Friday 4th July 2025.

I have exciting news. I’ve bought a new easel!

Having had a good run of sales recently, I decided to splash out on a new easel to replace the rather dilapidated one I’ve been using for the last 10 years. The frame has become a little wonky and the moveable bottom support which the canvases rest on has become hard to slide up and down and stay horizontal.  It is particularly tricky when supporting large canvases which I seem to be using more frequently. I won’t be throwing it out. It will still be useful in displaying paintings and even when I might work on multiple paintings but I thought that I deserved an upgrade.

My working methods have changed over the years. Many years ago in the 80’s I bought a large adjustable drawing table from a guy who worked in the design department of E.J.Arnold, where I was working at the time. It was actually a home made top surface with a  large 1mx1m drawing board but had a proper high metal, folding base with a wheel tilting device from a proper draughtsman’s table. It’s also at a good height to stand at or sit at on a high stool. It cost me £10 and lasted me 40 years. Now that’s what I call good value for money.

When I began painting, I just used a kitchen table but my “new” drawing table was an integral part of all my “studio” spaces in each house after that. Back in the 80’s ,I only painted in Watercolours and the tilting drawing table was perfect. It’s been with me in all my “Studios” and I still have it in my current studio, although currently covered in “stuff”. I also now have my indoor drawing table I bought last year which has proved useful in the depths of winter.

When I began to paint in acrylics in the early 2000’s I realised I needed a vertical support, i.e. an easel. I started with a small easel resting on a table and sat down to paint. I was really only painting up to 24”×24” maximum in those days.

I soon realised that I would have to stand up to paint in acrylics . It was just a more comfortable painting position, especially with my bad back, and that meant a proper easel. It also meant that strangely I had to buy a pair of chefs Crocs ( recommended by my mate and chef Rob) as I hadn’t realised how tiring it was standing up all day and I was getting pains in my calves. I still wear the Crocs as they still work.

 By then I was working for YPO in school supplies and through them I got a school sixth form easel which is like a large wooden, extendable support with sliding shelf  with a tripod leg affair which is very sturdy and heavy but does not hold wide canvases very easily on its rather narrow shelf and single support at the back. It was ok and I used it for quite a while but when I joined Washington Green, they were wanting 36”×36” canvases and the easel didn’t really support those very well and the canvas had a tendency to wobble when painting near the edges and the 3 splayed legs didn’t seem secure with a wide canvas. It was time for an upgrade.

I bought a wide easel with 2 vertical supports which supported the canvases much better. The 4 braced legs were more sturdy and the wider shelf catered for wider canvases or boards. It also could hold canvases up to 1.5m tall. Natasha bought me a clamp on easel lamp with daylight strip bulb which had a flexi arm. It is this easel I have been using all these years and it certainly bears the scars. I have adapted it and replaced bits but it has all become a bit tired and loose (a bit like me).

My new easel is a sturdy piece of kit, although it’s not the “classic” studio easel which has a winding mechanism for raising or lowering the canvas and weigh a ton. I couldn’t afford one of those. They start at about £800 and run into thousands. It has a sturdy square adjustable support with runners on casters with breaks. It has lots of adjustments and can take 2 wide canvases at once if desired. It can also be used flat like a table. It’s shiny newness won’t last long. I probably won’t be comfortable with it until it’s caked in paint.

I have acquired many other easels of different types over the years. The first ones were those spider like easels that fold up and are pretty flimsy for anything large. I had several of those but didn’t buy any of them. I think I gave a couple away. I have 2 “french”  box easels which as the name suggests fold up rather neatly around a central box for containing equipment,  paint and brushes etc designed for painting “ en plein air”  and easy transportation. They are quality pieces of kit. I bought one from a charity shop. Although I already had one I couldnt resist it at £40.  They’re about £150 new.

They only accommodate relatively small canvases/boards though and aren’t practical for the studio. I also have an assortment of “desk/table easels” for use on table tops with or without the little equipment draw. I also made myself 2 pochade boxes, little paint boxes with no legs that can be used on your knees, outside or in a car, or with the connector on the bottom, attached to a camera tripod. I made 2. One that fits 10”×8” boards in the lid, the other for small 6”×8” boards. I used the design used by the artist Trevor Chamberlain. The equipment fits in the compartmentalised box and the boards slide in a special lid which has a hinged side to slide them in and retain them when wet. The equipment has to be reduced to basics with small tubes of paint and a couple of brushes. I generally use the desk top easels for displaying paintings at AITG. I also have “mini easels” again used for display at events like AITG. I have a selection of drawing slopes including  a rather nice draughtsman drawing slope which even has a sliding rule. It’s only about 15”×12” and its angle of slope is adjustable when painting watercolours. I bought it from an antique shop in Scotland.  I have bought or acquired some and been given others and almost certainly have too many but my large easel is used almost daily. Hundreds of paintings have been created on it and I feel almost sentimental about it.  My new easel will hopefully last as long.

I spent most of the week on the 2 “woodland “ commissions.  Even at 50cm x 50cm they still take a while. The brief was a a woodland scene with a stream and a colour scheme  of yellows, oranges with some pink. I had to keep the pink subtle and put a hint in the lower sky with a hint in the reflections in the stream. They will be displayed as a pair on either side of a window but are different in composition. I enjoy the stream and it’s easier to paint than puddles on a path. The reflections make it look like a stream. I did enjoy painting them and having a virtual free reign I didn’t feel under the usual pressure when doing commissions.

I also managed to get my recently done paintings,  including the 2 “Ullswater” paintings varnished and do a few more of my miniatures and small works.

With all that activity I haven’t actually managed to get my new easel out of it’s box! Another job for next week...