Outdoor easel

[Eveleen Power]

Hi I am delighted to find this site.

I love painting outdoors and would love to find a good easel that is suitable.  Is there any one particularly good easel that people find works.

thanks

Eveleen

www.eveleenpower.com

[Tony Robinson]

This is a common question to ask. Here is a discussion we've had on it which may help. (http://pleineire.ning.com/forum/topics/good-outdoor-easel).
Its safe to say there is no perfect easel and every one has its pros and cons. I'd suggest the best showroom would be to come along to our next SE paintout with something simple to use and have a look and a chat with members there to get their honest opinions. You will see a range of different kits in use from shiny bought ones to home-made 'Heath Robinson' jobs.

I'm sure there will be a paintout within the next month. Watch out for it under 'Events' or sign up to South East Plein Air under the Groups tab.

[Helder Vieira]

Hi Eveleen,
"Is there any one particularly good easel that people find works?"
Well, in my opinion it depends on what you are looking for.
And to know what you are looking for you need to answers some questions and from there you can find a good easel that suits you.

Then, as Tony said, you can join a paintout group and and have a look anda a chat with other painters.
So, let me try help you with the first steps.
There are some considerations that are important, for example:
1. How high can you get the panel? Do you want to be holding your arm in a tiring high position for a long period of time?
2. How large a paint mixing surface will the system support? If you use a full spectrum palette, some of the pochade systems can be limiting
3. Do you want a box, with an easel, to carry everything in or you just want a palette and easel? In this latter case you can put the paints, solvents and so on in a bag
4. How do you carry the wet paint securely?

5. what medium do you use? there are specifically made equipment built for specific mediums (pastel, oils, watercolours, etc) and panel or canvas sizes

So, the best system is the one that suits your needs and you must find, in the first place, what you do need.

Take a look at the review of pochades on this page to see some examples of pochade and lightweight easel systems: http://paintinglinks.com/plein-air/a-comparison-of-pochade-boxes.htm

Hope it helps

 

[Eveleen Power]

Thanks very much Helder, that's a very good point. I will look into what I need.

regards

[Eveleen Power]

Hi I was just looking at the Mabef outdoor easel with legs.its a half box and weighs 8kg

has anybody ever used this?

[Tony Robinson]

Not sure about Mabef one. I'm sure its a good make (Italian). It is basically a half-box Jullian easel.  Spectrum (see advert on the right) in Wexford sell Daler-Rowney's 'Cornwall' version of the same design easel for €50.

I should declare an interest in the business.

[Eveleen Power]

wow that is a ton cheaper

[Helder Vieira]

Hi Eveleen,

I think that 8 kg for an half box is way too much.

With your paints and brushes and all it will weight 10 Kg or more. It's a TON if you have to move it around.

Mabef is very sturdy all right, but other french type easels with no brand can do the job and they cost a fraction.

As long as you don't buy one made of pine.

Choose one made of beechwood or elmwood.

They weight about 5 kg or 5,5 kg, sometimes even less.

If you go to Ebay UK you'll find a lot of them for very good price and P&P costs.

[Eveleen Power]

thanks Helder

that looks like the daler rowney one would suit so will check ebay

 

[Eveleen Power]

Thanks Annemarie

I went ahead and ordered the daler rowney cornwall but I will definitely look into this for long term use.

thanks for the information

Eveleen

ANNEMARIE BOURKE said:

Hi Eileen 

I use a pochade made by Craig young in the u.s.a.

It's very compace and can hold up to 18 ins canvas

clips easily onto a camea tripod and has compartments for storage 

you can also get an attatchment that carries up to 4 wet paintings

google craig young pochade

hope this helps

Annemarie

[Helder Vieira]

Hi Eveleen,

What a coincidence (or not, because I heard about that easel here in this wonderful forum).

I just ordered the daler rowney cornwall too from an Ebay seller. The cost and postage is still under the price I would pay here in Portugal for such an easel box.

I think it is a great choice, because it is light weight, as it is a kind of a half french easel in a full size design.

I have a full size french easel for years now and the first thing I did when I bought it was this: I mixed linsed oil (2 parts) and turpentine (1 part) and I painted the box inside and out and the legs with this mixture and let it dry for a week or two.

Every year I do this to the box and it keeps waterproof, strong and beautiful.

I'll do the same to my new box when it arrive.

It is just an idea that works very well, for me anyway.

 

Helder

[Eveleen Power]

HI Helder

thats a great tip

would never have known that about the linseed oil and turpentine

thanks for that

Enjoy your painting

 

 

Helder Vieira said:

Hi Eveleen,

What a coincidence (or not, because I heard about that easel here in this wonderful forum).

I just ordered the daler rowney cornwall too from an Ebay seller. The cost and postage is still under the price I would pay here in Portugal for such an easel box.

I think it is a great choice, because it is light weight, as it is a kind of a half french easel in a full size design.

I have a full size french easel for years now and the first thing I did when I bought it was this: I mixed linsed oil (2 parts) and turpentine (1 part) and I painted the box inside and out and the legs with this mixture and let it dry for a week or two.

Every year I do this to the box and it keeps waterproof, strong and beautiful.

I'll do the same to my new box when it arrive.

It is just an idea that works very well, for me anyway.

 

Helder

[deirdre shanny]

Hi Siobhan, thanks for the nice comments.Nice to meet you here. The easel i use for plein air painting was purchased in Kennedys of Hardcourt St in Dublin[ at the time it cost 45 euro] about 3 years ago. I think its brill for our irish weather, and when travelling abroad i use a different light weight easel[ esp....with weight restrictions with some airlines]