Art Alternatives Marquis Desk Easel

This is an awesome little desk easel. I had seen it in art supply stores a few times before breaking down and getting it here. It's unfinished wood, so gift opportunities abound as it has a plethora of uses beyond the obvi. The drawer is quite shallow; certainly not deep enough for a tube of acrylic. It's much more suited to your dry medium tools, and "sample" sizes. :) My brushes are also too long to fit- so my drawer is generally just for looks, haha. However, with that in mind, I pretty much use it around the house anyway. It's great for an easy change of scenery without lugging the big easel around. It holds a little canvas panel just great. Also it was the perfect thing to bring over Christmas Vaca this year. It was cheap, so I'm not worried about it getting broken. It packs up super easy into a basket with my pallet and the essentials, and I'm pretty much always ready for inspirational adventure now. Totally recommend. Update 2017: found a use for the drawer: colored pencils! Also, what took this from occasional tool to everyday staple... Repurposed as Music Stand. As it's wooden and especially with all the pencils, this easel can actually hold its own against some very hefty books. I recently started using it as a stand while playing Ukulele around the house. I have a regular metal music stand. This is super easy to grab and go, for pretty much all the same reasons you might choose it over a traditional easel. Really you could use it for any heavy book reading- studying and the like. This would probably be useful for students: pens, highlighters, post-its, etc. could go in the drawer. The possibilities are endless. ;)

I needed a very humble, bare-bones table easel for my home studio. Space is very cramped. My regular floor easel couldn't fit into the studio area. I got the idea of using a little folding table ( Adams Manufacturing 8500-48-3700 Quik-Fold Side Table, White ) and placing a table easel on that. There was enough room! (I have several Quik-Fold Side Tables on each side of me as I paint, holding palette, brushes, paints, lamp, and other needed painting gear.) I trust Art Alternatives brand, and am so far delighted with the easel. I haven't tried its drawer for storage yet, but my main concern is the easel function. Because of its small size, I don't know if it would work well for canvas size larger than 14 inches wide. (Maybe 14x18, portrait configuration.) I successfully worked on a 14x14" wood panel (with a 1-1/2 cradle edge) and while the little folding table wobbled a bit, I was able to paint without too much worry. Then I switched to a 12x12" wood panel (also with 1-1/2" cradled edge). I was starting this painting and my brush strokes were a little more vigorous, but I never felt like the folding table-table easel set-up was too precarious or wobbly. (Though admittedly, it did wobble a *little*.) Since wood panels presumably weigh more than stretched canvas, I feel it is safe to say that you can paint up to maybe 14x14" (maybe 14x18" but I have not tried this). I would like to try 16x20", and if I do, I'll update this review. If you are not working on canvases (or wood panels) that are too large, and you don't paint in a strong, overly bold manner, then this easel will probably be fine for you. All I know is that finally, I can paint in my home studio again! This easel works *wonderfully* in very cramped spaces.

If one ignores the relatively flimsy hardware, it's a decent product. The hinges and latches are amazingly cheap, and given my likely use will have to be either eliminated or reinforced somehow. With a decent set of hardware, I'd have given it a 5 star, though. It is large enough to hold my light-table (which is larger than 11X14, which is the size I use to draw) and seems sturdy enough once the hardware is replaced (the backing hinges and the ledge hinges will have to be better). Considering the price I paid (which will be edited out, of course), the wood alone is value enough to justify the price. A few new pieces here and there to make sure it's sturdy enough for my needs is all I will have to do. For those with lighter items (the light table is probably 5 pounds), I expect it will do a good job at high angles for portrait and lower for landscape. I didn't base my review on how it performed for me, personally, but how it will likely perform for others under normal usage, so the light-weight and flimsy hardware may prove to be an issue for them, but chances are it will work fine for a clipboard/drawing board weight. If you do a lot of portrait work, I'd remove the hinges on the flip-down ledge and glue it in place with a stop to hold the work in place and keep it from sliding off the ledge if you draw heavily near the top, though. I plan on doing that instead of trying to keep the hinges, and it will be sturdier than before. In any event, I'll be heading off to look for the right sturdiness of hardware shortly so I can start using this without worrying about it ripping the hinges off the back side as well as adding two more braces so it doesn't move around as much as it does now. Don't let my need to make mine a "heavy duty" device stop you from getting this. Like I said, the wood alone is worth the price I paid.

