Artist Problems: The Easel Investment 

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Starts at 03:53

When in doubt, build an own easel.

If you want to stop a table easel from moving around rip off a couple wads of kneaded eraser and press the easel down onto them. Instant rubber feet.

I have a table top easel, which I never use anymore. It sits too high on my desk for comfort, but is too low for standing. I tried getting an adjustable stool, but it was not comfortable for my legs. I need studio now. This was great information.

I recently purchased the X-Large H frame you have set up in front of Skelly there on the set. The construction is great, it's very sturdy, and accepts just about any size. My only issue with all these easels is how they hold a canvas. First, I prefer to paint the edges, the securement bars are typically an obstruction. Second, pinching the Canvas from the top and bottom causes the canvas to become untaught. I realize that you should not put that much pressure on the canvas to keep it in place, but I am a very heavy-handed painter, I've been known to knock them off the easel fairly easily. I bought extension bars with nails in them that hold the canvas from the edge, they work okay in most situations. But my solution is to come up with some type of securement device that holds the canvas from the back that allows it to float. This will solve the issue of being able to paint the edges of the canvas without any obstructions. I really enjoy seeing how other people set up their workstations, everybody has their own special needs and requirements. My dream easel would be made from extruded aluminum, with countless adjustability options. I've got lots of ideas of how to build it, but unfortunately I do not have a CNC machine shop with all the tools to construct it. And of course it would be so extremely expensive to construct, the average artist would never pay thousands of dollars for an easel. I have nothing against fine wood constructed easels, you are correct that many people view them as a piece of furniture. But to some, fine wood work is old fashion. I'm surprised that in this day and age there aren't more high-tech modernistic artist related products on the market. We artist are using the same basic materials and tools that were used hundreds of years ago. Innovation is driven by supply and demand, I guess the market sells more Smart phones than easels. But to end on a positive note, I'm fortunate that I live close to a Jerry's, a great art store, that always says lots of options, and a plentiful stock of art supplies.

I've had the Cezanne 1/2 French easel for years now, and it's still going strong. Have several other types of easels too, and a couple of pochade boxes I've collected or been gifted over time. Easels and tilting drawing tables let you see your work unforshortened, which is very helpful. When I was a poor art student, just starting out, I improvised an easel with a large drawing board that I propped up so I could clip or tape pieces of unstretched gessoed canvas to it. That worked great honestly, and if something came out well, I could always mat it like it was paper. Saved me money when I needed it.

I'd love to see the half box French easel compared to the French "full" box easel. Because the half one is double the price lol

I didn't feel like you're trying to push sales but explained each type of easel for what it is and what it does. As someone who is looking to purchase one I am now more educated and with the information you shared I can now say I'm after a French easel. Thanks for this guide, love your personality = )

I love my h frame easel. It's so stable I can keep it out and not worry about my dog bumping into it. And it looks good. I *might* just be watching because you're good looking. Truly, love your videos. They make me happy about doing art.

I love watching your videos. You have a great sense of humor and I learn a bunch. One thing that could be cool, is how to take care of easels, especially the large one that have the ability to go up down, etc., sometimes it get really hard to move the mechanisms. I looked up stuff, and found olive oil was used back in the day. This may be elementary to many, but when I read about it, I had a "Ah ha" moment. 😆

I have a table top easel, a table top box easel, and a fairly large French easel. I'd love a smaller and more portable pochade box.

Hi I had a question, I have purchased a Meeden H frame easel that has the ability to lay flat as a table surface. It will hold 2 canvases but when I try to use it in an up right position, no matter how tight I turn the knobs it still wants to swing or tilt when I paint on the top canvas. Am I doing something wrong? The only thing I can think to do is maybe get a strip of velcro to place around the bottom so it won't swing back.

