You can move or tilt your easel to find the most comfortable position to work on a specific area. Their ability to tilt also offers benefits for different painting techniques. If you work in watercolour you won’t want your easel to be at a steep vertical angle, as it may cause your paint to run. Keeping your easel at a lower vertical angle, or even horizontal will make it easier to paint smooth washes. If you’re working vertically while painting in watercolour your washes may drip!

American Easel Oak Yazhi Easel is an affordable full-wood A-Frame easel that is made out of quality Red Oakwood. It weighs about 11 lb. and it can accommodate up to 44” of canvas length. A great bonus is its non-skid rubber feet. It’s a great option overall but exceptionally good for beginners. A-frame easels are one of the most popular kinds of easels. Typically used by students or intermediate artists, these frames are capable of holding a variety of canvas sizes due to their sliding bar design. In a bench easel, you get a small to medium-sized canvas holder and, of course, a bench. You can usually find one in an art class as it is suited for drawing and painting while looking at a live subject. It is a straightforward easel to use but hogs quite a lot of floor space.

Our social profiles

Lastly, those seeking a more professional-grade easel should consider the Mabef Convertible Easel M-18. This robust, heavy-duty easel, crafted from beautifully oiled beechwood, is the right choice for serious artists. Capable of supporting up to 88″ of canvas and featuring a high degree of adjustability, this easel ensures that your creative potential reaches new heights. We recommend you get a heavy easel if you are a professional artist or a regular user and get a lighter one if you are a casual painter or do painting only occasionally. Other Factors Box Easels are a type of portable, outdoor easel, but include a drawer or storage compartment for materials. They have the same tripod like structure, but with a box rather than just a central column. This box not only includes storage space for your materials, but also holds the central column and canvas supports. Like field easels, box easels are collapsible for easy carrying and storage. If you are painting on small canvas boards, they can sometimes be stored in the box compartment. These easels have a solid wood finish. Pochade Boxes

A Wall Mount Easel is a better alternative to a single mast easel when it comes to saving floor space in your apartment. It does need a wall to mount and is not portable at all but it can accommodate a huge variety of canvas sizes. Budget Both beginners and experienced artists can find real benefit from using an easel while painting or drawing. Artist easels are adjustable so you can position your artwork at the right height or angle for you. Fed up of leaning over a painting on the floor or table? Then you can use an easel to give you better access to the artwork and keep your floor clear. Or perhaps you like working outside? Then portable easels can be the perfect solution to support your artwork plein air. Creating & Displaying Artwork It can be a huge ordeal sometimes to get started with painting. You’ll need a lot of things – like paints, brushes, mediums, palettes, etc. – just to get started with painting.There are two main types of easels used by artists. Tripod easels, as the name suggests, have three legs, and may include crossbars to make the easel more stable. H-Frame easels, again as you'd expect, resemble a letter 'H' and are constructed of two vertical posts with a horizontal crossbar support. Both types of design may have extra features for rotating the canvas and adjusting it horizontally and vertically. Lightweight metal options are very popular as they are easy to transport, but a traditional wooden finish is also available. Portable easels have telescopic legs are easily collapsible when not in use. They are easy to extend when you are ready to paint. Some models, like the previously mentioned Jakar models, can be used as tabletop easels when their legs are fully retracted. The Adjustable Watercolour Easel is one of our bestselling easels and offers great versatility – especially for amateur or beginner artists. When looking at table easels it is important to consider the scale of the work you will be making. This style of easel is typically suited to small scale paintings, so if you are working on anything large they probably won’t be suitable. Most models also work at a fixed height, in that the lower canvas support cannot be lowered or heightened. This is something worth bearing in mind, especially if you are working on very small paintings. Ideally you would need your work to be held close to eye level, rather than close to the table. Opting for a table easel with an adjustable lower support would be the best option in this case. Loxley Wentworth Table Easel Some H frame easels also have a shelf attached to the lower canvas support, or drawers in more heavy duty models. These are great for holding a few tubes of paint and other accessories. Convertible Easels Table-top easels are just shrunken-down versions of A-Frame easels. It’s a great choice for those who don’t paint regularly or do large-scale painting.

