Mahlstick substitute

[Kimberly Dow]

I was complaining about not being able to rest my hand and my husband whipped this up (we call him McGyver). It is the best thing I have ever used for steadying my hand.

It's a fireplace poker wrapped in duct tape. It has a curve at the end that is perfect for hanging over the edge of the canvas (even 2" depth). It does't mess up any paint since it never touches the wet area at all. We only wrapped it in duct tape so the pointy end would be less so.

The only down-side is that it is a bit heavy - not for holding, but using it on a smaller canvas would be tricky unless it is held tightly on an easel.