For now I use my huge drawing board propped up against the wall set on top of my folded up massage table in its case. Someday I want an H frame , alumnus or homemade really sturdy easel

What!? No pochade boxes? :)

Much love from the Netherlands! ♥

I hope you cover that piece of wood that I need to stop me from destroying my work, I can't find and easel that shows that arm of wood that you lay your arm on to go over an area without destroying the work all ready completed

I bought a Julian Escort French easel from Jerry's several months ago for the purpose of plein air painting. It was advertised on Jerry's as being made of sturdy beechwood. It is not sturdy, nor is it beechwood. It is flimsy Elmwood that dents and peels when I tighten up the leg supports. Speaking of leg supports, these are very flimsy. I kind of hate to put all this on RU-vid, but you did ask for comments...I have been happy with most of the art supplies I purchased online from Jerry's, but the easel is a store point!

this guy's not an artist, he's a comedian

I am glad I saw this video because I've started oil painting again and i am VERY heavy-handed and I have to physically lower my hand to keep my brush movement from destabilising the easel... it was a cheap ass easel from Amazon

OMG the intro!! Get into it! 3 minutes in and I still know nada. Bro, I need one for charcoal.

Is there a specific one for sketching only ?

good energy and well spoken when explaining the easels 👍🏼

I got 3 different type of easels at yard sales. I was just about to try the one that you said was a display easel. I'm glad i didn't try to use it. I don't want to die. HAHAHA

I have three easels. I have a nice pretty hardwood one I bought from Jerry's. It's tall, it's nice, it has casters, etc. That is in my studio upstairs. I also have a french easel for downstairs, and I HATE IT. It is unstable and a pain in the arse to assemble and break down. Then I have a 9.99 Jerry's tabletop easel with rubber feet. I have two of them .... I keep one on our boat (I have a set of paints there). The other one is for travel. The $9.99 easel imho is better than the french easel. P.S. with small paintings I don't even use an easel.

I have a French easel like the one on your left and I really like it.

I have two small table top (but A shaped) easels, but even those I find too uncomfortable for my space. Also, I make RU-vid videos and I'd like to film from the front, but I don't have any contraptions to make the camera (as small webcam, currently), that can be at the right angle. Also, the lighting I have can't reach my panels when I place the easel on the desktop. I have two of those clipping lamps, but their necks are short. Just telling you all this in case you can come up with some diy to make any of that work. =)

I can't use the French easels. They are very instable. My cats running around and down it goes

I have been looking for a way to do impromptu sketching. Something like a small foldable chair and perhaps a small board you can have held up by sitting it on your lap (or sit on). I have been thinking of how I would make a monopod easel, or something that would stay up like a sling? Ideas??

the villain from lazytown. i can't be the only one who sees it

I have a french style easel I mostly just use as a easy travel table, often I throw a art board on it and just kinda go at it, I also have a massive A-frame for..well no reason It was a gift as a digital, graphite and watercolor artist it's utterly useless to me but it looks nice.

I love to buy art supplies. So pretty! Big fancy things like easels - oh my! if I only use it once, oh well, I can admire it from across the room. Nice presentation, thanks for the laugh.

We were promised domino easles, why did we not get domino easles -_-

I just need a portable easel. Since I have a small room and need to be able to fold it up

my fiancé gave me 2 of his dad's but they are A frame I think. would love to have a new one someday

This guy's a hoot!

HAH!! Love your videos, (so added bonus now follow IG & YT!) I personally have learned quite a bit from you and Jerry's in general. I think with where I am in my art journey ( a couple decades) I didnt need the details of each easel but understand that some might've thought you'd be going in depth about each style. I personally got the info I needed though and enjoyed every second of this. You certainly crack me up ( though I believe I have the same similar weird humor-- off beat. Meh. You get my drift. ;-) So shout out from here ---> the great Pacific Northwest, Lakewood, Washington (Think south of Seattle but way cooler.)

I prefer my drafting table. I'm totally watching because you're gorgeous, Mike. In other news... I'm going nucking futs over here because my phone decided to quit on me (that's the nice way to put it. Some may say it 'took a **** on me', but that's neither here, nor there) a few days ago, and I haven't seen what's new on your Instagram! UGH! Buying new phone so I can keep following @mikenotjerry Hugs 'n' smooches.

tell me you aren't the company selling the bob ross kits on amazon. The easels suck :S

Origamability😂😂😂

Thank you!!

easel!

