Which Easel Should You Get?

Choosing an easel can be tricky! Here are a few factors to consider when choosing an easel that will work for you. 

1. Price. You never want a “cheap” easel. But you don’t have to spend lots of money to get something that will work well and last a long time! Great easels can be found second hand. Just make sure you get something made from quality materials. It's important that any nuts, bolts or connection hardware be made from quality materials so they don't strip out.   Unfortunately the art supplies market is flooded with badly made cheap stuff.  

2. Space. Do you have room to leave the easel set up? Or will you need to fold it away when it's not in use.

3. Portability. Do you plan to take your easel with you plein air painting or to workshops?

4. Size. What size do you want to paint? Do you plan to make huge paintings? Do you plan to make small paintings? 

5. Medium. Most easels work for all media, but if you want to use very wet paint that gets drippy, you may need a special easel that can tilt flat or upright. All the easels in this post will work great for oils, acrylic or gouache.

Easels are VERY personal - and honestly they all have flaws! 

Here are the easels I use and recommend and why: 

French Easel

The French Easel can be a great choice for your first easel. You can use them in the studio or outdoors. You can sit or stand when painting with it. The easel will accommodate everything from very small panels to canvases up to 32". The easel has a tray in the front that will hold your palette while you paint, and in the back there is a table-like area where you can set stuff, like your tea. When you're finished painting, it folds into a tidy, box like shape of about 15" x 23" x 8" (sizes vary), and it acts as a wet canvas carrier. The folded box can store your wet palette, brushes, palette knives and paint tubes. 

 The French Easel is versatile and readily available, but there are definite problems with them as well. The box can be heavy if you're doing plein air painting. I like a physical challenge and I purchased some back pack conversion straps so I can carry it a long way, but this is not a practical option for most people.  

The other con is that it's awkward to set up and break down, so until you've practiced a few times, you'll feel stressed and frustrated setting it up. Not a fun thing to add to being nervous about painting in public! 

Despite the challenges, the French Easel can be a smart choice for your first easel because they allow you to use them in so many settings. I have a Jullian, which I bought new and have used for 18 years.  I have had to repair parts of it, and replace lost wing nuts, but the overall quality is good, so I think this is the only French Easel I'll ever need. 

The Jullian French Easel I have can be purchased here for $200 at Blick Art Supplies. 

Plein Air Easel

Plein Air Easel.  If you plan to do much plein air painting, you'll eventually want a light, portable plein air set up. My favorite is made by Easy L.  I love the quality of their materials.  This easel will last a lifetime.  I chose the 10" x 12" Easy L Lite.  I take this one when I'm hiking longer distances or traveling by airplane. It holds 2 wet panels, and will accommodate wet paint.  It is fast and easy to set up.  

The cons are that it's expensive and only works with panels, with a max height of 17". There's also a limit to the size of panel that fits into the wet panel carrying area. It must be paired with a very heavy duty tripod.

You can get the Easy L Lite pochade box, tripod and brush holder for $469. 

Studio Easel

Studio Easel - For larger paintings than the French Easel will hold, you will want a studio easel. The one I have is the Dulce by Jack Richeson.  It's not the greatest easel ever, I used to yearn for the fancy big ones with a crank - still would love to have one - but I really don't need it. I've made very large paintings with this and it works just fine. I will say, the wood has cracked in places and I've had to replace stripped cheaper bolts for steel ones, and my husband attached locking rollers to the base, which is nice.

I don't actually recommend the one I have because Mabef now makes one that's very similar to mine for a similar price. Mabef offers a lifetime guarantee on their easels, their quality is very good.  

The Mabel Studio Easel M6 is my recommendation - $356. Comes with rolling castors, will comfortably hold small panels to large canvases. Any of the Mabef Studio Easels at Dick Blick are great choices though. 

Compact Tripod Easel

The last easel I'll recommend today is the Richeson Italian Steel Easel. If your first priority is saving space, then this easel is a good choice. It folds up really small, can be used sitting or standing, with canvases or panels and indoors and out. I use these in my painting classroom because they are so versatile, compact, and are lower in price.  

While these easels are functional, but not trouble-free. This easel is a tripod type, so can get knocked around while you're painting.  It takes some getting used to.  Setting them up and taking them down isn't totally intuitive.  You will also  need a taboret table for your palette.

Find the Richeson Italian Steel Easel at Dick Blick for $120. 

I hope this helps you find the best easel for your needs! 

Happy Painting! 
- Sarah