#artist #artist #easel
Today I’m going to be talking about how to pick the best easel for you. This video is going to take you through things you want to consider before buying an easel so at the end of this you’ll have a customized list for what YOU need from an easel.
#1 Why do you need an easel?
Is it because you like painting outside and need a sturdy surface? Is it because your back has been hurting from looking down at your canvas on your kitchen table? Do you travel a lot and need the promise of having somewhere to paint? Are you a RU-vidr that needs a place to paint in front of your camera? Or are you getting an easel for your kids because they want one? These are all good questions to ask yourself before you get an easel.
I got my easel because something in my gut told me to get one. I’m serious I think I was squishing my small intestines. I’ve been painting on a pine wood board on the flood because I can rig my camera to film it for the RU-vid, but after a while I would get a serious pain in my stomach that subsided if I got up and walked around. So my organs basically forced me to get an easel.
Anway, so for painting outside, or plein air painting, you might need an easel that is on a tripod for sturdiness, a paint box for holding your paint, and a canvas holder so your painting doesn’t fly away in the wind. Maybe you want one with a strap so it goes over your shoulder or fits in a backpack.
If you are just tired of looking down at your table, you have tons of options BUT just make sure you get a functional easel, not a display easel. Display easels are good for showing off your work, but have zero stability for painting.
So there’s a couple of common functional easels that you want to be aware of in your search.
An A-frame Easel is one that looks like a display easel but it’s more sturdy. It legit looks like an A because the two frames come together at the top. These guys can be shoved in a corner easily and most of them can be folded up to put under the bed if you are short on space.
An H-frame Easel is more sturdy than the A-frame easel, but this guy is a little harder to fold up so you might have to just leave him out in the room.
There are also hybrid easels that can be either an upright easel or a table top…depending on if you work with acrylics one day and watercolor the next.
Also, there’s some fun easels out there like giant easels for if you are working on something huge or tiny easels for tiny art. It would be a really great idea to look at your most recent artwork and see how big or small it is because that will help you determine what size you need. They also have bench easels if you want a fold out chair attached to your easel.
For the RU-vidr, lets be real we need something that fits in the shot and looks good. If you like the industrial look, maybe you want a metal or aluminum easel. If you like the boho vibe, you might consider an easel that is made of beechwood or pine.
Okay so now that you have decided why you need an easel, now lets talk about budget.
As you all know, staying in budget is crucial for me and I don’t spend extra money unless there are some seriously strong reasons to do so.
So first, where are you in your artistic career? Are you hosting paint parties and you need a sturdy H frame easel to paint in front of crowds? Is this a hobby of yours that is your whole life and you want to splurge here? Do you need something that’s decently sturdy, but looks good for giving online lessons? Do you want something practical but on the cheap side?
Hobby Lobby has pretty good prices and they have sales all the time. Also the hobby lobby near me has most of them on display so you can see them out of the box. I tried to get a video but this employee was putting up boxes right there so that was unfortunate.
BUT I would recommend setting a price and sticking to it. Because sometimes with shopping for these things, if you don’t consider the cost, you wind up looking at too many options and getting confused with all the facets of each easel.
Here's how I decided on an easel
I’m a RU-vidr so I crank out a painting a week for my channel. So with that being said, I need an easel that is not for display and is easy to maneuver to get the lighting for the video right. I went with a beechwood canvas because I like the lighter look.
I really liked the idea that my easel could also be storage because I get so tired of pulling the paint and brushes and mediums in and out of the closet when I need the same ones when I’m in the middle of a painting.
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10 июн 2022