OrbitalEasel.com haven't looked back, so good.

Is this a guide or a comedy bit

Spoiler alert. You don't hear anything about easles until 5 minutes in.

You tell us don't do graffiti and my art teacher says do grafatti

3:50 to go to the point of this video

Where do you keep your easel? Wink wink lol

Easel forest,lol.

Love talking, buddy? What about show easels?

Damn that was irritating. 16 minutes and a room full of easels, one might think this would be informative.

too many bleeps! I do not care to even begin watching a person so lacking in self discipline. What could you possibly have good to share with anyone?

did i just wast 15 minutes watching this ?

You sure have a mouth on you

Could you possibly have talked more and said less? Different easels exist, buy the right one. Thanks

You need to learn how to filter your chatter with the educational information we actually came for. Very ineffective way of teaching

Finishes... ? Honestly? My favorite finish is my paint stains and marks on my easel! Am I gonna wash the easel after I make a painting? ummmm no.

I have a well-loved, 80 yr old standing (it looks like the display one you showed but mine is wood) easel that was passed down to me. It was my Dad's. It is cherished.

One thing you could never be accused of Mike is pushing products on people, or for that matter, the vast majority of your videos help people save money which might mean they don't buy the most expensive paint from Jerry's because you recommended a cheaper paint. That is why you are awesome mate, why I trust what you say 100% and why if I lived in the US, I'd definitely be a regular visitor to my local Jerry's. In fact I'd be there so much, the staff would think I was stalking either them of the products lol. Fantastic video as usual.

I am looking for a studio easel, but after watching this I only know more about french easels, which I have no interest in. I wish you had moved some stuff and showed how the large ones work.

OMG This guy spent half the video trying to prove how cute he can be. He could have spent that time providing actual worthwhile technical information.

After watching this video, I realized that my correctly chosen studio easel was absolute dumb luck. I had no idea there were so many variations of easels out there & I got myself an H-frame online, believe it or not. & I lucked out: it’s gorgeous, sturdy, and it can fit any size canvas, etc, I’ll ever need. Whew!

I'm a big believer in training your canvas to stay on command. Persistence and patience will reward

I'm fortunate enough to have a builder for a grandfather and he built me a massive easel for free. The only down side is that it doesn't really adjust, so I have to be sitting down or kneelng

Oh my god. Nice effort, but the little information that is actually in the video could be transported in a 3-5 minute video. I’m a total easel noobie. But I learned nothing new in this video.

I have a big Bob Ross easel. I like it.

Great video Mike! 😆 I use a travel box easel on my waist high counter. I have 2 (1 is for going and doing demos) and I have been using them for years. Hubby was using an old A frame easel that he used for last 25 years, but recently switched over to his studio wall. Because he is doing such large paintings, he choose to install heavy duty drywall hooks in the wall at different heights. Now he just hangs his canvas there and paints this way. This also opened up more floor space in his studio too.

I already have an H style easel that folds flat but I DO watch the videos because you're gorgeous! LOL!!

I first bought a little tabletop easel, but last year was given a travel box easel which I really like! Love your videos!

Just this weekend I got an aluminum tabletop mini-easel, because floorspace is limited and I was tired of using books to prop up my paintings. It was on sale, too~

I have to make my own studio easel, I needed a counterweight easel to make easier to lift and paint the down part of large canvases, normally a counterweights easels are really pricey but I make my own for about 1/3 of the price, it needed a lot of work and craftsmanship but totally worth it

What a waste of time.

Almost 6 minutes in to get talking about easel smh 🤦🏻‍♂️

Ha! I don't see my easel there. I bought the Tao folding bamboo table top easel. It folds down about the size of a book. Easy to store or carry with me. I have my easel, my paper pad and my pastel box and I'm ready to go. The downside is I have to find something to put it on but I'm creative. It's just nice having something I can take with me that isn't complicated to set up.

Thanks for vid, I've been recently looking for easels & there's so many its overwhelming, this helped me narrow it down. I think a every artist doesn't need an easel but deserves one because its really useful.

