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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Deco Art 3-Ounce Traditions Acrylic Paint, Pine Green

I wanted to use this easel to hold a large cardboard picture. The easel was not able to support this light weight picture. The legs which are not tethered to each other, slide independently on all floors except carpet. It was hard to keep the picture level. The top holder is very flimsy and does not do a good job of holding the item either. I returned the easel but the company charged me 15% restocking fee on this unacceptable piece of flimsy item. If you want to hold anything like what is shown in the product picture, I would not suggest this product. You will find yourself frustrated by it.

It's a bit clumsy, but gets the job done. I can't get easel back into its clever little carrying bag unless I first remove little brackets. Too much trouble to reassemble those each use (weekly), so I just collapse and put in my bin.

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Mabef Easel Sketchbox Backpacker M/23

I have had the Jullian and the Mabef half box French easel now and the Mabef, although more expensive is far

superior to the Jullian except for one problem, the folding palate sent with the Mabef is not of the same

quality (although usable) as the Jullian's, which is strange since the easel itself is lighter and better constructed.

I upgraded to the Mabef because the Jullian I was using completely fell apart on me after about a year and a half of use.

One of the best things is the Mabef locks down to stay shut during transportation instead of relying on a

easily bendable too small hook.

This portable easel is a wonderful product. It's lightweight, cleverly designed and beautifully crafted from Italian beech. It folds up small enough to carry on your back, but unfolds into a strong, flexible platform with a high degree of adjustability, a wide stance that handles uneven terrain quite well, and convenient storage for supplies. Highly recommended.

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Well made, classic, sturdy product. Lighter and more compact than the full size french easel. My "french companion" palette case sits on the open drawer of this model, but is a bit precariously perched, and care is needed to equally weight both sides of the case to prevent the case from toppling. I doubt that the larger french mistress palette case would work with this easel. The backpack straps make this easel easy to tote. I am a happy camper.

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I have paid for a quick shipment, but the TCP Global Corp. sent the easel two days later than expected. The wood is dry, soft and thin, it also has no finish, the wood is rough and raw with no varnish or sealer. Arrived with marks, dents and cracks. Do not waste your money buying at TCP Global Corp or MABEF products.

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Although it arrived with very dirty legs and with some smudges, (most likely not Mabef's fault) the construction and design of this easel is excellent. It is highly adjustable and stable, not to mention attractive.

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Best Halley Solid Oak Easel

This easel is much more than an easel. It has become a muse to me and I'm excited to share so many great features of this new addition to my family of easels in my studio. First, let me share with you the problem I was trying to solve.

I had four easels in my studio; one a frame, one h frame, one Julian portable/table top, and a small metal presentation easel. I work on gallery wrapped canvas from 9"x12" all the way up to 48"x60" or 72". To work on these large pieces my current easels were not large enough or strong enough. I did use the h frame but it wasn't quite right. So I ended up placing large nails around the frame to my utility closet door to hang the canvas. Very inconvenient. I also tried using my easels for applying gesso and varnish but they would run and it was difficult to get an even smooth layer. I also work in large wood panels that require a large sturdy easel.

This Best Halley Easel exceeded all of my expectations. Now I'm a very critical and demanding artist with little patience for poor quality or misleading information. So I spent weeks researching easels online at Amazon and in person at my local and favorite store, Blick Art Materials. And I got so much for money and I'll say that the $500+ dollars spent was not small but worth so much more.

Stands Out I looked at many products from $150 to $900 and this beat them all. Not only did I get stretch and sturdiness I have three products in one. For oil and acrylic and pastels and watercolor. It tilts forward backward and lays flat as a 36" high table. It is so easy to use adjust with ergonomics well thought out it was easy to put together and didn't need any tools. With only eight screws included and needed for assembly. A nit with the instructions is that the pictures need to better indicate the pieces and how they align. But that's the only and small issue.

For the strength and soundness and heft it takes up a small footprint in my studio and easily holds the six foot canvas that I'm working on right now! Plus the wood is quality and solid and oiled and smooth without splinters. All of the lines fit neatly and snuggly. And the wood is finished with oil and has a nice sheen. It is also a beautiful piece of furniture!

Small ammenities include a nice size shelf a the bottom of the easel proving that the designers did a nice job thinking about how to use the entire space of the product and not just a device to hold something. It's much more that a simple easel. It also has a nice sturdy and compact tray with a cup holder. I'm not much for these addons but it's nicely done and fits neatly into the design. However just remember that it needs to come off for larger canvas.

The ease of assembly was a very important feature for me. And as I said this came together in about 45 minutes to an hour and I AM DISABLED. I cannot thank Best products enough for this benefit in addition to all of the other easy to use features for a guys in my situation. I did look at other brands like American, and Blick but none came close to this Best Halley easel. They were either too flimsy or too small or hard to put together and more difficult to use. They weren't worth the money both the cheaper products and the more expensive brands.

It took me awhile to find this product and pull the trigger and I'm ecstatic that I did so because I have a new addition to my studio family of easels. Plus I can be proud to take this out with me to public displays of my working I public because it is a quality product and shows that I'm serious about what I do and have great tools to help me.

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