My easel, prepped with a 10" square panel carrying a blue underpainting. I am often asked about my easel board when it's included in photos like the one above. This is an 18" x 24" piece of masonite I've been using for years - I duct tape my panels to it, and anchor the masonite into the easel trays. This allows me greater freedom with my brushwork, especially near the top and bottom edges of my panel. It also provides sturdier support for a variety of panel sizes, more so than merely locking them into the trays provides. This means I can use aggressive brushwork and not worry about the panel shifting or, worse, falling to the floor. I can also tape multiple smaller panels up at once, and work on a series of pieces simultaneously. I write inspirational phrases on the board and they are slowly buried under layers of marks - the most recent was added last week, courtesy of Lisa Daria Kennedy , a daily painter I greatly admire: ...