Which easel do you think is the absolute best for plein air painting?

[CLS Portrait Artist]

In your opinion, which is the best portable easel for plein air painting?

[noge]

What is an easle for

I have seen so many excellent painter working on the ground
- I am painting mostly on my lap


- working on the coastline , in the mountains - strong wind will blow easles away
If you get cought painting by people passing by they dont look at your easle - they judge your painting

[marcdalessio]

What about the simple Fome metal easels?

Lightweight, almost indestructible (I've only broken five of them), and you can get them to eye level with a small canvas.

[Studio-1-F]

Originally Posted by CLS Portrait Artist

In your opinion, which is the best portable easel for plein air painting?

I have tried and/or studied them ALL and the absolute best is the Alla Prima easel+pochade. Odd that the best one isn't on your list.

My opinion only, naturally.

Jan

[ArtisanCo]

I use a Guerilla Painter pochade box. I think it works great and is not terribly expensive. What seems to be very important is the grade of tripod that you attach to it. My tripod only weighs 3.5lbs and will hold 18lbs. The drawback with the Guerilla painter box is that you can only use 9 x 12" panels unless you purchase "adapters" to make smaller paintings. If I had the money I personally might have gotten one of the Alla Prima models as Jan had suggested--I like the fact that they are made by one craftsman vs. being mass produced--they are kind of like little artworks themselves. Good Luck. chad

[CLS Portrait Artist]

Originally Posted by Studio-1-F

I have tried and/or studied them ALL and the absolute best is the Alla Prima easel+pochade. Odd that the best one isn't on your list.

My opinion only, naturally.

Jan

I've never heard of the Alla Prima easel. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I am checking out the easels on their website right now. Had I known about it, I would have included it in the poll.

If you know of a way to get it onto this poll, please let me know and I will certainly add it.

[acadianartist]

Ben Haggett's pochade boxes!!! I have the full-size Yellowknife and love it. I've stopped using anything else (I now have a basement full of easels!).

[Studio-1-F]

Originally Posted by acadianartist

Ben Haggett's pochade boxes!!!

[rwest]

http://www.dickblick.com/products/wi...ristol-easels/

its cheap ...

HOWEVER - I love that pochade box and I'm going to sneak one into my art supplies as soon as possible.

[Saturday Painter]

Define "best" (your definition may be different than someone else's) and what medium will you be working in?

[CLS Portrait Artist]

Vicki,

Regarding your question - Define "best" (your definition may be different than someone else's) and what medium will you be working in?

My answer - If you could only own one portable easel, which one would you select regardless of cost? That is what I was referring to when I said "absolute best". Preferrably for oil painting.

[noge]

Originally Posted by CLS Portrait Artist

My answer - If you could only own one portable easel, which one would you select regardless of cost? That is what I was referring to when I said "absolute best". Preferrably for oil painting.

I think it would be much more easy for most of us -to answer exact your question --
if you would show us more of your artwork - and give us some basic information

- whats your favorite size , yor motives , to you paint near by the car - or to you hike hours before , are you skilled ore just a beginner

BTW : Whats the "absolute best" car regardless of cost

[CLS Portrait Artist]

Can you use a canvas with the Alla Prima easel or just panels?

[acadianartist]

Originally Posted by acadianartist

Ben Haggett's pochade boxes!!! I have the full-size Yellowknife and love it. I've stopped using anything else (I now have a basement full of easels!).

I meant the YellowSTONE... sorry for the confusion. A rose by any other name smells as sweet It's an amazing box, portable enough to carry on my back over long distances, big enough to put everything in (I paint 11 X 14 mostly en plein air so I needed something big enough to carry those size panels) and exquisitely crafted.

[Studio-1-F]

Originally Posted by CLS Portrait Artist

Can you use a canvas with the Alla Prima easel or just panels?

The clips on the front of the lid will probably hold a canvas for painting. But the panel holder area inside the lid is panels only, I believe. It has these little channels on the inside (and a adapter to make them less wide for smaller panels) that hold the the wet panels apart. And the channels are only wide enough for panels.

If you watch the videos that go along with the products, you can see more clearly.

But contact Ben directly to definitively verify all this and to ask about storing wet canvas in the lid. He may have a customization in mind: http://www.allaprimapochade.com/pages/contact.html

On the other hand, there are stand-alone "wet canvas carriers" that you can tote along. More are here.

Jan