My Watercolor Plein Air Easel and Set Up

[@alexandramack8932]

Gatorboard is genius!!!

[@morrisonwatercolors]

Great video, thank you for sharing! It is always interesting to see how other artists are setting up their plein air painting easels and set up. :)

[@N_Patil80]

Thanks so much for the info. I didn’t even know easel butler was out there. It solved so many of my problems. 🙂

[@joywells7335]

Thank you! Really love all your ideas for your setup.

[@gsansoucie]

Wow, that aluminum shelf bracket is pure genius. I’ve got a bunch of pieces of 1” aluminum bar stock left over and some old aluminum tent poles, thanks for this idea.

[@LisaRSArt]

The best thing & most useful ones are not super fancy & doesn’t cost more than $30-$40. Thanks for sharing.

[@vinitapappas]

That’s true. My tripod is the most expensive part. 😀 What type of setup do you use?

[@LisaRSArt]

Vinita Pappas I use a flat tray watercolor tray I bought from Cheap Joe’s. I didn’t fully like it because it was too slick & plastic. I thought it lacked the folding hinge capability for transport and it didn’t seem to be very level once it fits onto the tripod legs and things seem to slide off the try easily other than the hole for the water cup. I ended up making my own palette attachment to hold a watercolor block like the one James Gurney introduces & similar to yours. Love your works.

[@MedaHalmaciu]

Thanks for sharing. I wish there was a ready to buy plain air easel solution for watercolorists, but there definitely is not, at least here in Romania so I decided to look for ideas to make my own.

[@carolepivarnik9316]

This is such an efficient, economical, and flexible setup. I'm using many of the same ideas for my gouache/watercolor plein air setup. Love that "baby easel butler" ... I have two of the bigger one but have longed for a small one like your custom made one. Guess that's another project to add to my husband's list, ha! Thanks for all the great ideas!

[@edythoneill1545]

Splendid!

[@CHARICEFAVORITES]

Hello Vinita! I just found this video today. Your set up is fabulous! Could you please share info on how a person could get a hold of the shelf, etc. ? I would love to try my hand at plein air painting (I am a newbie) and your set up is the best I have seen. Thanks in advance!

[@vinitapappas]

The shelf and the painting board is cut from a product called Gatorboard. It's light but very sturdy and water resistant. Sometimes art supply stores will carry it but your best bet is frame shop or a sign company. You may be able to talk a sign company into ordering you a large sheet that you can cut to size. You can order it online also. www.gator-board.com/ I use 3/16" board. The original tray holder is from Easel Butler. www.easelbutler.com/ Best of luck plein air painting!

[@uniqueproducts2455]

Can you please share the model name, number of the tripod you are using? It would be a great help. Thanks in advance.

[@vinitapappas]

The tripod I use is a Z669C carbon fiber tripod that extends to 60″, folds down to 15″, and weighs about 3 lbs. That specific model number is no longer available on Amazon but this one is pretty similar. amzn.to/3Bq3CT5

[@laroweelizabeth]

What size is the gatorbord that attaches to the tripod? Thanks for this video. I have been researching for over 9 months. Your setup is the most satisfactory one I have found for creating a lightweight reasonably priced Plein air easel!

[@vinitapappas]

Hi Elizabeth, The tray I use is about 17" wide by 12" deep. And I have a smaller version that fits into a backpack which I think is about 10" x 12". The holes on my easel butler are 7.5" apart so any board wider than that will work for a tray. The boards I use to hold the paper range in size but I mostly use a board that will hold a 1/4 sheet of watercolor paper. Around 13"x17" will allow for room to tape an 11"x15" piece of paper. The nice thing about this set-up is that you can customize the tray size and the board size to suit your needs. You could test out the tray size using a piece of cardboard first and then cut the gatorboard to size.

[@catbraunwell6450]

Thanks. What’s the name of your tripod please

[@vinitapappas]

The tripod I use is a Z669C carbon fiber tripod that extends to 60″, folds down to 15″, and weighs about 3 lbs. That specific model number is no longer available on Amazon but this one is pretty similar. amzn.to/3Bq3CT5

[@catbraunwell6450]

@@vinitapappas thanks!

[@katherinebuchanan9350]

What a great set up! I'm just setting mine up at the moment and am waiting on delivery of my Easel Butler lol. I do both watercolour and soft pastel painting. I love the idea of being able to just switch between boards for the different media. Do you think the gatorboard set up would be stable enough for pastel work? Thanks in advance. Katherine

[@vinitapappas]

For smaller pastel work I would think it would be sturdy enough. Larger paintings might wobble if you press hard with the pastels.