| Author | Message | ||
  John Preston |
A lot of people think the good old French box easel is heavy but they are very stable, even in a wind. They assume any angle and hold all your equipment but a jug of water. With a strap they aren't all that heavy. You can use it back in the studio, even as a table easel. And you don't need another easel for another medium. The various camera tripod topped arrangements are clever but can get top-heavy and unstable with even a small picture and a few items in the box. | ||
maidensmith |
Since I going to be painting outside more (fresh air has become important to me), I am looking for an easel for watercolor. Any suggestions? The first easel I bought was the WN Dart easel and it is way too unstable, so I am returning it. I thought that I might order the Sun Eden easel for use on my tripod - is that a good idea? | ||
jdaneman |
Great post about the slant and bead technique. I saw that in a video on washes and texture. The slant on an easel certainly aids that. I have a new portable easel for a workshop I hope to take, but maybe will try it as a table easel for this. | ||
Anonymous |
Hi, I just came upon this board today, March 13, 2005. Lots of great info here. I'd like to comment on this easel/WC technique. I learned to paint on a flat table, without stretching paper, and not even stapling the paper down before painting. The artist I painted with used plexiglas under the 140 lb cold pressed paper, and just kep towels handy to keep wiping the extra water away from the edges to prevent "crawl backs:. That was 10 years ago. Now, I have studied with so many different instructors, and most recently, one who uses an easel. She paints in the style of broad washes done across the paper with a very large round or mop, letting the water "bead up" and picking up that dripping bead as she passes underneath it with the next broad stroke across the paper. The slant is what help create the "bead." The angle of the paper helps with this method of painting. It also helps with a wet-in-wet technique if one wants to "pour" any pigments on to the damp or wet paper. I like using an easel, and when I am done with the easel, and I need to go in for detail, I take the painting over to a flat table. | ||
jefields |
Thanks for your input. And Pete, I do appreciate your bluntness. The easels I was looking at all could be placed horizontally for watercolor, but since I've not seen an easel in "real life" (only in catalogs), it's hard to visualize how large they could be. I did find something at Cheap Joe's that would work on my table...called a Xylem easel. It's a very simple idea that would lend itself to whatever angle I might want...though mostly I do paint flat. I did look at sun eden. Some really interesting equipment there. If I ever do any outdoor painting, that would certainly be a good thing. Thanks again, Judith | ||
Pete |
More bluntly--since you posted here for advice...I have never heard of anyone successfully using a big canvas oil easel such as the academy belmount for watercolor. You are definately barking up the wrong tree. Check out sun eden equipment. They have a website and make easels just for watercolor. | ||
Pete |
You need an easel designed for watercolor (not "watercoloring"). It should tilt so the paper can be horizonal. An oil easel is vertical and the paint will run. | ||
jdaneman |
I don't normally, but I picked up an Italia easel that folds up for field work this summer. I tried it out at home; it hold a pad in some adjustable clamps (two bars that move along a support) and it can be collapsed to use on a table. I might try that, as my normal method doesn't allow me to rotate the paper. However, I don't paint on watercolor blocks, so I need some kind of board to put in the clamps and clamp the paper on. So far, not sure I find easels useful. | ||
jefields |
I was wondering if any watercolorists use studio easels for their work. I have found one at Cheap Joe's that looks like it would be really fun and convenient to use...the Academy Belmont. |
