DIY folding easel. How to make a children's double-sided easel for painting with your own hands How to make an easel from improvised materials

Anyone who has taken up painting and/or started learning it soon understands that you need to paint not on a table, but from an easel. Whether he is a realist, who paints nature in the most subtle way, or a completely reckless avant-garde artist, for whom painting is a means to shock the most respectable public, without an easel in this entire, so to speak, range of values, little good will come of it. However, a “real professional” easel is by no means a cheap accessory, and what should you do if you are just trying your hand at fine art or painting occasionally? It makes sense to make an easel with your own hands. Don’t be afraid, you won’t lose your hand, you won’t fall out of the crystal tower - constructing an easel does not require much physical effort, expensive materials, special tools and skills in using them. Can you make a stretcher for a painting yourself? Then you can have an easel.

The simplest case

The simplest way to make an easel is a stretcher. This is a temporary canvas holder that can be useful, firstly, if you are just trying yourself - will it work? Secondly, if you paint occasionally; Let’s say, once a year, not every year you get “stuck” on vacation. Artists, forgive me, but you yourself still don’t use such expressions. And not only privately among themselves. Thirdly, stretcher easels are often used by portrait painters working at the customer’s home.

It is better to make your first simple easel with the front legs, which are a continuation of the sides of the stretcher, see fig. on right. When stretching the canvas, its overlaps are left at the feet. When the painting is ready, the back support is removed, the legs are carefully sawed off, and the canvas overlaps are attached to the crossbars. In the future, the same legs can be used to create the next opus; then they are nailed from behind to a stretcher with already stretched canvas.

Note: There is some advantage of an easel-stretcher, especially when working on location - it does not need to be transported or stored anywhere. Until the work is created or when it has already been created, the stretcher easel simply does not exist.

Which one to do first?

Let's say you've already decided - yes, I need a permanent easel. There are, firstly, floor and table easels. Secondly, both of them are stationary or folding mobile (mobile/hiking, wearable or transportable). If your child loves to draw and shows good inclinations in this, then at first he will need one universal tabletop easel for drawing (for watercolors), see below. If you intend to seriously engage in painting yourself, you will need a couple of floor-standing ones, stationary and mobile, and at least one tabletop.

Any of these easels can be made at home. Which one to do first depends on your (or your child’s) genre preferences and work style. To practice primarily easel painting, you will first need a mobile floor easel, then a tabletop drawing easel, and then, if there is room for an art workshop, a stationary floor easel. If you prefer small forms (miniature, caricature, etc.), the first thing you need to do is make an easel for watercolors.

Floor-standing

A stretcher with primed canvas weighs several kg; large - up to several tens of kg. But it should be easily and simply installed on the easel, as well as removed from it, but securely held on the easel while working. The canvas (paper, cardboard, board) must be sufficiently, evenly and directly illuminated, for which the source of working lighting is located low behind the artist, but the canvas should not be shaded by it when working both sitting and standing.

The main types of floor easels for easel painting were developed at the beginning of the Renaissance and described by Vasari in his Lives. Folding tripod easel (item 1 in the figure below) is mobile. It is the easiest to make, it does not take up much storage space and is useful if the size of the painting does not exceed approx. 100x80 cm, and each working session does not last long. The canvas on the tripod is not fixed in any way; it simply lies on the easel. If its supports (or support, see below) are placed high, a sufficiently large canvas becomes unstable. If you place the canvas low, then when working while standing, it is difficult to illuminate it evenly and your eyes get tired, and when working while sitting on a large canvas, your hanging hand will soon get tired; The painter cannot lose the fidelity of his eye and the firmness of his hand.

Note: There is a legend about one or the other master of the Renaissance. A certain rich connoisseur and philanthropist (usually called Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent) decided to invite him to work with him and sent one of his associates for this. He, knowing nothing about painting, but wanting to curry favor, demanded a trial work from the artist. A version of the legend is that the messenger wanted to receive his portrait by the great master for free. He shrugged his shoulders and drew a circle by hand as evenly and accurately as with a compass; The envoy had no choice but to present such a sample to the ruler. He, immediately realizing what had happened, burst out laughing, went to the master himself (optionally, sent a personal message with an invitation), and demoted the overly zealous servant.

