From Marion Boddy-Evans,
Your Guide to Painting.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

DIY Easel: Easels are easy to make yourself, so you do not have to go to the expense of buying buy one. The easiest way is to make two V-shaped legs, and join them with a hinge at the top and a piece in the middle to make it look like an A.

To stop it from splitting the legs, you can connect the middle pieces with a piece of rope to control the spread. The canvas can be placed on a loose crossbar of which the height can be varied by drilling holes in the V-shaped legs at different heights and placing pens into the holes to hold the cross bar. You can even put a cross bar on the back of the easel to hold a second canvas.
• Printable diagram of DIY easel.
Tip from Clark Botha

Easel from a Step Ladder: Drill two holes in the front lip of each step of an aluminum step ladder and two more holes (the same distance apart) in an old piece of wooden picture rail. A bolt through each hole of both the rail and the ladder -- bingo, instant easel. Sturdy, cheap, very light, folds up, and hangs in the toolshed.
Tip from Peterbdvp

Submit Your Own Painting Tip:
Got a great painting tip to share with other artists? Use this easy form to send it in: Submit a Painting Tip Form.

More Painting Tips:

• Acrylics
  
• Oils
  
• Pastels
  
• Watercolours
  
• Figure Painting
  
• Color Mixing
  
• Composition
  
• Inspiration and Creativity
  
• Fur Painting
  
• General Painting Tips