SORG Easel

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

I ordered David Sorg's easel in mid-October and it came a couple of weeks later. Assembly was really easy, and the one glitch I had was resolved by emailing David, who had a quick and dirty fix for it and who called me back immediately to tell me about it. I've been using the easel for several weeks now and just love it. It has a light, airy feel to it that enhances the painting experience, but at the same time it's built sturdily and stands up to vigorous brushwork. Changing the top easel support to accommodate different sizes of canvas is a cinch, and once that's done, moving the entire canvas up and down is instantaneous. Although it doesn't float like a feather, I suspect that it will only get more friction-free as I use it. I recommend it highly to anyone looking for a new and friendlier easel.

I had planned to buy a Hughes easel but haven't heard from them since late August and I fear that they were badly impacted by the Florida hurricanes. Although I liked the features they offered, one of my concerns was the lack of a tray, and the Sorg easel tray is just as handy as I hoped it would be. So I'm glad I made the decision to go ahead with the Sorg rather than waiting for the Hughes.

Anyone with questions is welcome to contact me!

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Leslie,

I sent a check to David Sorg three days ago so I'm delighted to read your timely post! I'm glad you're so happy with it. How about posting a photo of it in operation in your studio?

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

As requested, here's a photo of the easel in my studio. I use a large board behind my canvas to block out the light of all those windows (the only downside to a river view) and configured it so that it also gives me room on either side of my canvas to clip the photo references I'm using. So the dark edges on the sides aren't part of the easel.

[Cindy Procious]

Oooh - my favorite part is that paper towel holder below the tray!

You lucky duck - look at that view.

[Patricia Joyce]

I'm green with envy. What a beautiful easel and what a beautiful studio!!! Nice WIP on your easel too!!

Happy Painting

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

Patricia and Joyce, thanks! It's a beautiful studio; because it's a remodeled cottage which was on site already we were able to have it much closer to the river than we'd be able to build if it were new construction. Our house is 100' away from the river's edge per code but the studio is only about twenty or thirty feet away. To the right of the dog bed is a sliding glass door which leads onto a deck and then down a few steps to a short walk to the dock. The river's narrow but tidal and navigable, and we just love it here. We've had the place for 32 years, but the studio (as a studio) only for the last seven. People sometimes bring their plein air classes down here to paint the view. And it's also quiet; you can hear birds and watch kingfishers and great blue herons and osprey looking for their dinners. It's a shame I specialize in portraits.

The WIP isn't typical of my style; it's a posthumous portrait and more formal than most of my work. I just finished a painting of a little girl which uses our pond as the setting. As soon as I have a decent photo I'll post it in Unveilings.

The paper towel holder is extremely handy; I used to have one fastened to my taboret, but this is much more convenient. What I really like is the tray, though. It holds my phone and my CD remote as well as some photos and my glasses, which I take off to paint. I don't use the containers for medium or solvent, though; not sure what I'll do with them. For those who use a lot of those materials they'd work nicely.

[Linda Brandon]

My Sorg Easel turned out to be much easier to assemble than I dreamed it would be, and it was made even easier by David's seperate mailing of very clear instructions (in addition to the clear instructions included with the easel).

However, I managed to fray the pulley rope when assembling it and so I don't have completely smooth up and down motion yet, but I plan on replacing the rope today.

I have the easel assembled to the "high" setting, and I have a 60" commission that I need to start on soon; I'm looking forward to working on it with this easel. (By the way, I got around to painting my studio dark grey this past summer, what a difference it makes!)

This is a beautiful easel, very solid and well constructed and in my opinion is an incredible value. I'm not a fan of the paper towel holder, though; that will have to go.

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

Originally Posted by Linda Brandon

This is a beautiful easel and in my opinion an incredlible value. I'm not a fan of the paper towel holder, though; that will have to go.

You have a lot more open space than I do, Linda! But why don't you like the paper towel holder? I think it's neat!

Interesting how we all work in different ways.

[Linda Brandon]

Hi Leslie,

One reason why I don't use a roll of paper towels is because I don't really need a whole sheet at a time, so I cut up those blue Costco shoptowels into smaller squares and keep a stack of them handy.

The other reason is because I'd rather use cut-up old shirts. Something Michael Workman said in a workshop several years ago has stuck with me. Workman is a tonalist landscape painter who strives for mystery and spirituality in his work. One of the workshop students asked why he was using an old shirt instead of a paper towel and he said that he was using one of his favorite old shirts and it gave him a lot of pleasure to hold it and make it useful to him one last time. Then he said something to the effect of "If you think all of life isn't interconnected, you're fooling yourself. Things are connected in ways which we can only begin to understand."

I know a lot of artists who talk this way, especially those who try to portray a sense of mystery in their work. I find all of this very interesting.

[Enzie Shahmiri]

I just ordered my new Sorg easel as well and after reading all these posts I am feeling more and more comfortable about this investment. Since December I had been working on a painting which involved a great amount of detail (working with mini brushes) and my right shoulder blade has been in constant pain. Even while standing at my easel, I would experience lower back pain. Needless to say, the old easel is sturdy but the artist is slowly falling apart.

I couldn't handle the constant adjusting and readjusting of the multitude of knobs anymore and figured there had to be something out there that is more artist friendly.

Do you have any suggestions what I should look out for before setting up the easel?