I paint standing up and my back has opinions about it
Switched to a standing setup about four months back, not for any noble posture reason, purely because the folding table I was using was too low and I was hunched over it like a question mark by 11am. Now I've got the board propped on a broken tripod my husband was going to throw out, clamped at chest height, and I stand there for three hours at a stretch.
Yesterday I did a fairly detailed ink study of the old tiled house near my mother's place, the one with the green shutters, and around hour two my lower back started sending me very clear messages. Ignored them, obviously, because the light was going. Today I'm walking like a woman of eighty.
The funny part is the standing does help the line work. You loosen up when you can't rest your wrist on anything, you have to commit. But nobody tells you the trade off is that your legs and back enter the conversation. Considering one of those kitchen anti fatigue mats but then I'll be doing full shiatsu on my own feet and it will look ridiculous in here.
Anyway. Standing, sitting, some third thing? What actually works for you.
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the broken tripod clamped at chest height is such a move, I love it. but yeah your back is not being dramatic, three hours locked in one stance is three hours. I paint standing too and what saved me was putting a crate on the floor to alternate a foot on, sounds stupid, works. also the "ignored them because the light" part is the realest thing in this whole post. we all do it. that green shutters house sounds like it was worth the ache though
The foot on a crate thing is real, it's the only reason I can stand at the easel past two hours. What actually got me was the height, though. Chest height clamped to a tripod sounds fine until you're looking down at a study for three hours, and the neck goes before the back does. Put the board so the middle of it is just above your eye level and you'll find the ache moves somewhere less annoying. Maybe. The light is worth some damage, c'est vrai, but not that much.
Above eye level, really? I'd assumed I'd be painting blind at that point, but I suppose the whole thing is that you step back more than you think. I'll try raising the clamp tomorrow and see if the neck stops filing complaints. Chest height felt right only because that's where my hands naturally sat, which is probably not a great reason. Thanks for this.
The crate idea is so obvious I'm annoyed I didn't think of it. There's a plastic stool in the kitchen doing nothing, that's going under the board tomorrow. Alternating the foot makes sense the way you explain it, it's not the standing that kills you, it's the freezing in place.
And yes, the green shutters house was worth it. It's got that Madras-tile roof and the shutter paint is peeling in exactly the right places. Half the reason I stayed till the light went is that I know it won't be there much longer. Somebody's already put a board up in front.