When I bought this I expected to keep my secondary set of drawing items in it. You know, the stuff that isn’t bad enough to throw away but you don’t regularly use it because you have better? Well, I found I was using this as my primary drawing site so I finally gave up and moved all my primary tools into it’s drawer. And you know what? That drawer held everything I regularly use. The Art Alternatives Desk Easel is a very simple item yet it is surprisingly good. The thing is generally made of wood rather than particle board or even plywood. The easel is perfect for a desk (or a lap) and the drawer is exactly the right size for carrying my pencil drawing tools. (YMMV) Specifically, the drawer is partitioned into three sections with two rear and one long front section. In the largest rear section I keep every pencil I normally need for drawing. I can put 28 pencils, 13 stumps or tortillions, and a pen in the largest partition and still have room for a pencil or two. All with enough room left for the pallet on top. The smaller rear partition is where I keep two white pencil-end erasers, one small rectangular white eraser, a standard kneadable eraser, one small sharpener, a round brass two sided sharpener, a small sandpaper block, a round-end Tombow mechanical eraser, a rectangle-end Tombow mechanical eraser, a mechanical Pentel eraser, two Koh-I-Noor pencil extenders, one Rosetta pencil extender, an eraser shield, a 6" ruler, a (very) small pen, and a small variable angle protractor. Again, with enough room to put the pallet back on top without rubbing any of the items in the partition. (Yes, I keep a lot of erasers around. I’m a beginner so I erase a lot, but I’m getting better so soon there will be room for other things.) In the front partition I keep a 6" x 6" swatch of chamois, a 6" x 6" swatch of felt, a large rectangular dual-end (white / blue) eraser, a 1" paintbrush and a 2" paintbrush with room for that pallet. About that pallet. I figured it’d be useless to me seeing as I draw with pencil rather than paint. I was wrong. The pallet itself is of particularly good make. It’s solid wood rather than particle board or even plywood, nicely flat, and large enough to back my practice pads. Mind you I did buy a 12" x 15" particle board back for small to medium sized drawings but I still use that pallet as a back for my practice pads. Also it keeps the things in the partitions from mixing up. The only part of the whole thing that I haven’t found a use for is the hole in the pallet. I suspect that this one item is going to be of no use to me. I even found a use for the wooden rectangular depressions behind the easel. This is a perfect place for the tools I’m currently using (pencils, erasers, brushes, sharpeners, etc.) which keeps me from having to hunt around in the drawer for them. (“Hunt around”, I like that. The drawer doesn’t, at first, seem that large. But it is.) Pros: Too many to name. Everything about this item. Cons: I haven’t found any use for that hole in the pallet yet. ;-) I would certainly recommend this item to a friend.

It is a handy little easel that is useful for smaller canvases. Seems to be fairly well constructed and if taken care of should last me for indoor painting. I really like it. January 15, 2014 Now that I have had the chance to use it much more thought I would add to my review. I am even more appreciative of this little easel than I was before but there are a few little quibbles as well. First of all, it is standing up very well to use and with the dove-tailed construction of the joints I just don't see any problems with it coming apart for years and years. Same with the simple construction for adjusting the angle to prop it up...the grooves are cut deep enough that I think it will take a long time for the grooves to wear enough to become a problem, and even so there is enough wood to possibly deepen the groove myself when the time comes. The little drawer is a neat feature that I use only for the small incidentals that are the "musts" that I know I will need for all of my painting, but I do not store paint tubes in there unless it is going to be one of my more expensive colors that I want to separate for that particular painting. It's great for storing some of my tools as well. The largest canvas size that I have used so far is 20 x 16 and I had no problems with stability of the easel with that size of canvas but I don't think I would use it for anything much larger, as it might start to be too much of a challenge for the size of the sturdy little easel. One more point in its favor: my sister and I were painting together, and she was using one of the more expensive tripod type easels but of the table-top size, and she had to mess around with hers much more often and even had to occasionally support her canvas with her hand where I seldom had to touch either my canvas or my easel. Some of the cons I have that would not prevent me from buying the easel but should be noted are that the latches for holding the drawer closed and for holding the easel in the closed position are very light metal and so flimsy that I have to be careful using them so I don't break them. On the other hand, if and when they do break, the easel is worth the small effort of replacing the latches myself. The palette that comes with it is a little small for when I am first starting out on my fresh canvas as that is when I am mixing my most colors and using the most varieties but it comes in handy when I am concentrating on working on one area for touch up. To sum it up, even though the price has gone up a bit since I bought mine, I still would recommend this easel because it is well made except for the flimsy clasps which are only important for keeping it closed, they are not important to the strength and use of the easel itself, and can easily be replaced. It is made to be collapsible and thus easily stored and very portable. It is made to accept decent sized canvases and if you are aiming for convenience, you probably aren't looking to paint large canvases on a table-top easel anyway. So, as originally stated, I still really like it!! :)

