I have easels. I have a Julian Full Box . And they are all really heay. Too heavy for me to cart around for plein air. And the Julian is awkward. And heavy. And I am not a spring chicken who needs to spend time lugging around heavy easels. Where is the joy in that? I need a lightweight easel that can be used with any media I decide to use that day.
Good name brand plein air easels are darned expensive. That’s why many artists decide to make their own set ups. Over the years I have collected lightweight aluminum easels. I used them for display in the studio and for art tours or show and sale events. Surely I could figure something out…..figure something out without spending next month’s mortgage payment. It was time to drag out all my miscellaneous aluminum tripods and bits and and pieces to see what I could cobble together.
I had the base of the old Testrite plein air easel that was missing the top part for the canvas and one of the canvas clips. I found the table top Stanrite aluminum easel on ebay. Ron took a piece of one my misc. aluminum easels to extend the back leg of the table top. Then I could attach it to the stable Testrite easel. I love it, it is lightweight and extremely sturdy. The good thing about it is I can disconnect it and still use it as a table top.

There will still be a few modifications as I use it. I can use it sitting down or extend the legs to stand and paint. A good thing about the Stanrite is that even attached to the old plein air easel base I can change the angle of the painting . Im looking forward to some paint time soon!