Mahl stick and oil paints
 

While attempting my first oil painting in years, I could not figure out how to use my "pastel" mahl stick, which consists of a wood rod and a latex glove stuffed with cotton. I saw the ingenious system that David Dowbyhuz came up with, Hands Free Mahl Stick
but have not had the ingenuity to even put a model stand together.

What is the trick of working with wet canvas and steadying your hand?

How I use mine
 

Elizabeth,

I do not know what size easel you have, but I have a large studio easel I built myself and is very sturdy. My mahl stick is a half inch hardwood dowel, 4 feet long with a rubber end. I do not rest it on the surface of the canvas, however. I rest it on the top canvas support of the easel, or on the corner edge of the canvas and hold it with my palette hand. I have posted 3 images of what I mean.

Hope this helps. Oh, by the way, I was not actually painting at the time these were taken, but that is the commission I am working on right now on the easel.

closeups

Mahl Stick Versions
 

For small canvases 8x10 through 12x16 I use a long knitting needle that has a large cork attached to the end, which I rest on top of the canvas. It

I have two mahl sticks which I made - one long, one short. They are both 1/2 inch oak dowel that I sanded and rubbed with linseed oil. For the ball end, I drilled a 1/2 inch hole in a golf ball and epoxied the stick in. Then I wrapped the cover with a chamois cloth and wrapped it at the base with brass wire.

Simple and cheap
 

Here's the mahl stick I made after returning from a workshop, per one of John de la Vega's suggestions. Buy a lightweight dowell, top with pencil eraser, voila! It's lightweight and very maneuverable.

Since I hold my palette with one hand and the brush with the other, there is not much maneuvering room for a mahl stick. I have an 8 foot bamboo pole that I prop up against the easel.

Peggy

To each his own
 

I like that idea Peggy, but how does that work? What holds the pole in place - just your brush hand resting on it?

I suppose it depends a lot on the style and size of your palette, the length of your arms and the size of our hands but I hold my palette (as you can see in the photo attached to my earlier post) on my left hand and arm and find it is comfortable to hold the mahl stick as well.

I said "on" because I don't really have to hold the palette much; it kind of just rests on my arm and thumb. Some times I even have a rage, two or three other brushes and the mahl stick in my palette hand.

You know it took me some time to get used to using the mahl stick at all. My painting instructor would walk by and see me resting my pinky finger on the wet canvas. I of course did not consciously know I was doing it until he would point out the marks I left with my finger in the wet paint. That is when I first started using a mahl stick having it in my hand during most of the finish stages of a painting kept me from going back to resting my finger on the canvas. After awhile it became a habit that when I pick up my palette in my left hand I also pick up the mahl stick. And I have held it in my palette hand as I do now since then.

But it is nice to see how others work.

Michael,

I have several little wooden pieces taped to the top of my easel that jet out, and I can rest the bamboo pole against them. My palette is quite large, it's a balanced palette made by Lee Boynton, and is kidney shaped and two feet by a foot and a half.

Peggy

Mahl stick
 

On another thread somewhere, it was suggested to use a cane with a curved handle as a mahl stick. So I rummaged through the garage till I came up with an assortment of canes, crutches, and umbrellas. I actually found the perfect one and after cleaning the cobwebs and dead bugs off, plus giving it a new coat of polish, I have a mahl stick!

I just hook the handle over the canvas and brace away. Now if I can only get used to it.

Jean

Thank you all for your input. My obvious frustration was not being able to touch the canvas, like I can with pastel paper.

Michael, Peggy's does sound intriguing, it also sounds somewhat like David's set-up that I provided the link too above, it has a picture. Peggy's sounds like the supports are on her easel vs. the two posts David uses.

Mari, I came up with another mahl stick for oils, just a long dowel rod with a tapped hook on the end, but I notice the way you have yours in your image, do you find it scratches off the paint on the top? My easel that I usually keep my working pastels on has the larger wood holder on the top, so it would be easier to rest on that, than the one I am currently using. Was the eraser just to keep it from slipping?

Rest assured
 

Check out this mahl stick brace. It clips to your stretchers or easel and you can rest your mahl stick on it.

I use a piece if bamboo for my mahl stick with a wooden ball on the end, which is covered with chamois cloth. Bamboo is very strong. Its hollow so its very light.

You can order through: http://www.mahlstick.com/

Marvin I haven't checked your link yet, which I should have done first, but I wondered if they make another side to hold the stick. I have seen a few systems like that, it seems it would be easier. I am assuming the holder grows with your canvas?

Hi Beth,

It looks like the one Marvin referenced clamps directly to your stretcher bars, in which case, it could be placed anywhere, but might not be usable if you paint on panels.

The eraser on the tip of my cheap version does a few things. On dry paint, the rubber "grabs" rendering it non-slip. Or you can rest it on the edge of a wet painting and the eraser "grabs" the edge of the painting, keeping the stick off the wet paint. Finally, it does help keep abrupt and accidental motion of the mahl stick end from scratching the surface of the painting.