Easel/travel question

[Bruce Newman]

I became interested in plein air painting this year and, after researching easels, settled on a full French easel which has worked well for me so far.
 
Now, I have my first road trip coming up and I'm not sure how to lug this stuff through airports. My backpack should be easy enough but my French easel seems a bit delicate and I wouldn't want to snap off any legs or anything. My first thought is to bind it all up with duct tape so it won't come flying apart in transit.
 
Do you have any other suggestions or cautions for me? How about painting knives? Can I put those in my backpack and check it? Acrylic paints shouldn't cause any problem, should they? Thanks for any suggestions.
 
BTW, I'm heading to McAllen, Texas (near Brownsville) for a week and look forward to painting there.
 
Bruce
 

[Precious Mazie]

Bruce,
I've spent the last 4 weeks in TX and this is my 4th or 5th trip here, I love it. Great places to paint. As far as what and how you should pack I would call your airlines. Different carriers have different rules for in-states flights. Some may consider your paints as harmful chemicals and not let them on board. Specially if there oil paints and related liquids. I love my French easel and take it everywhere. But I drive here so its not a problem. The one thing I have noticed with it, is the more you use it the weaker the legs become. Check often for lose screws and nails. I had to put some sponges in the back of the bottom tray to prevent my brushes and pencils from falling out when I put it on my shoulder. (All that space why waste it!) If the airlines lets you bring it wrap it up in that bubble wrap then duck tape it (clear this with the airlines first the new security rules are very tight,) Have a written out list of the contents and don't bring any knives even paint knives as these will show on the x-ray as a knife. If you watercolor maybe a travel kit with half pans, a brush or two and a block of paper would do. And not as heavy!
Enjoy your trip!!! PM

[CarlyHardy]

Easiest way is to box up your supplies and ship them to the location where you'll be.

Next option. Pack a bag with easel and supplies to check. Don't have things taped in case you have to open the bag and remove things.

Third option...take only the easel. Purchase paints and a painting knife in Texas. Then ship them home to yourself at the end of the trip.

carly

[Bruce Newman]

Thanks Mazie and Carly. I'm wondering now if I will even take my French easel. I have a small telescoping easel that folds up and might do the trick.

Bruce

[Precious Mazie]

Well what ever you decide have a nice trip! We are here in Fort Worth and the number of ethnic restaurants is large and the food great. We have literally eaten ourselves around the world and had some great TX beef too! Bon Voyage!

[JamieWG]

Bruce, all I can say is.....I'm looking forward to seeing the paintings! :D

Lorelou wrote a WC article on how to create a pouchade box from a cigar box, that sets onto a tripod. Have you seen it?

If it were me.....I'd probably squeeze colors I wanted into pill strips, vac seal them, and send them ahead, then bring a small pouchade box and tripod. But I have to confess that I adore Carly's idea of going to the paint store in TX and sending leftovers home. ;)

Does anybody make a great half french easel anymore? I've only been hearing complaints about the half easels lately.

Jamie

[Bruce Newman]

Yes, I have seen Lorelou's article and enjoyed it, Jamie. My initial (instinctive) thought was to paint as I have been and I didn't consider doing other than i have been. Now I'm seeing that it is more complicated.

I'm not too worried about taking my acrylics (although I will check with the airline to be sure) and I can stuff them in my backpack. Actually, I can get everything in my backpack except for my easel. As I said, I had just assumed I would take my French easel, but now I might make other arrangements, particularly since I am limited to only two pieces of checked baggage. Not sure what the alternative is though. I'm going to check out how my telescoping easel fits in my suitcase today. Alternatively, I might even buy something there and ship it home.

As for the half French easel, I have no experience. When I was researching easels, many people recommended the half French but for what seemed very little difference in size, weight and price, I went with the Jullian full French easel. I'm happy I did and have no trouble carrying it...but I'm 6'-3" and 230 pounds. :)

Thanks again for your help!

Bruce

[Marc Sabatella]

Are you already filling two suitcases with your clothes and so forth? Is packing the French easel into a suitcase not feasible? Seems even if you wrapped it up, it would still count as baggage - or did you intend to carry it on? At least if you packed it in a suitcase you could put other stuff in there as well.

I was also concerned about travelling with a French easel, but also given the weight concern - I don't mind carrying it to and from the car, but I prefer not to hike with that much bulk to carry - I've since gone with lighter setups that still provide a lot of the same convenience. I haven't tried a half Julian, and agree the savings in cost is negligible, but I do suspect the weight difference would be significant for most people if they really hiked a ways with it. Still, it would be just as fragile, and I think there are better options - I don't actually think that much of the Julian design. The simple telescoping easel of course travels well, but really changes the painting experience if you are used to the Julian.

For pastels, I got a Yarka Russian easel which seems less fragile for travel, although I'd still pack it in something else if I were to check it as baggafe. For oils I use the "student" pochade kit from Open Box M, which consists of the same innards as their regular box but instead of a box, it comes in a cloth carrying case (savings in weight again, as well as cost). This packed well into a small suitcase too. Both the Russian easel or the pochade kit are small enough to carry on if I prefer, but I think I'd still want to protect them further if I did. If I didn't insist on being able to work on the larger side, I'd have just gotten a Guerilla Painter's Box and been done with it, but it is pretty much built around the idea of painting 9x12 - no bigger, no smaller.

