The Yarka Field easel for plein air painting

Spring always makes me want to get outside to paint.

A while ago someone wrote to me and asked about my Yarka plein air easel. It is a wooden field easel similar to the French easel, but with the materials compartment in the front of the easel instead of behind. So it opens more like a pochade box.

I bought it years ago from a terrific painter, David Simons when we both lived in Israel before he moved to Arizona. I’m not sure where he got it. It’s Russian made but used to be sold through art stores in the US. 

Description

The Yarka comes in several sizes and mine is a medium measuring 11 x 16 x 4 inches. It would have had a wooden palette and another piece of wood inside the lid and a palette, both of which were missing. So, I cut some new ones from 1/8-inch plywood and oiled them. They work fine.  

The canvas sits on the hinges just above the palette for large works, or on the two metal pieces that swivel out from inside the lid for smaller work or to raise the work higher. There are two metal rods that clamp the top of the panels to secure it in place. These rods also hold the lid shut when closing the box. It’s a simple and functional design.

What’s good about it

• It’s great for travel because you can pack a lot of paints and brushes inside like a French easel.
• It’s hefty and stable so it provides sturdy support for larger pieces and doesn’t rock or move in the wind.
• It can hold large canvases up to 28 inches high (about 70 cm).
• This easel sets up easily on uneven ground and has pointed ends on the aluminum legs which can sink into the soil for stability in soft or uneven terrain.
• The Yarka is well-made and can take a beating. Although I understand later models may have been somewhat less sturdy, mine is a real workhorse.
• You can slip wet panels into the upper lid behind a wood panel for safe transport when wet. 
• It’s wood. I like wood. It has a nice look and feel. A wooden pochade or paint box makes you feel romantically like a good artist even when you don’t really know how to paint!
• It’s also great for taking to workshops where you need to bring your own easel or when you have only a compact studio space.

What’s not-so-good about it.

• It can be cumbersome to set up. The legs on mine telescope moderately well, but it is somewhat challenging to hold a fully loaded wooden box and telescope the legs without turning the whole thing over. Personally, I think it takes less time to set up than a French easel, but it can take longer than clamping a pochade box like a Strada, Edge Pro Paintbook, or Alla Prima to a tripod. (If only!).
• My Yarka weighs in at just over 7 lbs when empty so it’s heavy when fully loaded with paint. Compared to a pochade box at 4 or 5 lbs it sounds heavy. But since the telescoping legs are attached that includes the weight of the tripod you would need for a pochade box. So it may be a draw.
• There is a single shoulder strap, but because of the weight when filled with paints, I tend to not take it on longer hikes. It would be better to carry it in a hiking backpack to evenly distribute the weight.
• One leg juts out in front of the easel toward the artist. It can be set up so that the leg doesn’t extend beyond the paint box, which is important so you don’t risk knocking it over. (It hasn’t’ happened to me yet, but any day now…)
• Probably the biggest disadvantage is that the canvas sits lower on the Yarka than some people like. At 5’3″, I don’t find it’s a problem for me and I use it both standing and sitting. Taller folks may have an issue with this. Of course, it’s the same with any of the pochade style boxes.
• The smallest size substrate you can paint using the built-in metal brackets is 8×10 inches. For anything smaller, you need to set it inside the lid to paint or use a panel holder.

My workarounds

• To cut down on the weight, I tend to use a pre-set palette so that I don’t have to carry my paints with me. I arrange it in a shelf palette in a cigar box so I can have pre-mixed strings of color. It makes the painting process go faster as well.
• I like to paint small outdoors, so I just grabbed a random piece of mitered wood and rested that on the panel support hinges at the edges of the lid. The wood is not really all that stable so I secure it with a C-clamp. It’s not a great system and it works best for cradled panels. You can see an example of it in this post. For 1/8 in panels, it’s better to use a painting frame. Of course, you can just set it inside the box lid, but then it’s quite low. 
• To paint smaller works you could tape un-stretched canvas to the piece of wood that fits in the lid and then mount the canvas later after it’s dry. That way you can flip the wood panel around to face the upper lid for safe transport home while it is wet.

All in all, I’m happy with my Yarka. You can still find Yarka field easels on re-sale sites like ebay, etsy and Craig’s list where they vary a great deal in price and condition. I’ve seen new ones there as well. They are definitely worth a try and now have a loyal cult following.

What is your favorite plein air easel and why do you like it?