U.S. Art Supply Large Walnut French Easel, Adjustable Plein Air Easels, Beechwood Sketchbox Tripod for Field & Studio Painting Easel for Adults, Drawing, Display - Portable with Drawer & Palette

The French type easel appears well built for the price. Of course it is not top of the line but is versatile to work well in a studio, in the open, or sitting on top of a desk or other platform. The assembly does take a bit of time to understand what needs to be done first to extend the legs or remove them, etc. The storage area is flexible and adequate and the easel is quite durable.

Easy is not the word when assembling it. All I had to do was unfold it, adjust the legs, tighten the screws and it was ready to use. The frame, a beautiful dark wood, is almost too pretty to mess up with splatters of paint. However, I will use it for my plain air painting class coming up soon. Just wanted the manufacturer to know what a good job he did. The only negative thing I found with the easel is when fully extended it tends to wobble somewhat.

I was pleasantly surprised at the overall impression of the easel. It is sturdy, yet portable, very adjustable, and made of real wood. Exceeded my expectations.

Despite the name "US Art Supply" and distributed from NC - the easel is made in China. It is lightweight, and though it says "walnut" --- it's light weght beech with a walnut stain. It is well constructed for the most part with brass plated hardware, though some are not - which will become a problem over time. The easel interior spaces are not lined with tin or any metal as some competitors. I applied my own solution without adding weight - after I unboxed and setup the easel, I used polyurethane to protect the wooden pallet and interior after removing (and also applying polyurethane) the dividers. Beechwood is very akin to Balsa wood. With that said, it is very attractive and looks upscale with the brass fittings and faux leather handle. I can understand how some folks have issues with loosened fittings and collapsing legs, though these are easy to resolve with a quick trip to Home Depot. I look forward to painting outdoors at Black Butte Ranch in the Cascades with my easel. For the money spent - this is a great bargain -- even if it's made in China. I am going to replace the hardware with something other than the cheap stuff they use (lightweight). I'm happy with the wood used now that the polyurethane is cured, but I plan to reengineer and replace the legs with a hardwood (oak or maple), leaving the body as is. You can buy this for under $100 bucks, or get a Julian Classic for $200+ ... and for this money spent, this is a good unit. Budget conscious buyers can buy with confidence --- and utilitarians - such as myself - will find resolution to any shortcoming for under $20.

This is a perfectly good easel for under $100. I have used it twice now for painting and it does not budge when I am using some heavy-handed techniques. Setting up took less than ten minutes with help from one other person. It has not collapsed on me, like some other folks had trouble with. It is also aesthetically pleasing; it's just nice to look at and I enjoy displaying my paintings on it. The only irritating thing about this easel is it's legs: they can be difficult to work with when you're trying to adjust them and set up for a painting session. Regardless, I'd recommend it to anyone that's on a budget, or a beginner like me.

This is a really good easel. Tons of storage . I love that it has the removable drawer insert! You can store brushes and extra paint under the jnsert! So it's like having two drawers! Very well made. Beautiful finish. Highly adjustable for many canvas sizes. I had my husband drill an additional hole towards the bottom so you can adjust to a small canvas lower rather than higher. It's not needed at all , I just wanted to be able to have a small canvas lower for when I'm using it as a desk top easel, otherwise you just raise the bottom up to adjust to a small canvas. No complaints on this easel at all. This is a perfect option if you want the most versatility!! It stable and well made. Very glad I chose this one after a thorough search !

I was very impressed with the quality of this easel. It look very well made and was easy to put up. It was heavier than I expected, making it necessary to return it. I had a shoulder injury and found this difficult for me to carry very far.

This is a beautifully crafted and has a clever design. There are no instructions with it but it doesn't require assembly and it's pretty self explanatory to figure out how to use.