[just dave]

I would never take one along; I think the best idea is to ship it or to go with a pochade box.
Even then, traditional oils might be a problem (even without taking turps along); and even acrylics can cause some consternation at security!

The nylon backpack strap kits available for french easels do hold them together somewhat, but I still would wrap the whole folded unit with something like bubble wrap in a box.

[JamieWG]

Originally posted by Marc Sabatella
If I didn't insist on being able to work on the larger side, I'd have just gotten a Guerilla Painter's Box and been done with it, but it is pretty much built around the idea of painting 9x12 - no bigger, no smaller.

Amen, Marc! If there were a 5X7 box or 8X10 out there, I think I'd buy one. I buy frames on sale wherever I can find them, and I can't remember the last time I saw large selections of on-sale 9X12 frames....if ever! I nearly always paint the standards in the small sizes----5X7, 8X10, etc....whatever I have frames for at the time. (I can't resist 12X24 from time to time though.) The price of my work jumps too much once I have to spend on custom framing. I try to keep it under $10 per frame, feeling that customers would be more inclined to purchase a framed piece that they can bring home and hang on their wall. It's one less hassle they'll have to deal with, makes the paintings show better, and if I can find that frame inexpensively, I don't have to raise my prices much to sell the works already framed.

Jamie

[LarrySeiler]

Originally posted by JamieWG


Amen, Marc! If there were a 5X7 box or 8X10 out there, I think I'd buy one.
Jamie

Guerrila box does make an adaptor insert for the storage slot for an 8"x 10" and one other size, I believe...

I am ordering 7-10 Guerrila boxes for an after school program I am initiating for our high school, for students interested in learning to paint outdoors.

one of our connosieurs of paint and travel is Diane L. Johnson.

she has an article here at WC on travel. She takes preprimed/gessoed canvas, rolls them up into a tube. She puts together one frame for on location, and staples about 4 or more canvases at a time. She paints acrylic on her travels, then removes one painting when done, and she is ready for the next. Easy as pie to roll those up to bring back home, and then stretches them out for permanent framing.

Larry

[Bruce Newman]

Originally posted by Marc Sabatella
Are you already filling two suitcases with your clothes and so forth? Is packing the French easel into a suitcase not feasible?

Theoretically, I would have one big suitcase with clothes, etc., the French easel and my painting backpack to check, plus a small carry-on bag. Too much. I think it is possible to squeeze my backpack into my suitcase and bubble-wrap the French easel, giving me two checked pieces. I might do this, although I'm now thinking I'll leave the easel at home and worry about it when I get there. I've got a lightweight, telescoping easel but it is too large for my suitcase.

Originally posted by LarrySeiler
one of our connosieurs of paint and travel is Diane L. Johnson.

she has an article here at WC on travel. She takes preprimed/gessoed canvas, rolls them up into a tube. She puts together one frame for on location, and staples about 4 or more canvases at a time. She paints acrylic on her travels, then removes one painting when done, and she is ready for the next. Easy as pie to roll those up to bring back home, and then stretches them out for permanent framing.

Yep, I've read all of Diane's articles and she has that down to a science. I don't anticipate painting enough to have a problem with canvases though. Thanks, Larry.

Bruce

[Regor]

If you are flying Air Canada, I'd enquire to whatever airport you will be flying from, I have seen several airports that will rap your 'fragile' objects in heavy duty plastic, and you then put the item through Special Luggage service in a hard shell plastic box container. I carry my tripod this way, and never had problems.

Painting knife is a no no. I had mine taken away when I forgot them in my bag once. Thanksfully, I realized it before going through security (these guys have no sense of ha ha...), but after checking in my bags, and when I inquired at the Air Canada counter, the lady there put them in a brown envelope and was going to ask the crew to take them for me. They didn't (against regulation), but after enquiring upon my return at lost baggages, I received a call two days later that my knife did make it through all the way from Guadeloupe to Ottawa via Montreal.

Paints, ...Air Canada recommends to check them in your luggage, in a sealed plastic container/bag with absorbent paper around (check their web site for details). Security varies from airport to airport, and although one may accept them, another may not, you can never tell. You should also carry the paint manufacturer's security spec sheet with you, they are usually available via the Internet.

Medium, is a no no, don't even think about it, although you could probably get away with 1 once or so in your checked baggages, but certainly not as a carry on. With Acrylic, this isn't much of an issue anyway.

Paint box, I take mine on the plane, its small so not a problem for me.

Paintings, not a huge issue for Acrylic, but for Oil I would pack them up face to face with waxed paper in between, tied together in a plastic bag. Other option is to carry a wet-paint carrier box. Much better, but it gets tight in the luggage count.

Have a nice trip,

Roger

[Bruce Newman]

Thanks for all the good info, Roger! Yes, I'll be traveling Air Canada and connecting with Continental in Houston.

Good stuff! Thanks.

Bruce