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| Thomas Cole's paint box |
NOTE: I've updated this post August 4, 2019 to reflect some new thoughts and new products.
I'm like many outdoor painters in that I'm a bit of a "gearhead." I love gadgets. And for the outdoor painter, there's no more fascinating gadget than the field easel. After years of evolution - from Thomas Cole's modest lap paintbox to some of today's turbocharged, multi-tasking pochade boxes - there are many to choose from. So, what's best?
Well, that all depends. Where you paint, when you paint and how you paint will make some easels better for you than others. And, things change. What worked for you yesterday may not work for you today. I have maybe a dozen or more different easels and boxes. Some I use all the time; some I pull out for specific occasions; some I should probably just put up for sale on eBay.
The main thing I'm looking for in an easel is stability and sturdiness. It has to be able to stand up to the wind and to my innate clumsiness. If it doesn't meet these basic qualifications, I don't use it.
I have three basic easels I use. First, is my
Daytripper from Prolific Painter. Although I love the
9x12 Guerrilla Painter box that I used for many years, I really like the Daytripper because it is modular and easy to take apart and stuff in my backpack. It's lightweight, fits any tripod, and is well-crafted. One caveat, though. The maker is also a full-time painter, and making these is more of a sideline, and if he is out of stock, you may have to wait. But it's worth it, believe me. (As for the Guerrilla Painter box, it's well-built, holds all my paint and panels, and fits on an easily-detached tripod, making it very portable. If I don't want to bother with the tripod, I can use it in my lap or on a picnic table. Although I've added an optional part that lets me put up to a 12x16 panel on it, I typically use it for 9x12 panels and smaller.) I wrote a full review on the Daytripper, which you can read
here.
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| The Daytripper |
Second is my
Gloucester-style easel. Thanks to its three long legs and two crossbars, it'll stand up to a gale. I have to carry a separate palette box - I use an
Easyl Classic for this - which fits on the crossbars. I use bungee cords to secure it. The Gloucester-style easel will also hold a huge canvas. I've painted as large as 24x30 on it, and I know it will go much bigger. (Pictured below is the Beauport, but because of a number of issues with this Chinese knockoff, I recommend the American-made Take-It-Easel.)
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| Gloucester-style easel, with separate paint box on crossbars (on Campobello Island, NB) |
Finally, I use a
French easel. Mine is a Mabef, and it's made of hard maple with durable hardware. (Don't get the cheap ones made of a soft wood like elm; they last less than a year with heavy use.) It's heavy, but it's sturdy, and it can also accommodate a variety of sizes. If I'm painting larger than 9x12 but smaller than 16x20, I'll probably use this one. I also take it as a spare on road trips.
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| Mabef French easel (in Sedona, Arizona) |
The best advice I can give for someone looking for a good easel or pochade box is to take a workshop. At workshops, not only can use see what the instructor likes to use, but you can also see what the other students are using. Usually, at my workshops, I'll see a half-dozen setups. It's a great way to evaluate them without having to buy one of each!
