suitable for working at home, on a variety of media. These come in either wood or aluminium and are designed to fold down to a little over 2 feet in length, often with a travelling cover and shoulder strap.
P hoto credit: Ken Bromleys. Can take canvasses up to almost 4 feet cm in height and the telescopic legs give infinitely adjustable height. This is ideal if it's set up outdoors on uneven ground. Some models can have the legs fully retracted to act as a table easel.
Can be a bit unsteady in windy conditions, so you should hold it down with a suitable weight hanging from below the centre. However, always remember that it offers a lightweight option to paint plein air, so take advantage of it.
When you paint outdoors, keep your equipment to the minimum! I suggest you don't follow this lady's example where she looks likes she's taken the family's luggage for a week's holiday along with her. Suitcase, large backpack, another bag under the chair, the chair, large bottle of thinners, an extra coat that wouldn't fit in the suitcase - oh and the easel, palette and the canvas.
I'm assuming the chain and pipe was already there The whole point about painting plein air is to keep things minimal and lightweight, so you can unpack quickly and get started right away, or more importantly, pack up rapidly if the weather suddenly turns foul.
Don't underestimate wind either. Remember, when you put your board or canvas onto the easel, this will act as a sail and even mild gusts will keep you on your toes. I'm not trying to put you off a lightweight easel, they're fine in most conditions, but you need to paint outdoors just once in average weather to fully understand the need for stability! It also has a compartment for materials, which usually includes a wooden palette, which in this example, could be rested on the partially open drawer as you paint.
When working outdoors it can often provide a means of bringing home a completed painting by clipping it to the inside or outside of the box, depending on the size and how wet it still is!
It also folds down to a neat package, which is ideal for transporting or if you need to make some room after using it at home. The canvas holder can be angled from the vertical to the horizontal, so is equally suitable for oils and acrylics as well as watercolours and dry media. Weight is around 13lbs or 6 kg and takes up a triangular footprint around the perimeter of the legs of around 30".
Moving up the scale, again for indoor or outdoor work, is the Painting Horse, sometimes known as the 'Donkey'. The built-in seat is a bonus and has a large materials compartment underneath. Photo credit: Dick Blick. The 'donkey' is well named as a carrier of art materials and a seated artist. It has Germanic origins, as their word for donkey is 'esel'. Not every easel is good for plein air painting. So-called tripod easel has got telescopic legs. As a rule, it is relatively small and can be folded up to even more compact size.
Most of the wooden french box is also designed to be taken outdoors. Their main feature is built-in boxes for art supplies. In addition, they are often equipped with holsters and slots. A french box canvas carrier is adjustable, it permits you to freely correct the angle at which you work. The simplest among floor-standing studio easels is single mast ones. They consist of a vertical plank, a holder and bearing details. A-frames , also called a lyre, has a triangular silhouette. It is relatively compact and pretty strong.
Its singular back leg allows you to paint in places with limited space — for example, in the corner of the living room. H-frames, which have a square foot, two vertical posts, and horizontal crossbar, are the most stable, but really huge and heavy type of supporter for canvasses.
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