Table Top Easel for Painting

Table Top Easel for Painting

If you are a beginner to painting, you are asking yourself. “Do I need a table top easel for painting?”

Some seasoned painters prefer to work without an easel.  But if you are new to painting it is an easy adjustment and has its advantages.

• ·         When painting at a table the easel will save room on your work surface for all your other tools, such as paints, brushes, pallet knives etc.
• ·         The comfort of sitting instead of standing is a bonus, especially for those of us with leg problems.
• ·         It also brings the top of your canvas closer to you and makes it easier to reach. 
• ·         With that said it’s easier on your back so you don’t have to work hunched over.
• ·         Having your canvas on a table top easel for painting also gives you the ability to step back
  
  and look at your painting from a distance.
• ·         It is a great place to let your canvas dry without collecting much dust as it would by laying horizontal on the table.
• ·         It cuts down on the glare you will get from wet paint while working.

Table top easels come in different styles.  A frame, H frame, tripod and some with storage drawers.

You will want to determine your needs and choose the one that best suits them.

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To Gesso or Not to Gesso

   I find when I order canvas online and settle for the cheap canvas, the factory sprays the gesso on the canvas.  After that application they spray a sealant which causes the paint not to adhere very well. Why do they apply a sealant?  The sealant is used by the factory for shipping purposes to keep the canvases from sticking together.

 How do I resolve this?  

        Well I gesso.  Why?  Because I want to give my canvas its tooth back.  I want it to grab the paint and hold on to it.

        Then why do I buy a pre-primed canvas?  Well if you ever primed a raw canvas you would know why.  It is a lot easier and faster to apply one thin coat of gesso to a pre-primed canvas then it is to pre-prime a raw canvas.

If you order canvas online, you can find the more expensive canvases at lower costs and you will not need to add gesso.

But let’s not forget you can apply gesso to just about any surface to prepare it for acrylic paints.

Another reason to gesso a pre-primed canvas is you can alter your surface at this stage.  Example:  Make it smoother by adding gesso and sanding with a fine grit sandpaper.  Or you can add textures to your gesso when applying to the canvas.  

Gesso is an inexpensive way to save on the amount of paint you use. 

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How to tighten your canvas

Among my paint art supplies you will find canvases.  I find when buying a pre-stretched canvas from a discount art store they are sometimes loose or flimsy. Let’s just face it, the canvas is not tight.

The very first thing I would like to remind all of our beginners is to remember to remove the plastic wrap from the canvas before you begin to do anything with your canvas. (Yes this does happen a lot)

Here is how to tighten your canvas.  Get yourself a spray bottle with water in it.   Now, turn your canvas over.  You should be looking at the back side of your canvas and you should be able to see the wooden frame.  Now, spray the back of your canvas with the water from your water bottle.  Next use your hand to rub the water around to help even the water.  Next use a paper towel to absorb the excess water from the back of the canvas.

At this point you can find a sunny spot and set your canvas there to dry.  Please remember if you lean your canvas, make sure nothing is poking or push in on the un-supported part of the canvas.  I use the wooden frame edges to support my canvas against something.

Am I always patient?  No! Sometimes I just want to paint now.  So I grab my hair dryer.  I use a Medium heat setting.  I never use Hot. I then dry the back of my canvas.  Why don't I use hot?  Well, it’s because I don’t want to form a bad habit.  For example, If I want to tighten a canvas that I have previously painted, I don’t want to take a chance of ruining the painting by using a hot temperature.

This technique also works on spots in your canvas that have been spot-stretched or dented. (When the canvas was leaned against an object and it stretches a dent in the canvas)

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Why do I need Good Paint Brushes?

Let me start by telling you that good paint brushes do not have to be expensive. Just about any paint brush can be a good paint brush for you, if you take care of it and clean it properly after every use. So yes anyone can afford good paint brushes. It is all about the care which I will follow up with more information on that at a later date.

So most of you are saying.

What brush do I start with?

Well there are; Flat Brushes, Round Brushes, Angle Brushes, Filbert Brushes, Bright Brushes, Detail Brushes, Fan Brushes and on and on. 

Now that you are completely confused, I started with one brush. A 5/8-inch flat. Why? I wanted to see what it could and couldn’t do. I found out there were a lot of different uses for this brush and used it for background applications all the way to applying blades of grass. I chose a stiffer brush to help with the spring back for making fine lines. The stiffer brush also helped to push the paint on to the canvas easier. I was able to make trees and flowers. Now please understand I was painting on a 16 X 20 canvas so a 5/8-inch brush can do a lot on a canvas that size.

One thing I found I could not do, were small circles! Hmmm? Guess it’s time to get me a round brush. I chose a detail round brush with stiff bristles. Why stiff? Because I was used to painting with a stiff brush. This brush opened up a whole new world of ideas for me. “ With tiny little details.”

My third brush ended up being a 1/8 inch flat again stiff. I was stuck on stiff bristles. This gave me the ability to make things smaller than its 5/8-inch counterpart.

I painted a long time with just those 3 brushes and created a lot of fun and interesting paintings that most people are amazed when I tell them I used just 1 or 2 brushes.

I guess the moral to this story is, it does not matter what brush you learn to paint with. Just paint with it and find out what it can help you create. Get to know your equipment and have fun! 

So you can see, that’s what good paint brushes can do.

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