Art Alternatives Marquis Desk Easel

What a nice little portable easel this has been. It completely fulfills several particular needs I have. I have several easels of different sizes, shapes, functions...big ones, small ones...good ones and bad. Surprisingly, for the cost, this is one of the most versatile I own.

Other than my office, which is not really an office per se, but rather a largish multiple functional room, I paint either on my back porch or on an old wooden table I have stuck in the woods behind my house. When I paint on the porch or in the woods I use this particular easel. When I am in the woods and the light changes, it is an easy matter to move all my work stuff.

This little thing is extremely well built considering its cost. It is so simple to set up that even I, who has problems even stacking two brick together correctly, find it impossible to mess up. It is stoutly built and can take quite a bit of abuse. I, for the most part paint small things and use small canvases or canvas boards. I do not paint large sweeping landscapes. I paint flowers, leaves, bugs and other critters. I also use a very limited number of colors. (I find that mixing my own color is half the fun of painting). The drawers on this unit hold enough to meet my needs.

There are a couple of things to note here:

As one reviewer as pointed out, the drawer does tend to stick at times. I solved this by using some wax (Paraffin) on the sides and that solved that problem.

The palette is wood. I use both oils and acrylics. Acrylics do not do well on wooden palettes. I solved this by spraying, with several coats, the entire palette with clear acrylic sealer. Works like a charm.

I have two other easels that are designed much like this one...or at least use the same concept. They are large, they are heavy and they were very expensive. Sadly to say I find myself using this little thing more than the others...could have saved me some coin had I had this unit available years ago.

To sum up my impression and feelings over this easel:

It is very inexpensive. I paid about fifteen dollars more at a local art supply store for mine. I like cheap.

It is simply. I like simple things...no hassle here...it is what it is.

It is extremely functional for small works. This is what I needed it for.

It is extremely portable.

It is very well made and very stable.

Did I mention that it is inexpensive?

This is a good product and you get your monies worth with it...very, very functional.

Don Blankenship

The Ozarks

Good consruction.I have used it for canvas up to 14X18.Good to take outdoors but of course you need a table for set up.So far I have used it mainly inside.

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I like this product. It was useful to hold my canvas board (smaller size) to places so that I can paint. I wouldn't recommend this easel for canvases. It doesn't have much support. I found myself holding the canvas board at most times to keep it steady when I'm painting.

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This is a nice little easel. Works right. Easy to travel. Get's the job done. Great for the price. Palette is a bit frustrating because the paints soak into it and stay there (I use acrylics). Aside from that very nice.

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This is a very straightforward design.

To use it, simply unlock it and pull the the board up. You don't even need a manual to set it up smoothly first time!

And despite its simple design, it does not look like a poor-man's tool. Three of my best friends guessed its price -at $40-50!

Also, this easel is very firmly built. It is designed with metal joints and geometrically stiff shapes. This means that in order to break it, either the hard metal joints have to give in or a piece of the easel has to break in half; both of which are improbable.

(I've used easels not built this way; they are, instead, built by pressing flat-ended screws against the wooden pieces and relying on the friction between the screw and the wooden surface to hold it up. Over time, the wooden surface gives way, and my easel falls down even though every piece is fine. That won't happen with this beauty!)

This easel, compared to other tripod designs, is great for small-scaled close observations of small objects on the table; you can literally paint objects that stand 12 inches from your eyes. (I personally used it to paint dried flowers I place on my table; my pictures are approximately 3 x 5 inches)

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