Saturday, February 29, 2020

Product Review: Art Stand Portable Desktop Easel

Art Stand desktop easel

When I attended Crystal Shin’s colored pencil botanical workshop, her students were all impressed with her small desktop easel. The easily portable easel folded flat when she wasn’t using it, and the drawing board adjusted to various angles. The improved ergonomics offered by the easel is especially useful to professional illustrators like Crystal who spend many hours a day making detailed drawings, which can be very hard on the neck and shoulders. Although I don’t work on pieces that keep me at my desk for long, consecutive hours, I have certainly gotten a stiff neck from hunching over my work table for longer than I should. Good ergonomics are important for everyone.

Handmade by a woodworker in Portland, the Art Stand easel turned out to be much more affordable than I had imagined. Made of sustainably harvested Oregon Black Walnut (also called Settler’s Black Walnut), the $55 price includes an Ampersand Hardbord drawing surface. I contacted Ray Tanner right away, and a few weeks later, it was on my desk!
 
Side view

The easel I received, however, is not his standard design. I wrote to him explaining that while I occasionally use loose sheets, my primary paper is in sketchbooks – specifically, softcover Stillman & Birn sketchbooks in the 5½-by-8½ -inch format. I asked whether the lip on the edge of the easel would be wide enough to support a sketchbook, and if not, whether he could customize one to meet my needs.
 
The lighter-colored wood is the custom lip that was added
to support a sketchbook.
Ray had a variety of sketchbooks at his disposal, including exactly the same kind I use, so he was able to test whether the standard easel would work. He tried various mechanisms, including using a clip to hold the book against the drawing board, but thought that an additional, slightly wider lip would serve me best. Since he makes each easel to order, he was able to accommodate my request for only a small additional charge. I was thrilled!

It fits nicely on my desktop, and when I’m not using it, I fold it up and store it under my desk. Slender and weighing only a pound and a half, it could easily be popped into a tote bag to take to class. The only change I had to make in my general desktop setup was to find a way to elevate my drawing subject so that I could see it over the top of the drawing board. With my typically small still life subjects like fruit, I just place them on an upturned coffee mug.
 
Stillman & Birn sketchbook in landscape orientation

Stillman & Birn sketchbook in portrait orientation

The first thing I worked on with the easel was my egg exercises, and I immediately noticed one huge improvement: My light was no longer glaring directly on the paper and especially on shiny graphite. All these years, I have always had to tilt my sketchbook up at a slight angle to avoid the glare by leaning it against an object that would slide around or simply holding it at an angle with my other hand. The Art Stand is the solution I had been looking for!

Ray Tanner does not have a website. If you have serious interest in the Art Stand, please leave a comment below with your email address, and I’ll send you Ray’s PDF with full details and specs.

Easel shown without drawing board.

Folded easel flat on the desktop

Thin and lightweight!

17 comments:

  1. I would love to find out more about the easel. Do you think that having the journal at an angle helps with proportions? Instead of drawing flat? My email address is: csinzer77@gmail.com
    You find the best “art stuff”. Thanks!!

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    Replies
    1. I've been drawing flat for a long time, so I'm probably used to compensating for the distortion that that causes, so I haven't really noticed that improvement. But I definitely think having the drawing surface at an angle is helpful in avoiding those kinds of distortions. In fact, my instructor mentioned that very fact when she talked about the easel. I'll email you!

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    2. I found that it took me a while to transition from drawing on my lap to drawing on a raised board. Now, I very much prefer it. To me the biggest gain is to get my paper more in line with the subject so I don't have to bob my head as much. Your board looks fantastic.

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    3. Yeah, less head bobbing helps, too! ;-)

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  2. I would love it if you could send info about this easel -- I've been looking for one like this for a long time! My email is danielle at flopsy dot com. Thank you so much!!!

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  3. It looks like a work of art in itself surrounded by a forest of colored pencils! I don't do much sketching at a desk or table. If I'm sketching indoors it is usually with the sketchbook in my lap and my legs resting on the coffee table...but I do appreciate the beauty of this.

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad you like my forest of colored pencils, too! ;-)

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  4. I'm interested! If you can't see my Google email, leave me a comment. I love your tool reviews because you are always weight conscious.

    Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your interest! No, I can't see your email address. Please feel free to email me at: tina(dot)k(at)juno(dot)com

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  5. Hi, would love morw info about this easel! Thanks for your amazing blog. It inspires me to stick with my drawing. -Jen misstanguera@gmail.com

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  6. I would love to purchase this easle. My email is jcbrown1612@gmail..com

    Thank you!!!!

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  7. Please send me info, this looks so helpful! Marieannecoursen@gmail.com

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  8. I would like to get in touch with the maker of this easel. cgrantaa at yahoo dot com.

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  9. Hi I was wondering if Ray is still making the easel, and if so what the size and weight is. I am looking for something that will be easy to travel with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As far as I know, he is still making the easel. I don't want to make his email address visible here (for the spam bots to collect), but if you are interested, please email me, and I'll put you in touch with him. I will say, though, that the easel probably isn't the best for travel. It's very light weight, but it would not pack well in a carry-on bag. Maybe a bag that you'd have to check.

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  10. I, too would love to know more about this easel - specs so I could make my own would be terrific, or Ray's email address. My address is scstusek@gmail.com. Thank you!

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