An art easel comes in various styles and sizes and are made from wood or metal and are designed for certain purposes. They can be used to hold various objects such as an artist’s canvas, paper, drawings and boards. Some easels are immobile while others are transportable and lightweight.
For an artist nothing can compare to working with an easel. It keeps the drawing or painting in place while the artist is working and lessens the chance of anything happening to the art piece such as spilling something on it. It also very versatile, the artist can work standing up or sitting down.
Some easels have adjustable legs and canvas trays which give the user the freedom to work at the height, angle and surface of their choice. The art easel comes in various styles including the following:
TABLETOP EASELS
These types of easels are great space savers and are foldable. They come in various styles including smaller versions of floor-standing easels, tripod or three-legged easels and ones that come with storage boxes. They are not large enough for big works of art but they are convenient and can be placed on tabletops such as the kitchen or dining room table. Many artists with limited space opt for this type of easel.
STUDIO EASELS
Studio easels are generally huge, heavy and stand on the floor. They are normally used indoors and are designed for large-scale artworks. Some come with wheels so they artist can easily move the easel around. Studio easels range in styles and sizes and they can become very costly. This type of art easel is ideal for those artists with a great deal of space to work in and for those working on big projects.
PORTABLE OR SKETCHING EASELS
Portable or sketching easels are great for the artist who likes to work outdoors. They are lightweight and easily fold up. They are also very practical for use in the studio.
There are other popular easels including:
DISPLAY EASELS
These are used for the displaying of art, photography, ceramics, drawings, sketches as well as for paintings. They are designed to stand on the floor or for sitting on tabletops and other flat surfaces. In general display easels are a type of art easel that are usually decorative and come in a variety of metal and wood finishes.
PRESENTATION EASELS
These types of easels are ideal for the displaying of charts and graphs, They are portable and come in many styles and writing surfaces such as dry erase, marker board, cork board, whiteboard and magnetic. Many are double-sided and some come with flip chart holders and storage trays to hold accessories.
CONCLUSION
The art easel is used for a variety of reasons and come in many styles. They are designed for watercolors, oil painting, acrylics and much more. The easel was discovered during the Art Renaissance and forever changed they way the artist worked and to this day offers the artist the freedom and ease to create in the medium of their choice.
By: Lucy Bushman
Archive for November, 2009
Art Easels
November 29th, 2009Definition of Art Photography Female Form
November 28th, 2009
I have a giant pet peeve when it comes to what Americans “think” is art photography of the female form. Most people think of the photographs in Playboy Magazine as being art photography. I don’t. Fundamentalist would on the whole classify art photography of the female form (especially the nude) as pornography. It’s definitely not that. So what is it?
First of all when you think of people photographing the female form, especially the nude female form, there is a whole hierarchy of classification. I would put pornography at the very bottom and I definitely would not define it in any way as artful but rather degrading. At the very top of that hierarchy would be art photography of the nude female form.
When you gaze at an artistic photograph of the female form right away you can tell that the model is being posed and lit with the utmost respect. Always try to decern the intent of the photographer. Is he/she being gratuitous in any way or is the photographer trying to make a statement about the beauty of the human body.
Look again, do you get the sense that the photographer is honoring the subject matter by rendering an image that speaks first and foremost to the viewers highest sensibilites. Do you get the feeling that the nude is being photographed as though it were akin to a lovely landscape?
A good example of art photography of the female form are the images of Alfred Cheney Johnston who was the premier Ziegfeld Follies photographer during the Jazz Age. Most of his photography was of the stars of the Follies. But it was discovered after his death that he’d done a number of photographs using nude models. If you look at the photographs of his clothed models right next to those images of the nude models you will fine no difference in his intent to take artful photographs.
In all his images he shows nothing but a fine artist’s artistic approach to shooting photographs of the female form. You can see that his intent is always to glorify women and their place in the world.
So the next time you look at a photograph of a woman, I hope you will have a better understanding of what constitutes art photography of the female form. Art photography will ALWAYS be based in integrity and the classic rules of the fine arts.
By: Ava Land
Making Art Journals
November 26th, 2009
When it comes to journaling I have heard many people say they aren’t writers, they don’t like to write, they can’t write, etc. When I talk about putting their thoughts and memories down as visual art they cringe and tell me their drawing skills are worse than their writing skills. You don’t have to draw or write well or even like to draw to create a striking journal. You can even make the book yourself to make it truly your own.
If that’s going a bit too far, there are plenty of ring bound or spiral bound books in the store. For a blank book to make a good art journal the pages have to lie flat. They also must be heavy and waterproof. I like spiral or wire ring binding. This gives you plenty of room to have dimensional art on your pages. I like pages that are thick and card-like so they won’t buckle when I glue things on them. The best store-bought books for journaling are probably artists sketch books with smooth (hot press) watercolor paper.
Art journals or visual journals are simply put, collages. They are collections of found art. The art is already made for you. You can use phrases, words and pictures out of magazines, scraps of material, labels, beads, pieces of cut up credit cards, junk mail, campaign mail, (wait, I am repeating myself) ribbon, mesh from produce bags, fur, old wrapping paper and anything that speaks to you. You can layer until your heart is content. No worries about scratching out that misspelled word.
Of course, you can create your own artistic masterpieces. You can create them directly onto the page, or cut them out, and paste them in your book.
Another great thing about art journals is that you can put your most secret secrets and deepest inner thoughts in them and no one will know what you are getting at. Who will guess what that little cutout of an umbrella really means? Only you will know. If people ask, you can always make something up. Much of art journaling, just like much of abstract art IMO is just for decoration and to fill in the blank space on the canvas. Tell them that. They will never be the wiser.
Unlike writing, you can go outside the lines with art journals. Neatness does NOT count. Texture is important. You can tie things to the binding like strings of beads, punch holes in the pages, Tear and fold the pages, use fold out or pop-up art, whatever. It’s like scrap booking taken to an interesting new level.
I have created several journals using three ring loose leaf binders. I covered them with fabric and used a three-hole punch to put holes in smooth watercolor paper.
On one book I cut out a square in a piece of cardboard and covered the remaining frame shape with vinyl wallpaper to make a picture frame of sorts which I put on the front cover. I cut out other shapes and taped them down using thick foam double stick tape to give them a floating effect.
Visual journaling (or journeying) is a great thing to do with children on a rainy or cold evening, or a long weekend. It’s great for those recovering from illness or injury. It’s also a great way to tell the story of that illness or injury.
Remember, this is a no holds barred, anything goes type of art. Go for it.
By: Virginia Small
