BEHIND THE SCENES...
This is Nick's alpha easel. It is a Jack Richeson Sienna Horizon Counterweight wood easel. He has several types of easels in his studio, Area J, but this is the main one.
What are studio easels? Well, these types of easels can secure a large variety of canvas sizes and are sturdy enough to hold solid wood panels too. They tilt in multiple directions and have adjustable counterweights and wheels.
Having a studio easel is a luxury which allows the artist to move the canvas to the area the artist is working on without having to reposition your body, paints, brushes. Studio easels are heavy and are meant for indoor studio painting. The wheels on this model do allow Nick to roll it outside onto the concrete patio in front of his studio, but otherwise it stays inside.
This easel is 3 years old and not something you need to start out with. Studio easels are expensive investments. Developing artists may not fully understand the benefits these types of easels offer until they spend years on more rudimentary easels. If of course you go by the No Pain, No Gain philosophy. When Nick started out, he actually didn't have an easel, he just leaned the canvas against the wall. Then worked up to a French chair easel and eventually added several other varieties of easels. Now he has multiple options for holding his artwork while working inside or outside en plein air.
