I love my French easel.
I got it from an estate sale many years ago where another artist had loved it and broken it in first. Not sure how old it is, but it looked like it had hardly been used. I tried to find out what type it was and the nearest I can figure out is that it is a Grumbacher easel #286. It is supposed to be one of the best easels ever made for plein air. It is sturdy, but, really? Could this not be tougher to set up? There is no graceful way to unfold, unclip, slid, unscrew, tighten, snap, unlock, rescrew, adjust, twirl, stretch, clamp, measure and tighten again….and tighten again. All the while knowing that people are trying hard not to stare at me. But I know that to paint plein air then I must summon up my courage and in my head yell in my best pirate voice, ”Avar, ye Kraken! I fear ye not!” then proceed to wrangle my easel into submission.
Once it is set up it is so fun to use. It is better than the easels in my classroom. Best thing about this easel is the drawer which is deep and made of tin. I can pull it out and set everything on it and in it. It is very sturdy. And it makes me feel official somehow. As though over the past 50 years that I have created artwork (I count my toddler years drawing my dog ) somehow doesn’t validate me as an official artist until I stand in front of a French easel. After I had gotten it I took a sharpie and signed my name to it. I guess in a weird way I was hoping some artist would be happy to have my easel after me someday.
Painting every week out and about in Greenville has definitely given it a workout. I keep trying to get a good dozen paintings together from around town, but I keep selling the paintings to passersby who see them. Good problem to have….
Anyway, there are a lot of easels out there. Some work great as a backpack, some are very thin and more flimsy, but if you get a chance to get a good one, do it. It has become my friend and even though it is a bit heavy, it has been a great addition to my painting arsenal.
Plus, it makes you look official. More next week.
Love the dappled light in the bottom painting.
Plein Air painting sounds like a ‘ Win, Win ‘ for you !👏💯😎
Its been fun. Will change my work I believe for the better.
Love it. Have the same one but recently tried to get a handle replacement and no longer made. My leather handle broke
bummer! Hard to carry it around without that. There has to be someone who is handy who could put a new one on for you.
Boy did this one hit home! I bought a “French” easel about 10 years ago. Heavy! Unwieldy! I tended to get to the location 15 min before the rest of the troop, just so I could get the monster ready to use. It became difficult for me. I started using a fairly flimsy one with anchors. I don’t like it as much, for obvious reasons. But if I want to do plain air, I’ve had to make adjustments. Ah I remember the day that my painting, firmly attached to the easel, went flying across the field. It looked like a sail boat skimming the lake. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t do a thing about it. Hence the reason for the anchors. I may need to go back to the monster again! Thanks for the blurb reminding me of a day I laughed.
Lol! I can just see the painting flying like a frisbee!
When I started painting, I used watercolors and didn’t need an easel. Fast forward to painting in pastels, I still painted on a table top. Then one day during Covid, I remembered that my son had a music stand in the house. It works great indoors. I will have to try it outside.
great idea!
I have a French easel as well. I bought mine for $8 at an estate sale. I only used it a few times. I even bought these things to secure the easel into a ground surface. I need to get out and paint.
Yes! Put that $8 to good use!
If you have a chair, sit in it. Unfold the back leg of the easel, but don’t extend it…yet. Put your knees together. Sit the front of the easel on your knees/lap. Then put out the side legs one at a time, and and angle them down towards the ground and tighten it’s wing nut so that it is in the position it will be in the end, but the legs are not touching ground yet. Basically, it is still on your knees. Now, extend and tighten the side front legs, fully, to the ground while standing up or still sitting. You now have the two fronts completely extended and tightened, with the back leg not extended. All legs touching the ground. You’ll have a very slanted portion. Now, extend the back leg fully and tighten. The top tray part of the easel has yet to be touched. The easel is fully extended and tight. Simply now unhook the top tray and you’ll know what to do from here. If you do not have a chair, find something to “sit” or lean on of similar height and do the same procedure. The rocks in your photo are a bit low, but once you get the hand of this, you’ll figure it out and easily open the easel. Sam Thong, who you may know, the caricature/portrait artist at Station Square for 40 years showed me this around 15 years ago. I instantly did it and have been doing it like this ever since. What a relief! When finished, simply close the top completely, shorten the back leg first, then the sides and go from there. Sometimes I sit back down. Other times I rest the easel on my thigh and flip up the side legs one at time, and lock them in, while the back leg is down. By then, I can flip it up by loosening the nut and folding it to where it goes. Hope this made sense. A life changer!
thanks!
💕Love it! I need to be brave and do this!