PLUSSING THE JAMES GURNEY'S SKETCH EASEL

“Water,more wáter”The last words of the watercolorist (hypothetical)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, on his deathbed.

Like many amateur watercolorists, I discovered that I could have an excellent easel for my watercolors at a
really low cost and that was because James Gurney shared his design with us (thank you teacher). I also
discovered like others, that the Nalgene Jar 2 Ounces (60 ml), has NO capacity for more than 1.28 OZ
(38ml). And then I realized that the classic configuration that Gurney proposes, that is, allowing the
Nalgene Jar to follow the inclination of the easel's basal plate decreases the amount of water available for
painting to a third or less of the total capacity of the Jar, that is, less than 20 cc's!. That's great for a genius
like Gurney, but for the rest of us humble mortals, it may be important to have more water at our disposal.
I present a simple solution based on the property of water to maintain a constant level in the face of
positional changes in the jar. Basically, it is a container that changes its angle automatically offering always
a mirror of water, parallel to the floor. You will notice in the next photos that even if you extremely angle
the easel, it always horizontalizes the mirror of water in reference to the horizontal floor level. That means
that you can use all of the 2 ounces.
I offer the scheme of my model and some pictures.

Degree of difficulty: Low.

Time to assemble, 90 minutes.

1. Wide Mouth Jar, 2 ounces

2. Plastic Cilinders (2)
3. Wing Screws
4. Metal Support with holes
5. Wood Support
6. Neodimium Magnets
7. Holes to pass the screws

1. There are no Nalgene jars in my country, but what I got is similar, 2 ounces capacity with a 5.5 cms
diameter, greather than the nalgene’s. you can adaptar sizes for your own Jar.
2. These tiny cylinders are the support for the tip of the wing screws and they can be obtained by cutting
some plastic tube (2-3 mm internal diameter,3-4 mm external diameter and 3mm long). They are fixed in
the superior third of the jar, with glue or with 2-part epoxy putty (in my country it is called "plasti loca").
Mini bearings can also be used.
3. Preferably these screws should be thin to fit loosely into the plastic cylinders described in 2.
4. In my case, I used an aluminum strip 1 mm thick (3/64"), 18 .2 cm long, 2 cm wide and when folded in a
“U” shape, the vertical parts will have a height of 5.5 cms (Remember that my jar is slightly greather than
the classic Nalgene Jar). It has holes (number 7 in the diagram) 6 millimeters from the end and in the
middle line so that the screws can pass there in such a way that their edges allow the screws to turn. As you
can see in my diagram, this U is glued to a wooden base. But if you make the support from a stainless steel
strip there is no need for the wooden base and you can attach the device directly to the magnets in your
sketch easel.
5. The wooden base for my model, measures 8.5 cms long by 3.5 cms wide and 3 millimeters thick.
Neodymium magnets are fixed in its lower part with 2 part epoxy putty.
6. Neodymium magnets 3 mm thick and 5 millimeters in diameter.
 GALLERY

1. Device in parts 2. Device showing 3. Device in Situ

magnets

4. Comparative of Jars in 5. Comparative of Jars in 6. Working Easel Backwards

Horizontal Position Tilted Position

As you can see, in my device the level of water always is horizontal and
you have much more water.
Note: The water was black-tinted to show its level.

7. Working Easel Tilted Forward

Luis David Guzmán-Moreno, MD,PhD. 11/ 20/ 2020.San Luis Potosí, SLP, México. You can download this document
from www.academia.edu