The easel-lyre (item 2) is so named for its distant resemblance to an ancient Greek musical instrument; well, without developed associative thinking there is nothing to do in art and literature. The lyre easel can be considered the most universal of the floor ones: you can place a canvas up to 1.2x1.8 m in size on it, and at the same time it can be either stationary or mobile. Easel-machine, pos. 3, (from where - easel painting) is used to create paintings of large sizes up to extraordinary ones.

Note: For the “Battle of Poltava” mosaic, M.V. Lomonosov had to build a unique machine that withstood a load of 300 pounds (4.8 tons) during testing.

About the tilt of the canvas

The problem of lighting the canvas can be easily solved by tilting the canvas by 10-20 degrees. Tripod and lyre easels produce it naturally. On an easel-machine for the same purpose, when creating paintings of a regular size, the stretcher is placed on supports, pos. 4 in Fig. higher; When working with very large canvases, the problem of canvas lighting usually does not arise, because the light source is already above the artist’s head.

Why another machine?

Artists who work with strong, broad strokes, such as those in the picture on the right, do not really favor lyre easels. If you paint energetically executed paintings from them, then, being carried away by your work, you can press the brush so hard on the corner of the canvas that... no, the easel will not tip over and the canvas will not fall out of it. But it will give way under the brush, the stroke will “go away”, and the master will have to state that the work is ruined. An amateur will most likely not care what is smeared there, but painting has long moved away from the literal representation of nature. Therefore, if you intend to master technically expressive ways of working, you will need a durable and stable stationary easel or, for canvases of approx. up to 1.5x1.5 m, so-called. stop (emphasis on the second “o”), see below.

Tripod

For the reasons stated above, the tripod easel is not suitable for outdoor travel, although it is not heavy and compact when folded: in the open air, the canvas from it can simply be blown away by a gust of wind or inadvertently pushed over by a random onlooker. However, in addition to beginners/students, a tripod easel or several of them are almost always kept in stock by artists who work a lot at the customer’s home: it is not difficult to bring the tripod to the place and take it back, even on foot. There are (at least, there definitely were) portrait painters who managed to do up to 5-6 works in parallel in this way: they took easels to customers, set them up, and ran from one to another all day long. By the time he gets to the next one, his hand and eye have time to rest.

It is difficult to reproduce a ready-made tripod easel with your own hands: you need the so-called. treukh - a tee with three pairs of legs at angles of 120 degrees horizontally, in which the legs rotate on the axes. The folding limits are the bevels of the ends of the legs. Similar systems are used in photo and video tripods, which can also be used as an easel, see below. In the tripod, which is an easel, there are holes drilled in the front ones (see figure above) into which pins are inserted; the canvas rests on them. Drilling and preparing support pins also require quite a bit of labor, but all this can be simplified to literally half an hour to an hour of simple carpentry work if you make a tripod easel according to your height, manner of work and preferred canvas sizes. The easel will turn out to be stationary (not folding), but you don’t have to run around visiting customers all day long.

The design diagram of a homemade simplified tripod easel is shown in the figure:

For this you will need 3 pieces of hardwood timber with a cross section of 40x40 mm and a length of 120-150 cm for working while sitting or 170-190 cm for working while standing and/or on canvases of maximum size. In this case, the length of the bars can be increased as much as the ceiling height in the room allows, and their cross-section can be taken larger, 50x50 or 60x60 mm. You will also need a piece of any lumber 0.7-1.5 m long for the stand (support) of the canvas. It is better to take it (the segment) thicker, with a cross-section, say, 60x60 mm (the canvas will easily slide off from a 40x40 mm support) or, better, from 50x75 to 75x150 mm; in this case, it is attached to the front legs with a narrow edge so that the canvas rests on the wide (face), as shown in pos. And the picture, but first the tripod needs to be assembled.