Was not expecting this video to be so funny and very much appreciate it

This episode was sooo funny 😁 I love this kind of humour so thanks for making me laugh today. On the easel front, my father in law made of for me and it is really great and as I do not have a studio it makes a great pice of furniture in our dining corner plus I can boast about my talent when we have visitors. Win-win-win 😁

G'day Mike not Jerry - Top video, love the content. I live in Australia and am customer for anything I can't get here. And to add, you're also very entertaining and crack me up.

You shouldn't have been bleeped. Artist swear... a lot! At lease I do. I've had it with my shitty easel! I had an old one that was perfect. Of corse they don't make then easy and practical and more. THEY ARE A PAIN IN THE ASS!

You are hilarious! Love your videos.

I usually just build my own. My newest easel cost around $15 to make. It's floor standing and adjustable height.

I'm too old to wait and my time is valuable! Get to the point or better yet, do a separate video for "outdoor" and "indoor" easels. Thanks.

Just got the Soho H frame from Jerry's. Love it! ✌💜🎨

These easels represent a lot of historic types that have given excellent service over centuries. What one does not see are modern easels that have the features a lot of plugged in users want today. Just to give one example: many of today's best painters, particularly if they have looked at the issue, paint on a vertical surface, while many, probably most of traditional easels are laid back. And design changes just move on from there. One of the problems about getting the new styles out there is that easels are difficult to sell as they are large objects with low added value in most case. But you can see the contrast when you look at the plein air market. In that field, super light, compact, and feature rich easels are the norm. Many new designs have exploded onto the scene, and are sold by a variety of companies. Because they are compact and high added value, 90% of the weight isn't some kind of "2x4", they readily make it to a willing audience. And some of these micro easels sell for sky high prices. But the Studio easel market remains stuck.

i bought an inexpensive h frame, which suprisely will hold up to a 90" canvas. will i ever paint that large...doubt it, 72" possibly. but i did find my dream easel....i didnt know they came that expensive!!!!!! makes my current easel look like a childs toy 😂😂😂

I used to have a tabletop easel but I never had any space on my desk because I constantly switched from sculpting to painting and such, so I eventually bought a portable aluminium frame easel for like 20 bucks because all the easels I saw online were around 100 bucks+

Welp, this six year old video literally just sold me an easel from your shop (the half size French easel, FWIW). I want something I can use at home or out and about, sitting at a table or standing. Let's hope it works well!

Hi! Im thinking of buying my first easel. Im looking at a studio easel for my drawings. I’d like to get one because I like to eventually start working on bigger pads of paper which I can’t balance on my knees and I’m in a very tiny flat.

I'm fortunate enough to have a builder for a grandfather and he built me a massive easel for free. The only down side is that it doesn't really adjust, so I have to be sitting down or kneelng

I have a Carolina easel from Jerry's. thanks for the great videos. I think I've watched all of yours.

Any recommendations for tall people? 6’2 with a higher base?

Decent information. Really, really bad jokes

I’ve been painting on a display easel for three years. I am the definition of a first world problem

Too much bullshitting around to be informative.

Gosh, you're funny! :)

I expected to hear about all the easels. WTF ? Why show all and do nothing/

after three minutes of bs I bailed on this video. Need to get to the point man...

Very helpful and entertaining!

I got the Mabef M22 full box French style easel for Christmas one year and I love it. I choose a French style easel cause I loved the idea of carrying your art supplies with you when you wanted to paint outside, plus I wanted to have one on hand for different events that required me to use it. I actually got to use it yesterday at the Gasparilla Festival of The Arts and painted at the MacDonald Training Center booth. It worked amazing, was fabulous, and very sturdy. It was kinda breezy and the easel never fell, would definitely recommend Mabef to anyone who needs a French style easel

I thought I would love a French easel, but it was so awkwardly built that I wound up hating it. It flew around all over the place, and it was difficult to hike with ,or even walk! It was not exactly lightweight,andiIt's parts slid and flew around all over the place, and would not stay put, even if you really tightened up the screws, plus it was difficult to store. I am about to buy a pochade box and tripod for plein air. Does anybody have any preferences as to brands?