Plein Air Painting Rig

So a couple of years ago I started hanging with the wrong crowd and started plein air painting. When I started I had no plein air setup and my first plein air painting was actually a table easel that sat on my lap while I was in a chair. Had a good enough time that I wanted to invest in a rig, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. I borrowed a french box and really didn’t like it, then for a birthday I was given a Soho box, of which I absolutely hated it. And after talking with others and looking at their setup I decided to make my own. I originally had several different versions, with cabinetry and a door in it and eventually I simplified my work.

Painting in Algoma WI

Plein air Painting in Algoma Wisconsin of an old boat, with lake flies in my paint

So what did I come up with? I created my own easel using a 35 dollar tripod from Best buy (bought it on sale) and I bought a 18 dollar table easel from Hobby Lobby. I liked it so much that several of my friends have built something similar. I found that I liked sitting so I managed to find a one legged stool and I sit at my easel. I can also stand, and I don’t have to worry about the palette being too low. So how do you start? Well I bought a Sunpak 6000 tripod from best buy. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sunpak-platinumplus-ultra-6000pg-61-tripod-black/5012101.p?skuId=5012101 and a Black Aluminum table easel from Hobby lobby. https://www.hobbylobby.com/art-supplies/art-fixtures/art-easels/black-aluminum-tabletop-easel/p/6631 Well I have a video on how to make the easel and tripod.

I also have other friends who has used it to modify things based on their height. I have one friend who is well over 6ft so they bought a 75 inch tripod instead of the one suggest above. My wife who is near 5ft, so I bought her a Valerri light weight easel. https://www.jerrysartarama.com/creative-inspirations-valerri-lightweight-travel-easel

My wife’s plein air setup

My plein air setup

So the palette for both of our boxes is made using a jig saw and a table saw. Though a hand saw might be used well enough. I used a tempered glass cutting board for my palette. I wound up buying this to try to do one for the wifey. https://amzn.to/4lHSAPp

I used 1/2 inch plywood for my base. I put the cutting board down and measured about 3/8 inch around it. I then measured the height I wanted it at, on the tripod, and measured the distance of the outer legs (B). I measured the thickness of the legs (A) I used a jig saw to cut that out. I grabbed some thinner trim and cut a small lip on the table saw and glued the trim around the cutting board holding it in place. In the past I used screws because I used regular glass which broke about once a year. My covers are a thinner piece of plywood, maybe 3/16th with a frame around it. The frame keeps stuff from falling on the floor. I then used small hinges to attach the doors.

Total cost for easel and palette was under $100