Heavier easels are sturdier and more long-lasting than lighter easels but you’ll have to compromise on portability. We have decided to include some parameters in this section, considering which you can decide whether or not an easel is good for you. Types of Easels We love the fact that it can also double as a painting showcase because it is ultra cheap and it sits on your table. A studio easel is designed for use in a stationary workspace, while a French easel is a lightweight, portable option that is ideal for outdoor painting. Conclusion For established and professional artists who have a tight schedule and a commitment to never bother their art with anything but inspiration, a heavy-duty easel is the best way to go. These easels have it all when it comes to painting anything with the most hassle-free experience.Portable Easels are compact and lightweight – they are easy to transport and carry if you are working outdoors. Some models even come with their own bag. We sort them into three different types – Sketching Field Easels, Box Easels, and the Pochade Box. Sketching Field Easels Sketching Field Easels look similar to a camera tripod. They have three legs with a triangular footprint. At the point where the three legs meet there will be a central column on which artwork can be rested. This column has a lower and upper canvas support to position your work. On some models this central column can tilt slightly while on others, like the Jakar Lightweight Field Easel, is rigid. The Jakar Lightweight Adjustable Watercolour Easel can tilt into a fully horizontal position. The Jakar Adjustable Watercolour Easel (left) is our bestselling field easel. Like the Jakar Lightweight Field Easel (right), it can be retracted for use on a tabletop.

Tabletop easels are typically the best option for beginning painters because they are lightweight, portable, and easy to use. What materials are painting easels made of? Radial Easels are the types of easels that you would typically come across in art schools and colleges. They offer a space saving alternative to bulky studio easels. The single central support has a hinge and a short tripod supports it. The hinge allows the easel to be titled to adjust the working angle, and the two canvas supports can be moved to accommodate your work. This style of easel doesn’t offer the same stability or strength as an H or A frame easel, but they cost considerably less and can be folded up when not in use. A-Frame Easels Loxley Hampshire A Frame Studio Easel There is a wide variety of easels that are available in the market. Some easels are compact while others are portable or heavy-duty. The environment in which you wish to paint will affect your choice of easel. If you are painting outdoors you will need something compact and portable. If you have a large studio then you may have more space for a sturdier easel. In a spare room you may need to move or store your easel when not in use. You will need something lightweight or even collapsible. Painting in a communal area may mean that you are only able to work from an table mountable easel. Lightweight Metal Field Easels are a great option for painting outdoors What size and weight are your paintings? For hobbyist painters or those who are just starting out, the US Art Supply Tabletop Easel is a good option. Made from durable beechwood, this A-frame design easel is perfect for casual painting sessions. While it is not suitable for professional artists, it does provide a space-efficient and cost-effective solution for those who want to explore the world of painting.Therefore, it can be confusing when buying one of your own. To help you out here are some kinds of easels that you should know about: Compact Easels Easels designed for indoor use offer more stability than an outdoor easel. Studio Easels are the most heavy duty of all the easels we supply and are fantastic if you have the space to erect an easel permanently. If you work at a table that doubles up as a dining area then Table Easels offer a great working area that is easy to set up and that can be tidied away when not needed. Radial easels don’t take up as much space and are commonly seen in college and tutoring environments. Table Easels The best easel for plein air comes in two styles. First, if you prefer a wooden one, I recommend the Mabef M22 Sketch Box. It's a large, adjustable easel that's designed for outdoor use, and is equally suitable for indoor painting. Made from oiled, stain-resistant beechwood, it comes with a handy and stylish box with four compartments, with a sliding drawer and a wooden palette, which also acts as a cover when the easel is folded up for transporting. All this makes it perfect for holding your paints, brushes and more while you're out in the field. Painting Workstations offer a large, sturdy workspace where all your materials can be held in one place. They offer great stability as they are more like a piece of furniture than an easel. These workstations have castors so can be moved around, although they are bulky. This type of easel is particularly designed for artists who have accessibility issues with regular easels. In fact the Mabef M30 Painting Workstation is specially made for use with wheelchairs. Other Easels and Studio Furniture Display Easels You will also need to think about the size of your work and where it will need to sit in relation to you. For example, if you work on a small scale, but prefer standing at your easel, you will need to make sure the lower canvas support extends high enough to support your painting at a comfortable height. What medium do you work in?