The secret of simplification is in the holes for the key holding the tripod together - a piece of threaded rod from M6 to M10. The hole for the key in the rear leg is drilled according to the diameter of the rod, and in the side legs it is 1.5 times wider. Then the front legs will diverge to the side at an angle of approx. 20 degrees (pos. B in the figure), and the tilt of the blade will be approx. 10 degrees, which is what you need. The back leg of the easel is foldable for easy storage. It is fixed with a cord: its middle is attached to the back leg, and on the sides, inside the front legs, self-tapping screws are not screwed in completely, onto which loops are thrown at the ends of the cord. Too lazy to sew loops - you can just tie them on. The final assembly and adjustment of a homemade tripod easel is done as follows:

The canvas stand is placed after the tripod is assembled.
The base of the easel is laid out so that the front legs move apart as much as possible, and the back legs set the angle of inclination of the canvas that is convenient for you.
Measure how much cord is needed to secure the hind leg and cut it off (with a reserve for loops or a garter); sew loops if necessary.
The tripod is folded, the cord is attached in the middle to the back leg; Screws are screwed into the front ones under the cord.
Lay out the tripod again, secure the legs with a cord, check the stability and convenience of the accessory.
Mark on the front legs the position of the board that is comfortable for you - the support of the canvas, and on the support - the position of the legs under its narrow edge.
They drill holes in the legs and board for self-tapping screws, attach the support - that’s it, you can work according to your art.

Note: in the form of a tripod, it turns out to be a very good children's tabletop easel for drawing, see the video below:

Video: tabletop children's easel-tripod

Lyra

If after the first experiments with a tripod things have gone well for you, you will soon need a more serious easel - a lyre. The machine is a bit complicated to make on your own and too bulky for apartment conditions. If you have enough money to set up an art workshop or you expect to earn enough from painting for this, then a good easel machine will be affordable for you.

The lyre easel is known in a number of modifications. Some of them, the so-called. Stations (emphasis on the “and”) make it possible to work on canvases that literally still fit in an ordinary living room. Unless you intend to engage in monumental painting (which is of little relevance nowadays thanks to the availability of film printing and façade plotters), this will be more than enough for you.

Draw monumentally? How is that?

What is monumental painting (Master Mural)? Remember, who was older, how, for Soviet holidays or just like that, the walls of houses were hung with huge portraits of leaders, ideologically consistent paintings (both of which made the Soviet people sick), advertisements for films, and other things of the same size? This is what it is, and there is more left, but in a different key and smaller. And once upon a time in large regional cities (the capital and union significance, of course) there were monumental painting workshops with easels for canvases up to 10x15 m or more. Of course, teams of artists worked on them. Their colleagues working in smaller forms did not like the monumentalists, but secretly envied them and dreamed of being included in this privileged caste.

But let's get back to the topic. The structure and dimensions of the conventional (item 1) and reinforced (semi-mounted, item 2) are shown in the figure:

The canvas is placed on a height-adjustable support (shown by a blue arrow), which also serves as a shelf for small painting accessories, and is pressed from above with a shoe with a grip and clamp sliding along the central bar. The hind leg is suspended simply: on ordinary card loops, pos. 1a. In factory-made lyre easels, the position of the rear leg(s) is limited to pairs of earrings, but in a homemade one, you can place a door hook at a suitable height, pos. 1b.

The only thing that is difficult to do at home is the central bar and the shoe sliding along it. However, it is quite possible to do without both if you paint on canvases not of arbitrary size, but of a fixed height with a certain step, for example. 5 or 10 cm. Such a limitation is unlikely to burden an amateur painter; Drawings of an easel-lyre for amateur painting are given on the following. rice. Actually, it no longer resembles a lyre, because... there was no need for a central bar. So what, just less carpentry work is needed.

Note: The device diagram and dimensions of a reinforced home easel for working on large canvases are shown in Fig. on right. For more information about the lyre easel, see also the video below:

Video: DIY tripod easel

Tabletop (for watercolors)

Small easels, which are placed on a table for work, are called watercolor easels, although they write/draw from them not only and not so much with watercolors. An easel for watercolors is a great gift for a child who is passionate about drawing. It is not difficult for an average home craftsman to make it (an easel; children, as you know, are made in a different way), and with a little modification or if the child’s child, as they say, burns out, it can serve in another useful capacity.

Easels for watercolors can be flatbed (top left in the figure) or framed (bottom in the same place). A frame tabletop easel is structurally more complex, but taking it as a basis, you can come up with a transformable children's easel, the drawings of which are given in the rest of Fig. Once the need for the original quality has passed (for example, if the child has already started writing from a tripod), the transforming easel is converted into a children's work table (inset at the bottom right of the figure).

