The PsP lets you easily transfer ALL your colors from one painting setup to another, since it can be quickly mounted and unmounted from the ⅛˝ hardboard panels we call Clip-Boards.
We’ve designed, sized, and crafted these panels into a series of kits for a number of popular easels. You can see from the photos throughout this site how they work.
You might want to try gathering the materials, fabricating and finishing these simple items yourself.
BASIC CLIP-BOARD — You’ll find the BASIC
Clip-Board that comes with each PsP can be used on many common types of easels with little or no alteration, e.g., the standard French Easel box (see photo above), along with your existing mixing surface. If you need something bigger to clip onto, or want to just do-it-yourself, we suggest you use the BASIC Clip-Board as a template (especially for drilling the holes, which have been precisely positioned from the panel’s edge to interface perfectly with the hook on the provided bungee cord connectors).
Or… you may want to purchase a mod for your easel set-up ready-made. The hardboard panels and kits we offer are all:
• Cut to exact optimum size, and precisely drilled as described above
• Hand-sanded to have rounded corners and softened edges
• Sized to ship together with your Paint-Saver Palette (in many instances) at no extra cost
Hardboard panels
BASIC Clip-Board — $7.
5¼ x 13½ x ⅛˝ white panelboard, includes two 10˝ bungee cords
One comes FREE in each Paint-Saver Palette Kit
(use extras for studio or other additional setups)
MEDIUM Mixing-Surface/Clip-Board — $9.
7¾ x 13½ x ⅛˝ white panelboard, includes two 10˝ bungee cords
Check out our Easel Kits for additional panel options including high-density hardboard, either unfinished, or coated with Behr Premium Plus® Porch & Patio Floor Paint in your choice of Light, Medium, or Dark Medium Gray
Light Gray
Medium Gray
Dark
Medium Gray
Unfinished
Premium, custom-built mixing-surfaces for the Soltek easel
Hardboard panels allow the
Paint-Saver Palette (PsP) to be used with any easel
Mixing-Surface/Clip-Board: a panel that may serve as either, or both, a mixing area and a Clip-Board
Sienna Kit
Clip-Board: an inclined support panel upon which the Paint-Saver Palette can be mounted for use
Available options & pricing:
Are the hardboard panels reversible?
When used as a Clip-Board: Yes, your PsP can be mounted either on the white face of the panelboard, or on its unfinished side. (You can paint the unfinished side with a neutral gray or other color, if you like—or season it as described below.)
When used as a Mixing-Surface: You may want to use the white surface in the studio and, to minimize glare, its unfinished side outdoors. You might paint the unfinished side for this purpose, or simply use it "as is," and “season” it by gradually building up a patina of oil paint that, after repeated wiping down will form a hard, slick surface, perfect for mixing oil paints on.
How do I “season” a hardboard panel?
How-to-Do-It: Instead of cleaning the unfinished side of your mixing-surface with mineral spirits, just wipe it down as you would if you were “seasoning” a cast iron frying pan—simply remove any excess mounds of paint mixtures with your painting knife, and then, perhaps adding a few drops of linseed oil, wipe your entire mixing surface in a circular motion so that all the remaining paint is blended into a thin film that can be left to dry—after this process is repeated several times, a hard, slick, neutral-toned patina will form, sealing the surface. NOTE: Until this patina has thoroughly formed, be especially careful that your mixing surface is not left out in the sun with your paint mixtures on it for any long period of time, otherwise these mixtures will seep into the (still absorbant) surface, and you’ll have some distracting, baked on stains that will be very hard to remove.
Pre-seasoning: You may want to deliberately build up a patina, by mixing a neutral gray tone for example (from some titanium white, and black). Spread this as a thin film over your surface (as described above) in several successive coats—allowing it to dry in between coats—and you will soon have your “seasoned” surface.
Hardboard FAQ’s:
Unfinished
Seasoned
Painted finish cuts glare
To view captioned photos
Can be used as a mixing surface on a French Easel, or as a tall Clip-Board
(When ordering LARGE MS/CB alone, there is an extra $10. shipping charge)
Can be used as either a mixing surface on small plein air setups (see the Sienna Kit) or as a taller Clip-Board
(see the French Easel and Soltek Kits)
LARGE Mixing-Surface/Clip-Board — $15.
11¼ x 13½ x ⅛˝ white panelboard, includes two 10˝ bungee cords
Choose type and size of hardboard
Choose COLOR if ordering (AH) painted
