Easels are used to help make the life of the pet portrait artist much easier, providing secure support for their canvas, at just the right height and angle. Still, there are a number of varieties to go for, each one designed to meet the particular needs of the artist whether they’re in a studio or outside.
The most versatile is the sketching easel. This has been made so that it can fold down to become easily portable, ideal for field work. Sketching easels are tripods, each leg being fully adjustable to enable the easel to be placed on uneven ground. It has moveable brackets that provide support for a broad range of canvas sizes, all of which can be moved to any angle, including fully horizontal. It’s lightweight nature helps with transportation, though can be unstable in windy weather, particularly with larger canvases. This though can be partly helped by hanging a heavy object from the centre pivot.
For the amateur painter, a sketching easel makes a practical studio easel, as it can be easily put away when the painting is done. You can choose from a range of different materials; aluminium is the most lightweight, steal is the strongest, but also the heaviest. Traditional wooden easels will need to be oiled before using outside and being exposed to the elements.
For those artists fortunate enough to have a big studio in which to work, studio easels provide the capacity to handle much larger paintings. These easels are made of wood, the simplest form an ‘A’ shape, the larger ones ‘H’ shapes. There are quite a few variations, some with casters, paint trays & devices to raise and lower paintings as required. More expensive models are fitted with motors that lift and lower the canvas for you. Nevertheless, the underlying reason for using an easel, is to enable the artist to carry his or her canvas securely, so your final selection should depend on where you will work and the size of the canvases you want to work on.
Whatever you go for, happy painting!