Another transformer

In everyday life, you often come across a device that also has great transformation potential - a photo/video tripod. In relation to the topic of this article, this means that on its basis you can make an easel that combines the useful qualities of a tripod and a lyre. Moreover, the tripod itself will not lose its suitability for its intended use. Which is very valuable, because... creative photography and painting are related art forms.

Note: A video tripod differs from a modern photographic one only in the distance between the axes of the tripod screw and the spring-loaded pin that keeps the camera from rotating. But before, they managed just fine without this pin, so you can put a camera on a video tripod, and vice versa.

Modern tripods for use as easels require virtually no modification: their integrated swivel and tilt tripod head is an excellent upper grip for a painting. It is enough to attach the canvas support from a piece of metal corner (item 1 in the figure) to the legs with screw clamps of the tripod, and a light, convenient, reliable mobile easel is ready.

With a stationary easel made from a tripod, the matter is even simpler: the lower support, also known as a shelf, is cut out of plywood, as shown in pos. 2. Its bottom stops will be the knee connectors that make up the tripod legs, and the stability of the shelf will be given by the canvas itself, pressed from above by the tilted tripod head. How to turn a photo tripod into a traveling easel, lighter and easier to carry than a sketchbook, see also the video:

Video: portable homemade easel

The functionality of a tripod easel can be expanded to something unattainable on traditional easels using the method shown in pos. 3. The standard tripod screw with a 1/4” thread (machine, not pipe!) is unscrewed if you pull it towards you; it is a regular captive one, and then you can wrap it back up. Since the bolt head on the painting tablet is useless, a support platform is attached to the tripod platform, in which the bolt head is recessed, and the tablet is attached to it, pos. 4. Now it (the tablet) can be raised and lowered, tilted and rotated as desired. If you want to paint the sky from nature, lying on your back, please, from an easel-tripod, this is possible. And if you push the legs in completely, we get an excellent tabletop easel from a tripod, pos. 5.

An easel made from a photo/video tripod will also support a technical painting (stretcher with primed canvas) measuring up to approx. 1x1.5 m, but to install it you will have to make a device, the structure of which is shown in Fig:

The support platform is made of 6-10 mm 2-tier plywood, as shown in the section at pos. 1. Its dimensions are approx. 20x25 cm; extension of the mounting edge approx. 2-2.5 cm. According to the platform, a 3-tiered clip is made, tightly placed on the platform from above. The clip is attached to the back side of the canvas, as shown in pos. 3, put it on the platform - and you can paint the sky from life.

A good tripod is still not cheap, although it costs much less than an easel. On occasion, you can buy an old Soviet tripod quite inexpensively, but when converting it into an easel, certain difficulties will arise, because... some critical parts of the “sovtripods” were molded from fragile thin silumin. First of all, you need to unscrew the head tilt handle, drill out the counter thread in its socket, file the former threaded part along the length as far as possible (shown by the red arrow in item 1 of the next figure) and fix the tilt of the head with a wing nut screwed onto the now protruding shank tilt handle (green arrow). Without this, many Soviet tripods would not hold the Zenit-E with the Helios-40 portrait camera: either the camera would nod off, or the threads on the silumin would lick off, or it would burst. An unmodified old tripod is unlikely to hold a 40x60 cm plywood tablet in the desired position, and the canvas will definitely turn down all the way.

Further, the tripod platform of old tripods is not removable. Therefore, we remove the standard adapter screw from 3/8" (old tripod thread) to 1/4" (green arrow on item 2. The 3/8" screw is also captive and seems to be held only by a PCB cover (item 3) or thin steel with a radial cut, but it is impossible to pull out the screw: its head rests on a non-separable silumin support, which, by the way, also often burst, and had to be repaired in all sorts of different ways, as can be seen in pos. 4. But the 3/8 screw. ” still could not be removed, unless the support would need to be broken completely. No, it is not necessary. Use side cutters No. 4 (or No. 2 - No. 3, for those with hook hands) to carefully bite off the shaped getinaks head of the 3/8” screw (red). arrow on pos. 4), and then its brass core was pulled out, but it was purely Soviet in the worst sense. Well, after that you can put the support platform under the tablet or canvas on a tripod as described above.

