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Easel

arts Maturity 11-13 Next article →

An easel is a sturdy upright support used to hold objects at an angle. Most artists use them to hold a canvas while they work. This allows them to paint while standing up.

Tripod easel
Tripod easel

Some easels are also used to show off finished paintings or prints. They are very important tools in an art studio. They help keep a surface steady and at the right tilt.

Hframe easels
Hframe easels

There are several ways an easel can be built. An A-frame design uses three legs, which is also called a tripod. Some have extra bars to keep them from wobbling. An H-frame design uses straight posts that look like the letter H.

Hframe easels
Hframe easels

These are often very stable. Some special designs can even rotate or move in many directions. This helps the artist find the perfect angle for their work.

People have used easels for a very long time. They were used by the ancient Egyptians.

Pissarro mit Familie an seiner mobilen Staffelei, Éragny, 1901. Archives Musée Camille Pissarro
Pissarro mit Familie an seiner mobilen Staffelei, Éragny, 1901. Archives Musée Camille Pissarro

In the 1st century, a man named Pliny the Elder wrote about large panels on easels. Around the year 1810, Empress Marie-Louise gave an easel to a teacher named Jean-Baptiste Isabey. The word easel actually comes from an old word for a donkey. In some languages, the word for the tool and the animal is the same.

Different jobs need different kinds of easels. Studio easels stay in one place and can be very large. Some can hold panels over 7 feet tall and weigh more than 200 pounds.

Artist painting with a Multi Media fully adjustable easel
Artist painting with a Multi Media fully adjustable easel

Field easels are smaller and easy to carry outside. French box easels even have straps so you can carry them like a backpack. There are also easels for photographers in darkrooms.

Maskownica
Maskownica

These use flat steel blades to hold photo paper perfectly still.

Easels help people create many kinds of art. Some paintings are made on an easel, which is called easel painting. This is different from a fresco, which is a painting made on a wall.

Pissarro mit Familie an seiner mobilen Staffelei, Éragny, 1901. Archives Musée Camille Pissarro
Pissarro mit Familie an seiner mobilen Staffelei, Éragny, 1901. Archives Musée Camille Pissarro

There are even easels made just for children. These are short and tough. They often have chalkboards or whiteboards attached for young artists to use.

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🖼️ Images & Media (6)
File:Tripod easel.jpg
Tripod easel.jpg
File:StateLibQld 1 102016 Interior of Brisbane Technical College Signwriting class, ca. 1900.jpg
StateLibQld 1 102016 Interior of Brisbane...
File:Hframe easels.jpg
Hframe easels.jpg
File:Artist painting with a Multi Media fully adjustable easel.jpg
Artist painting with a Multi Media fully...
File:Pissarro mit Familie an seiner mobilen Staffelei, Éragny, 1901. Archives Musée Camille Pissarro.jpg
Pissarro mit Familie an seiner mobilen...
File:Maskownica.jpg
Maskownica.jpg
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