Artist and painting Easels come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with slightly different functions or canvas size capacities. Art Shed offers a huge range of affordable easels for Artists of every skill level. We carry a wide variety of easel types including desk easels, studio easels, french box easels, tripod easels and more.
If you are unsure what easel would suit you best, please read our guide to buying the perfect easel here
Whatever standard of artist you are, a good art easel is a necessity. In fact, depending on what and where you paint, more than one may be needed.
When choosing from the many easels for sale, you need to consider carefully the size of painting you will undertake because you need an easel to accommodate it. Also consider if you need to carry it about with you and where you will store it, since weight and size may be crucial.
Types of Easels and their Characteristics
The most traditional style of display easel is probably the studio easel. Although available in different styles and sizes, this type is generally designed to hold large canvases and stability can vary between the different models.
Other types of wooden easel are the A-frame or H-frame styles. The former comprises two front legs in a triangular arrangement and a single rear leg, with a central canvas support at the front with top and bottom ledges.
Sometimes, generally on the more expensive versions, the angle of the central column can be adjusted for convenience, although only in an almost upright manner. This type of easel can be quite big and will hold large canvases but can be stacked for easy storage.
A H-frame wooden art easel tends to be heavier than an A-frame and comprises a square base with a H-shaped structure attached to a central column. Some have shelves or drawers to provide convenient storage and may have wheels for easy movement.
The angle of the easel can be adjusted, including to a flat working position for some models. These easels can be stored flat but not stacked upright.
A Radial art easel is lighter than the previous types and takes up relatively little space, being able to be stacked upright. However, due to the structure of the frame, which is a relatively thin rectangle with ledges, these types are not suitable for very large canvases and can suffer from instability. For this reason, the angle of the easel can only be altered slightly.
Alternative Versions
Aside from the usual styles of easel, there are table easels that can be used when sitting down for small-scale work. These are essentially miniature versions of A-frame or H-frame easels that take up little room but have limited scope.
Also available are box easels that provide both storage space and support for canvases so you can take them anywhere and have everything you need in one item.
Variations from easels for sale are drawing boards, whether tabletop or free-standing models, for fine art drawing. Paper and canvases can be safely stored in multi-drawer plan chests and displayed on a variety of print racks.
Art Shed supply art supplies online in Australia including canvas art supplies, acrylic paint, kids craft supplies and plenty more. Shop online with Art Shed and save big on your art supplies.