A beginner, as well as a professional in painting, one day faces the question of buying an easel. The store may be overpriced or the desired option may not be available. Solution: buy materials and make an easel for painting with your own hands. First you need to determine what requirements the product must meet: appearance, design, color. An accurate picture in your head gives a practical final option.

What is an easel?

An easel is a stand for painting pictures, generally U-shaped. Wood or metal is used in production. It is a frame for securing the canvas, which is placed on three legs or two stands. There are options for tabletop easels, children's easels, or tablets that are used for drawing or creating drawings.

Easel device

The design consists of a central wooden plank to which a clamp, boom, and canvas shelf are attached. The lock adjusts the height and angle of inclination. The boom and the shelf are a single whole. Attaches to the center pillar. Determines height using slots and a rod with handle. The elements are connected on a strong base that can support several canvases.

Species

Lyra. The most common type is considered student. It is a stable, compactly folding tripod. The main advantage is the wide subframe and light weight. There is only a floor option, it is not used horizontally. The angle of inclination varies widely: in some types it is possible to direct the top of the easel towards the artist.
Easel clapperboard. Often used by beginners. The work is carried out with thick paper, which is attached to a button or tape, because... This type does not have upper and lower clamps. The stand has four legs. The height depends on the location of the rear rail. Pros: simplicity, durability, ability to work standing or sitting, regardless of age.
Tablet. Refers to universal tabletop machines. The design is simple (only the frame and legs), has no latches, no clamps, no additional shelves. Therefore, to secure, as in the previous version, a button is used. The angle of inclination depends on the position of the retractable rear leg. You can only work on it with small canvases.
Transformable easel. A universal option. Used both for drawing and drawing up drawings. It has a large number of functions: the canvas can be placed in a vertical position, in a horizontal position, and you can select any level of inclination. Work comfortably while sitting either on a simple chair or on a high one. Work is carried out with medium-sized materials.
Studio easels. Option for large professional works. In this case, there are many options at hand: height adjustment, tilt angle selection, a special compartment for brushes and paints. It is distinguished by its large dimensions, stability when working even with large canvases, reliable fastening of the canvases and the absence of horizontal installation.
Tripod. An easel standing on three legs. The main feature is the great mobility of the bar, various variations of position up to horizontal, and lightness. Suitable for outdoor use. In the home and studio versions, the structure is unstable, but the canvas must be securely attached. When working on a tripod, small or medium blades are used.

Dimensions

In addition to the options listed, machines can be made for children, tabletop or folding. The dimensions of the easel for drawing depend on the canvas: small in size like a landscape sheet and A3 (desktop, tablet). Medium ones work with canvas up to 1 meter (Lira). On large ones you can create works from 1-2 meters or more (Lyra or studio).

How to make an easel with your own hands

When the goal is determined, and you have a clear picture of a do-it-yourself easel in your head, you can move on to the main stage - manufacturing. To make an easel at home, you will need a drawing with dimensions and tools:

self-tapping screws, 2 anchors with a nut;
saw;
strap;
sandpaper;
drill;
drill;
hammer;
screwdriver;

This example examines the diagram of a medium-sized do-it-yourself easel. The size and volume of the material depends on this:

5 bars 20 mm (thickness), 40 mm (width) and 250 cm length;
block 40 mm (thickness), 40 mm (width) and 250 cm length;
30 mm loop.

When all the materials are at hand, you can start assembling the easel with your own hands. For safety, it is better to work with gloves. Disposable materials will do. Below are step-by-step instructions: “making an easel”:

On 20/40 bars, measure two 170 cm and two 140 cm. Saw the marked bars, sand them with sandpaper, rounding the corners.
On the bars 170 cm from the top, mark 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145 cm, make holes in them with a drill and sand them with sandpaper. Combine into one structure.
On a 70 cm block, mark 1 13 cm on both edges. Make holes so that two points (1 and 13 cm) can be connected. Sand it with sandpaper.
Attach the resulting side to the base. Place the shelf in the desired location, secure it with anchors and nuts.
Secure one end of the strap to the leg, the other to the middle bar (connects the two legs) using bolts.
Cover with varnish.

