Sitting or standing?
 

A much down to earth subject: are you sitting or standing when you paint ?
I normally stand all the time, both working from life and from photos.
Recently though, thanks to a new easel I nerdily bought without considering the height of my studio ceiling, I find myself sitting when I paint smaller canvases.

I realised that the chair, positioned at a distance from the easel, prevents me from getting too close to the canvas and fiddle in small areas, I instead tend to paint at arm's lenght.
Switching from table to easel when I abandoned pencils for oils was the best thing I could do to my neck and shoulders, and maybe some sitting time willmake my days less exhausting!

Ilaria

Standing...
 

I paint most of the time doing what Bill Whitaker calls "The Painter's Dance".
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=2019
My knees and feet hurt at the end of a busy day.

I'm a stander.

I had an idea that I haven't yet acted on. I sit on a barstool to paint. When I get tired of sitting, I want to stand for a while, which is fine when working from photos, but not from life.

So I'm considering removing the seat from the bar stool and adding a block of wood (or a plywood box) to make up the difference between my sitting height, and standing height, and remounting the seat at the higher altitude. That way, sitting or standing, I'll be at the same height. Of course, I'm very short, so it won't take much to raise the chair. Those of you who are more vertically blessed may have difficulty with this.

It varies depending on how large a section I'm working on. When doing backgrounds or large areas of clothing, I stand so I can get back and check my work every few strokes.

When working on small detailed areas like the face, I sit. I work on the face a very small section at a time so I get up to look at it when there's enough of it done to need checking.

I work from life a lot, and then I want to be at the same hight as my model. So if my model sits, so do I.

When working from photos, my position varies depending on which easel I am using. I have a small easel that keeps wanting to fall over if I adjust it to a standing hight, and another easel that is big and heavy and very suitable for working standing.

When I work in watercolors (not for the portraits, generally) I have my paper laying on a table and I lean over it. That is truly gruesome; after a couple of hours my back hurts. I really ought to think of something better.

Standing. Is this a poll? :)

Sargent literally wore a path in the rug . . .

I do both for the same reasons as mentioned before.

I do like to ask: "When standing, at what degree of tilt, do you keep your easel at?

When I stand my back just kills me after some time, because I seem to be leaning away from the easel, even though the easel is tilted away from me as well. The position of me and the easel is like a "V" , if I tilt the easel towards me matters get even worse. So now I am starting to wonder if maybe my eyesight is going bad. So please help an aging artist with your input. :D

That's interesting, Enzie. I wouldn't be averse if this thread morphed into discussions of eye-sight . . .

A couple of observations - I never understood adjusting an easel for a backward tilt. Dead plumb is the obvious position that eliminates visual distortions, but a slight cant forward is how I set up my easel for two functional reasons. 1., a forward cant is more likely to eliminate glare from the ambient light, and 2. Depending on the consistency of the paint and your ways of working, if anything runs or drops from the brush, it won't trail down the entire workpiece.

To be comfortable at work standing depends on whether one remains immoble, and moves one's head to alter the point of view of the work, or whether one "paces", changing position in stride to compare canvas to model, and see a complete overview of the work in progress. If you never "back off" you may as well sit . . .

Richard,

I was also taught in school to have the easel at a slight forward tilt for the same reasons that you have mentioned, but recently it just hasn't been a comfortable position to work at.

Have to check exactly how much back and forth moving I do, maybe that's the culprit. Good point!

I think the position of subject matter relative to the easel, whether one is sight-sizing, and how brushes are held (choked up, or from the end of the handle) have a lot to do with sitting or standing, as well as the angle position of the workpiece. After all, easels are adjustable for good reason, and it's not the details of technique, but the results that matter! I wish I had $5 for every time I caught myself working uncomfortably or inefficiently without stopping to think things through.

Yeah, being a stander myself, i do get achy knees too. So do consider taking health supplements for bone joints, and rest more often during painting sessions. This goes out to everyone here who stands while painting too. :sunnysmil

I have found that imposing the same kind of "schedule" that's common with a sitting model (20 mins. on, 5min. break) is a good way to reduce the physical stress of painting while standing . . . the benefits extend past that, to "making" you take time for the visual analysis of your work in progress too.

I actually think it ESSENTIAL to stand unless you have a back or knee problem that prevents it.

It's so hard to get back from your work (sure you can do it if you make it a priority) when you sit, and it's so important in terms of assessing what you have done, and in finding mistakes to correct.

As the size of the canvas increases, the ready ability to get back also increases in importance.

If your feet, knees or back hurt at the end of the session, you just need the proper shoes :)

Chris--my wife just bought a pair of those (thanks to your recommendation :) ) and says her back hasn't felt this good in months.

As to the standing/sitting discussion, I'm in the standing camp. And I generally tilt the work slightly toward me for the reasons Rich gives. Also, it's important to set the work at eye level to avoid the distortion one gets with having it too high or low--bifocals can confound that sometimes, though.

Okay, Chris, what ARE those things?

:) Magic Painting Shoes (you need some!) :)

Chris takes a lot of guff for the shoes, we had a lot of fun with that . . . seriously though, they make sense to the extent that they are comfortable and ease the stess of being on your feet. Chris, you need to post a link to them! :thumbsup:

The Z-Coil Shoes

Be sure you try them on to find your size. There are some styles that need size adjustments from what you usually wear.

Gary, glad she is happy! I don't think I have heard the word "guff" since I left Wisconsin:)

Or a good session of food therapy with the local food reflexologist...(ooo, that feels nice... :thumbsup: )

Chris thanks for the tip on the shoes. I've never seen those before.
I always begin my sessions standing. I don't see how you could get the compostion and position of your figures correct without doing so. But I also get tired after a long day of painting and also at the end of the week. I will sit for more detailed work as I near completion of my paintings or if I get tired. But standing is by far my first choice.

Dianne