Easels are  a support device used normally by painters to hold an artwork in position; normally a large canvas whilst working on it.

This article explains the three types of easels that artists commonly use, and the different reasons why they are used.

A-Frame Easel - The typical art school easel. An A-Frame easel is affordable, semi-portable and sturdy and able to support a fairly large artwork if needed. A-Frame Easels are easily home-made with very little labour, using materials easily obtained from a hardware store. 





Sketching Easel - A light-weight, folding, portable easel. A sketching easel often also called a Field Easel is great for painting or sketching on. Some can be quite compact and light to carry however a little flimsy to use, others like the ‘Julian Easel’ although very practical in how they fold and store away can be a little too heavy to carry any great distance.




Studio Easel - A large, heavy and very solid easel. A studio easel is necessary for working on very large paintings indoors. They have the advantage of holding the artwork vertically rather than at a slight angle, and usually have winders for easy raising and lowering of the artwork. Some studio easels can also swivel the vertical plane 360 degrees and/or lower the surface to be completely flat like a table. 

Easels can be bought from any large Art Supply Store, or in some cases directly from an Artists Easel Manufacturer.