While I like the size and overall design, I was disappointed with the quality. The front hinges on the easel are crooked, so this means any painting you place on the easel will sit crooked as well. The back easel hinge is also crooked, which isn't as big a deal as it still supports the easel properly, but for any of you OCD painters (like me) this will drive you crazy. Since it is made of pine (which I like), I will just fix the hinges myself. On the plus side it is light & easy to carry, & has a nice looking handle. The latches for the drawer & to secure the easel work fine, & there is enough space in the three compartments to put a fair amount of paints, brushes, sponges, etc. The wooden palette is nice. One caveat: not enough space to actually place any sketch pad or paper, so just be forewarned if you wanted to be able to do that.

My hubby and I recently took in two rambunctious kittens and since we works a lot at home, having them sit on our books and papers all the time has been very distracting. I searched quite a while for something that would enable us to work like we used to - at the table, in our chairs in the living room sometimes, occasionally side by side on the couch, and often at night in bed. We have used portfolios in our laps through the years but these young cats, as lovable as they are, get into everything that's not tucked away, secured, and out of sight. These little lapdesk sort of things seemed like they might work, particularly since they have drawers. Well, my husband loved his right away and has been carrying it around with his work stacked on it everywhere he goes. It's very light and fairly sturdy, and its neat little drawer is compartmentalized for our writing utensils, correction tapes, calculators, and so on. I have been a little slower to call in love with it but I think that's because it is plain, unfinished wood. This weekend, I'm going to claim it by painting it. Anyway, it works well and keeps the cats out of my business, so it's performing the function we wanted it for.

The small desktop easel arrived quickly. And looked exactly as pictured. I paid about $13.00 for it. I found it to be a great deal. The wood was unfinished or near unfinished (I'm no expert on woodworking), but it didn't seemed to be sealed. But it was well sanded, and felt smooth to the touch. I would have left it as it was except I do expect to use this around water & humidity, so I removed all the hinges/handles and gave it two good coats of polyurethane (which I already had from another project. small can $7.00 homedepot). As other reviews have mentioned there is a part that is not wood. it's under the easel, and above the drawer. I gave it two coats of poly as well. The drawer doesn't have much height. You can fit paint brushes in it. and two layers high of colored pencils or drawing pencils. sharpener. etc. but paint tubes except smaller water color tubes probably won't fit. personal notes as an artist: -I find the little flip down shelf that is made to hold the sketchbook/canvas to be in my way when I'm drawing or inking details. So I leave it flipped up and set my sketch pad on the lip of that instead. -The back support has openings as you can see in the listings photos. This help keep it lighter. I prefer a fairly solid support for drawing. So I lay another piece of wood or heavy duty cardboard then lay my drawing pad or etc on top of that. I realized that if I set a piece of glass or plexi-glass on the support instead then shine a light from the back, it can be used as a lightbox. which is awesome! (You'll have to work around the bar shadow lines of course) -I have a large french easel for my big paintings/drawings. But can't always bust that out as it's rather big and intrusive. This small one is un-intrusive, portable, and great for sketching or smaller works. Overall I give it's initial (as it arrived, not water sealed) overall quality a 3 or 4 star, and it's functionality and usability for me is 5 stars. I love it.

With no room for a stand up easel, this perfect for my budding artist daughter. Plus the drawer conveniently holds all the paints and brushes.

Lo quería para un regalo de Navidad y al sacarlo de la caja de Amazon me percató que la caja viene maltratada abro el paquete y oh sorpresa que me lleve , viene roto del carril del cajón , traía piezas sueltas de los broches , tornillos suelto y faltaba uno . La verdad que estaba emocionada por darlo de regalo pero me decepcionó mucho.

This is such a neat little desk, I use it for knitting, especially when I teach, all my notions fit inside, everything latches firmly and my pattern sits neatly on top. Great little unit!!

Great product for all artists out there. Easy to use aswell.

Returned this item.Quality not as expected for the price.very cheap wood .Bought it as a present for my granddaughter but I know she would have been dissapointed