A Better Easel

What began as a chair ended up an easel, and was a spider for a little bit in between.

Chair, Spider, Easel, Better Easel

The original intent was to make something for an art exhibit, Have a Seat for the Arts back in 2011. I made a bar stool then made a spider out of that. When it didn't sell, I decided to piece together the lumber to create an easel, because normally they are relatively expensive and hard to find. The picture on the bottom left was the easel I used and carried around for a while. 

I take my art all over to work on or to show, and don't like to be limited to a small sketchbook. However, in my travels, the old easel hasn't held up so well. Sure it fit in my car, but there weren't enough screws to hold everything together and it kept biting me. Some parts came unattached or fell off as it was lugged around. Designed specifically for a certain canvas, I thought it would work for everything but did not. And besides its ability to hold canvases, the old one didn't look much like an easel.

Easel, holding a 16''x20'' canvas

This is the third time I tried to rebuild this easel. It was still worth it to make my own because this one's custom made. It looks more like an easel now. There are supports on each side and a bigger base on the bottom. I had to cut the supports at a wacky angle to fit the height I already had and the base I wanted. The middle is still a track for the holder to go up and down.

Spider Head

I repainted the whole thing and added some decoration. I painted the new parts yellow and blue to go with the pink. The line designs painted on top ended up changing as I went. Doodles are fun. I also gave the spider head some eyes and teeth.

Back side closeup

 It’s a lot better now that everything is secure. It works for big canvases as well as smaller ones. Carrying it around is easier too because there is a beam on the back to hold on to.

For Further Reading:

Form Follows Function: A Revision

Up-Cycling With What I Got

Don't Panic

Up-Cycling With What I Got

First all the wire holding the midsection together had to be unraveled. I squashed that into the shape of a brain, just for fun. Then I unscrewed everything and pulled all the nails apart. (NOT FOR BEGINNERS, WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES). Measurements were taken for how tall it needed to be to accommodate my largest canvass. It had to be close to the height of the easel I already had so it would fit in my studio.
 First all the wire holding the midsection together had to be unraveled. I squashed that into the shape of a brain, just for fun. Then I unscrewed everything and pulled all the nails apart. (NOT FOR BEGINNERS, WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES). Measurements were taken for how tall it needed to be to accommodate my largest canvass. It had to be close to the height of the easel I already had so it would fit in my studio. 
For a long time I wanted a good sturdy easel to paint on. The ones at the craft store were very expensive and none looked the right size. I bought a cheap "display" one and used it for years, but it wasn't sturdy enough for larger canvasses. As I met more artists over the years I saw their easels. Some had the expensive ones. Some got theirs from a friend but didn't know where it originated. In studios in college there were what appeared to be custom ones. This month I decided to build one myself. I already had previous woodworking experience; all i would need is new materials and a plan. 
I brainstormed based on what I saw in person and what photos I could find online. Back in August I built a spider, out of a bar stool I made, for the Chair Project. Once the exhibit was over, the spider came home with me and lived in my garage for a few months. Even though the idea of the spider was to be non-threatening, it looked scary in the dark garage. It was also taking up some space I park my car in. Looking at my wallet and then at the spider, I decided to disassemble the spider and re-use everything. This is called "up-cycling," the reuse of the whole object, that had one use, to make new and better things. In re-cycling useful parts are taken from objects and the rest of the object is thrown away. SAVE THE TREES!

                             

Spider to Easel

The pieces of wood were nowhere near the height I wanted, so I improvised. I put the taller pieces together and fasened them in place with another piece of wood that was then nailed and screwed on. After that, I checked my plans to see how tall the back leg had to be. This was also determined by how much wood I had left. I built a base with the extra wood.  Next I made the canvass holder. This one is sturdy enough for larger canvasses. I nailed some pieces together and drill holes for the cap screw. The way I built it, the canvass holder is adjustable to accommodate bigger or smaller canvasses. 
The only part of the spider I kept was the face. I wanted it to be a reminder of what it once was. A few days later, I bought a hinge, and other pieces I didn't already have in the spider. I put the hinge on aligned to the front and back parts but when it stood up, the whole thing was crooked to one side. I tried to pull apart the faulty base but it cut me. I imagined the spider biting my hand. It didn't want to change. ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES! By then, I was out of patience and called it a night. 
The next day I took apart the base and checked the tall pieces for alignment. I drew right angles to the edge of the wood, and it turned out the bottom of the tall piece was crooked, not the base. A newly aligned base fixed that and it was complete. It wasn't the easiest of projects. It took several days of work. This was possibly longer that it would have taken if I had used new pieces of wood, but up-cycling is green for the environment. This lumber has gone through another conversion. It seems more useful to my needs, for now.

Spider Easel

The best part is that it fits in my car so I can take it places as long as it doesn't bite me again.