Quite often, when you’ve seriously decided to start painting, the very first thing you would do is shop for some art supplies.
However most of the times just end up spending way too much money for the staff you don’t really need. Which is perfectly understandable, since there are such a big variety of products, which makes it very easy to get lost.
So an easel is something you most definitely will need, but which one? What is the difference among all of them? What is the best easel for painting? And what about drawing? Let’s take a look!
This model is most suitable for professional oil or acrylic painting. Very sturdy and durable, easel like this will be able to hold a canvas of any weight and size. You won’t be able to worry about your canvas moving around or being unsteady, thanks to the very heavy bottom of this easel. It’s quite comfortable to work standing with this model, and you can also adjust it accordingly to your height, however you can also paint seated.
This long lasting model is perfect to have in a studio and it will serve you for years to come!
One thing that might seems uncomfortable at the beginning is the fact, that this easel doesn’t hold a canvas completely vertical, and is a little bit inclined forwards, but this is something you can quickly get used to, specially when painting standing.
Another downside of it, is its size, once you set it up in your studio space you probably won’t be moving it around much.
Artists and planners alike love this handy board, as it is ideal for sketching, drawing, and painting.
Made from a smooth beech wood surface the drawing board comes complete with a built in pencil rest.
The angle adjuster and elastic band offer flexibility for different drawing methods and different scaled projects.
It can be adjusted from horizontal, which is rather handy when painting watercolours using a wet in wet technique and can be changed to vertical when working on more detailed work, like when working with pastels.
Another good thing about this type of easel is that you don’t need to use a canvas in your work and you can just mount paper with some masking tape straight on the board.
The only downside of it will be a size, since normally they come in A3 or A2 sizes and the fact that they have to be set on the table.
A good alternative in this case will be something like a drafting table. It offers a bigger working surface as well as extras, such as pencil and brush holding station, as well as some drawers to store the rest of the drawing accessories. That one will be perfect for you, if you’re mainly into illustrations and watercolours.
The downside of it is that it can be quite bulky, so you need to make sure you have enough space to fit it in.
A perfect way is to have both, that way if you decide to get some art done on a different location, you can always take the table top board with you!
This kind of easel is a perfect choice for someone who is starting out or for some one who is just a hobbyist artist.
It’s very light and quite sturdy, especially when made from aluminium. Which makes it really easy to store it or to carry around, make is a perfect easel for travelling.
Even though it’s normally quite small, you still have the option of adjusting it’s height for a various canvas sizes.
It is normally a little bit inclined, which makes it perfect when painting seated.
Those easels are normally priced quite low as well, which again makes it perfect for somebody who is just starting to learn painting.
On the other side, the variety of sizes that can be used with is easel is quite narrow and normally don’t go above A2, mostly because the easel, won’t be able to balance the bigger sizes and will loose it’s sturdiness.
Similar to the previous models this easel also doesn’t take much of the space and prices quite low, which is also great for beginners.
On the up side H-frame shape and a stand on the bottom, makes this model much more stable than an A- Frame easel. It also can be adjusted and comes in a variety of different sizes.
However, even though this easel is quite small, it is still a bit bulkier than a previous model and can’t be folded away that easy. So it will be probably best to leave in the art studio, rather than carry around.
Similar to A-frame easel, this easel is perfect for a plein-air and outdoors painting, as it’s normally quite light and easy to carry around, specially when comes with the case.
However the ability to extend its legs, make it even better, as you won’t need a table to set your easel up.
You can adjust the size accordingly to you height and paint standing, or seated if you choose so.
Those also come both in wood and aluminium.
What’s best about this easel can actually sometimes be the worst. Especially when painting outdoors and when it’s windy, the lightness of it can become more of a burden than an advantage.
This model also can be used as a home easel, speacially when you’re lacking the space and need something bigger than a tabletop easel.
Wooden:
Most of the aluminium field easel can be also used as a tabletop version.
Looking just like a wooden box from the first sight, but when opened up becomes a perfect tabletop easel.
This model also has an adjustable height, the weight from the box itself, makes it really sturdy, but quite bulky at the same time.
Thanks to the box, this easel, make is easy to travel and keep all the art supplies inside at the same time.
The size of it may make it a little uncomfortable as well as the need to have a surface to place to, in this case the next model will something a bit more suitable for a travelling artist.
This easel is a perfect combination of a box easel and a field easel!
Like the previous model it has a box to keep all the paints and brushes, but due to extending legs it can be set up anywhere.
Unlike to standard field easel, this one will be also much sturdier when painting outdoors, since the box itself gives and extra weight and helps to keep the balance.
It can seem from the first look that this model is only perfect for travelling, and it is the best plein air easel indeed! However I actually find it super handy for my quite small art studio, since I can set it up whenever I need it, it fits quite a big canvas size and you can also use the box to have all your art supplies handy. Works like a whole painting station for me!
We hope this article will help you out to choose your perfect easel and make your art even more enjoyable!
