An easel is an indispensable tool for any artist. Spending many hours painting and it's necessary to be comfortable working, finding an easel with which it is possible to work comfortably is essential. There are different types of easels, with different characteristics, structures or materials so that each painter can find the one that best suits them and their needs. This post explains them all about easels, to help you a little in your search for the perfect easel.
Easel types
Easel types by structure
The structure is one of the most important aspects, it needs to fit our needs and be safe. This means that we must check if the legs are stable, if, for example, they have a non-slip surface or if the wheels have brakes. In addition, another aspect to be considered is the weight of the easel, it is recommended that it should weigh around 1.5 kg so that it is heavy enough to allow us to go out on the street with it. Let's take a look at the different types of easels we can find aƄccording to their structure:
-Tripod easel: it has three legs for stability. The advantage of this easel is that, when folded, it takes up less space than a H shape easel. In addition, within this easel category, we can also choose a folding tripod easel, which is perfect for artists in the field. They take up much less space and are easy to transport.
-H shape base easel: as we mentioned before, they take up more space as their base is square, but they are more stable than the tripod easel. In addition, many of them include wheels, so they can be easily carried from one place to another.
Tripod easel on the left and square easel on the right
-Table easel: these are designed to be placed on a table and take up much less space, although they limit us to work on smaller projects.
-Box-Easel: similar to the table-top easels, but with a difference: when closed, it becomes a box where we can store our tools. Very practical and perfect if we have little space.
Easel types by the anchoring system
-Push-on easel: this is the most common type of anchoring. It consists of support anchored to the trestle structure by means of wing nuts. In some cases, we will find support at the top and another at the bottom. We will have to adjust the size of the supports to suit our needs with the help of the wing nuts.
-Rack system easel: it consists of a mechanical anchorage based on slits where the lever is placed. To change the height of our workspace, we only have to move the trigger along the "rack" until we obtain the desired height.
-Easel with handle: this is a much more comfortable type of anchorage. The supports to place our canvas will move thanks to a crank system. This type of anchorage is more common among high-end easels.
-Electric easel: much more comfortable to use as the movement is adjusted by means of a motor incorporated in our easel.
All these factors will help us to choose an easel, but there are still some characteristics that can be decisive in finding the perfect easel.
Other important factors
One of the first factors that can lead us to make a decision is the material of the easel, it can be wood or metal. Wooden easels are much more traditional and resistant, especially if the wood is varnished. In addition, the quality of these tripods will depend a lot on the type of wood it is made of, beechwood tripods are the most resistant and durable. Metal easels are much less aesthetic, although they are less heavy than wooden ones (aluminium ones are the lightest and steel ones, for example, are the heaviest), a point to consider if we are thinking of carrying them. Moreover, metal easels tend to withstand the passage of time better.
The degree of inclination of the easel is an important factor when choosing one, especially if we are working with watercolour, as the degree of inclination of our canvas has a great influence, being more liquid.
These are the basic characteristics of easels, the most important thing is to know what we need and how we are the most comfortable working. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, in the meantime, see you next post! ?
