Hughes easels are made to order and therefore can be made bespoke, i. They have a counterweight system that makes moving your canvas tray up and down or from left to right for some models very easy. Under my ceiling I could raise the tray of a Hughes easel up to cm and if I need it even higher I can use a second smaller painting holder to raise my canvas even higher.
For very larger canvas the easel will open up to hold canvas up to cm. Hughes easels are not cheap, however, and so are not for everyone. Choosing an easel can be difficult. Easels come in all price ranges and in all qualities. There is not an awful lot of choice in models, but with European stores now also stocking US brands, the range is growing all the time.
A sturdy easel without any wobbles is vital though. It might feel very arty to work with rickety, old and paint-splattered furniture, but a good and sturdy easel is just a joy to work at. Budget is important. I ended up going for a Hughes easel.
Not a cheap option. But I figured it was a piece of furniture that I would enjoy every day for the rest of my life. So for me, it is worth it. That does not mean I would rate the normal H-frame easels any less. If your budget does not reach that far then a Mabef easel will serve you a lifetime.
You might have to be creative with the mast and your ceiling, but many artists managed this all their lives without much troubles. The choice depends on personal preference, working methods and budget. Finding a large, sturdy easel that would fit under my ceiling proved tricky. For years I stuck with my good-old Mabef because there was simply no alternative available.
In the end, I decided to go for a Hughes easel. It was made especially for me, and I provided them with the specifications of my studio space. It would all fit beautifully and it did. Read more about my dream easel in this post. It arrived! Read more to see if it lived up to all that it promised to be….. Which type of easel do you have and are you happy with it? Disclaimer: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links.
This means that I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase through these carefully chosen links. It will cost you nothing extra and you would support this blog for which I would be most grateful.
Read more on my affiliate policy here. Sophie is an artist, art historian, tutor, author and blogger. She writes on oil and pastel painting, art history and the life of an artist.
She paints portraits and still life and specialises in painting drapery and lace. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. This article is incredibly helpful.
Thank you! Beautiful, cogent article! Easels have been such a struggle for me. Due to budget I got a Mabef Now if I can figure out how to put it together! The Hughes easel is a work of art! I do teach. Enjoy your new easel! I still have my old Mabef — they are indestructible…. A couple of days ago I was all for purchasing an antique crank. Then I saw the Sienna. Were you whacked with customs duty? My easel is my wall…very basic …F7 structural verticals bolted to wall over the 8m of wall space and 3m high.
The wood is bored with 1 inch holes at a slight incline into which I put 1 inch thick dowels…a peg system. Regular secure points on the wall allow me to have a vertical palette mixing area next to picture without messy attachments. The beauty of the vertical mixing area is that it is in the same plane of light as your picture.
You always get the values right. My palette is a piece of scrap clear corrugated polycarbonate sheet sprayed middle grey. May 27, 1. Messages: I got my beseler 23C for about bucks shipped.
A new 16x20 easel costs about bucks, a used one half that. What gives? How can I get an enlarger for roughly half of what a piece of metal with rule marks on it? Someone explain this please. May 27, 2. Messages: 1, Try making one by hand. Now invest the money in tooling, skilled labour, overhead costs, materials, etc, etc, now add shipping and some profits for both the maker and seller.
May 27, 3. There were way fewer 16x20 easels made than Beseler 23Cs. May 27, 4. I almost can not imagine going back to regular easels this works so well, being able to actually see the edge of the paper under the plexiglass.
My take on easels in my too small for a 20x24 4-blade easel darkroom I ended up making frames of different widths so that I have more than one border width.
Speed ezels work but I found my favorite paper at the time was too thick to fit. I bought a mint, four blade Saunders dirt cheap from a lab that was going digi. I don't know if my current paper will fit a Speed ezel, but if I didn't have Saunders, I'd be using a piece of sheet steel and magnets.
Just let me know your email address to send all my info. This is especially useful for artists who work in different types of media.
For watercolourists the horizontal option will allow you to create smooth washes without drips. It also makes it much easier to apply a smooth, even coat of varnish.
The Loxley Essex Studio Easel is the most popular of our convertible easels, and of our studio easels in general. This multi-purpose easel is suitable for use either vertically or horizontally.
It also has a large storage shelf built into the base, which is perfect for holding your art materials. Painting Workstations offer a large, sturdy workspace where all your materials can be held in one place. They offer great stability as they are more like a piece of furniture than an easel. These workstations have castors so can be moved around, although they are bulky. This type of easel is particularly designed for artists who have accessibility issues with regular easels. In fact the Mabef M30 Painting Workstation is specially made for use with wheelchairs.
They are great for taking to art exhibitions and shows, or for using in shops. Visually, they look like miniature versions of a traditional easel — usually an H or A frame. Easily collapsed, they can be quickly and easily transported. The Invisi Lightweight Display Easel is our best selling display easel. They come flat packed, and only take a few folds of the plastic to assemble. They are made with corrugated plastic which is exceptionally durable.
With proper care they can last a lifetime. Although not strictly an easel, Print Racks are a useful piece of studio furniture for artists who have a lot of work to store. If you own a gallery, or sell prints in a shop they are great for holding prints as they allow customers to easily browse through paintings without taking up too much space.
If paper and drawings regularly clutter your studio then these racks are perfect for organising your space. There is nothing more frustrating than investing in an expensive piece of equipment only to find it falls short of your expectations.
Take time to think about what it is you want from an easel. It is also well worth taking time to read our customer reviews for the easels that interest you. Just because an easel is perfect for one artist, does not mean it will be for you. The more detail a review has, the more likely you will be able to judge whether the easel will be suitable for you.
If the reviews do not give you the answers you need it may be necessary to ask us some questions, or even visit our shop when it reopens if you live locally. Please ring us to double check that we have the model of easel in stock at our warehouse beforehand. This style of easel is easily portable and you can use it indoors and outdoors. An easel that offers so many workable options can help you get to grips with the workings of an easel and help you decide what features you need.
Once your easel arrives we hope it will be everything you expected. Why not review it to let other customers know how it works for you? Your experience may be invaluable to another artist! A lot of our product pages include videos of easel assembly. You can also check out our Youtube Easel playlist that has all our easel videos in one place! You have missed out the most common form of easel used by sketchers and watercolourists, at least in Australia and the US.
It is based on a photographic tripod with a board attached. The board is easily home made with the small square threading device that you sell.
A good commercial example is the En Plein Air Pro. Hi Peter! Thanks for your comment and your feedback.
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