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Subject: Plein air painting easel

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1Painter42
Posts:156
03/09/2008 4:26 PM Alert 
I am a pastel painter that paints in my studio/office from photographs. In order to force myself outside, I've signed up for a plein air workshop in Sept. I'm currently looking into the supplies I'll need for my new adventure of plein air painting. I've ordered a degas pastel box from Jerry's that opens to 30 x18 in. I'm looking at what easel to get, & I like the idea of the french easels, so I'm thinking along those lines, Blick has some jullian french easels for $102. I'm trying to decide on the full or half size. The half size is lighter and narrower, but I'm not sure if it'll be wide enough. What easels do you all use, and why? Thanks!
Justine
www.remingtoncreations.com
Ajam
Posts:24
04/07/2008 10:26 PM Alert 

That is an excellent question.  Hopefully, someone will jump in here and give you some good advice. 

I bought one for plein air painting.  It was wood, and way to heavy to lug from car to field and back.  I read somewhere about a light weight easel that came in a backpack.  Check the Artist Magazine ads, & Google artist easels.

Good luck,

ajam
1Painter42
Posts:156
04/08/2008 11:30 AM Alert 
Thanks for your reply ajam, I also posted the question on WetCanvas and got several responses with advise. I ended up ordering a julian half easel, hopefully it won't be too heavy. I'm going to try to do some painting outside around my house this summer to see how it feels.
Justine
www.remingtoncreations.com
tracymoad@tracymoadwatercolors.com
Posts:47
04/08/2008 4:15 PM Alert 
I converted a camera tripod into an easel! It is very light and folds up to a very managable size to lug around.
I got about a 4x5 piece of 1 inch thick hard wood and glued it onto the part that nornally holds the camera, using gorilla glue, then glued one side of heavy duty velcro to that and the other side of the velcro went on the back of my gator board with my canvas taped to it. It is very easy to manage and easy to work at different levels, i.e. sitting or standing, or even to level it out on uneven surfaces.
I didn't like the french easel because of the weight of it, just to clumsy and cumbersome when moving around! Hope that helps! Tracy
luvnlyf
1Painter42
Posts:156
04/09/2008 10:07 PM Alert 
Thanks Tracy, very ingenious. I'm going to try out my julian half easel and see how it works. My husband actually ordered it for me for my birthday along with 3 boxes of new pastels. I think with-in a week I'll have a couple of days that I can try it out, if the weather cooperates
Justine
www.remingtoncreations.com
Lung Tom
Posts:189
04/27/2008 6:51 PM Alert 

Do not destroy your photo tripod by gluing with gorilla glue.  Get a small square of hard wood drill and inset a properly threaded insert to fit the tripod.  Glue and screw this to a proper sized piece of plywood for an easel.  This is all you need for an excellent plein air easel.  See attached photo.





Lung Tom
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Forums > Join the Discussion > Tech Talk > Plein air painting easel


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