The described instructions on how to assemble an easel are universal. Using this example, you can create any type, give it a variety of shapes, only the details change. You can make the following types of easel with your own hands:

The tabletop easel is compact in the literal sense: it can be placed directly on the table. During manufacturing, the bottom block is 600 by 20 by 40. A bar is attached to it - 600 by 10 by 40, also one. Small top block - 250 by 20 by 40 1 pc. Rear rack - 150 by 20 by 40 1 pc. In addition, you will need a furniture hinge, 6 by 50 bolts, washers and nuts.
Folding is convenient for transportation or storage at home behind a closet. It can be put away in a secluded place without completely disassembling it. In order for it to fold, you need to nail a sliding strip to all materials. It is attached to the canvas support and to the leg. In this case, the machine, when folded, reaches the size of an ordinary thickened bar.
The children's homemade easel is smaller than the classic one. To create a homemade easel of this type, you need to start from the child’s height and use it to determine the size of the main block. Attach with self-tapping screws 2 slats of 50 cm each (to the front leg), 2 slats of 40 cm each (on the side racks), and a round wooden slat of 60 cm. If there are several children, you can make the structure double-sided. Then the easel drawing with dimensions will resemble the letter “A”.
The clapperboard is the easiest type you can make. 4 slats of the same size (base) are fastened with slats-legs, laid with a sheet of plywood, sanded with sandpaper. You can start drawing.
The tripod differs from all types in that the inner sides (the junction of the front and back bars) should form an equilateral triangle. The tripod is easy to make foldable. You need to fasten the card loop and attach it at the top connection so that it does not wobble and is stable.
The draftsman's easel, also known as a transformer, is made according to the same principle as folding types. The junction of the joints is fastened with loops, which subsequently help to take the desired form.

For those who have just started drawing, the question of organizing a space for creativity and purchasing an easel often becomes incredibly relevant. If you have already looked into a specialized store, you may have noticed how expensive similar accessories are - the tripod or clapper versions. But don’t despair and give up what you love. At home, you can make an easel with your own hands and efficiently organize a workspace for the artist. At the same time, you will save a lot of money, which you can then spend with great pleasure on buying paints, brushes and other equipment for your hobby. If you decide to make an easel with your own hands, it will not be difficult for you to make drawings with dimensions.

Step-by-step tutorial on how to create an easel with your own hands

Making an easel with your own hands for painting is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. In fact, such a task is quite feasible. Of course, not every woman can cope with it, but a man can easily solve a similar problem and, without much difficulty, assemble a structure intended for fine arts.

Above are drawings for creating an easel. One of them allows you to determine the dimensions as accurately as possible. Based on them, you can make your own drawings of the easel and determine the dimensions of the structure.

What do you need to create your own personal easel for painting? Here is a list of devices and materials that will be useful to you in production:

wood glue;
door hinge (2 cm) - 1 pc.;
sandpaper (100–120);
crosshead screwdriver;
pine slats 4.5×2 cm long 3 m - 3 pcs.;
meter and ruler;
hanging hook 13 cm – 1 pc.;
nails without heads 2 cm - 4 pcs.;
wood hacksaw;
emery wheel (100–120) - 1 pc.;
electric screwdriver;
construction gloves;
hammer;
self-tapping screws 16.5×2.7 mm - 4 pcs.;
self-tapping screws 34×2.9 mm - 6 pcs.;
drill with 6 and 8 mm drills;
Sander;
furniture screws with washers and wing nuts 72×5.2 mm - 2 pcs.;
jigsaw;
construction pencil.

Easel making process

So, how to make an easel with your own hands at home? If you have prepared all the necessary materials and tools for the job, then you can safely get down to business. There is nothing impossible here. So, we work step by step.

First you need to prepare the bars, which will become the basis of the easel. If you decide to make an easel with your own hands, drawings with dimensions are very easy to determine. It is necessary to make 2 bars 168 cm long, 1 element 53 cm, 1 part 146 cm. You will also need to cut a fragment into 39 cm and 154 cm. These are the dimensions of the main parts.

All bars must be thoroughly sanded. To do this you will need to use a special grinding machine. You need to carefully go over the ends with sandpaper. Don't forget to use construction gloves at this stage of work. In principle, it is best to always work with wood in them to avoid hand injuries or even simple splinters getting under the skin.

On a note! If you use pine bars, keep in mind that there will be a lot of knots on the parts. That is why the slats will have to be thoroughly processed. It is best to use power tools for this, since such wood, as experts say, will flake.

All bars must be sanded. You will need to assemble the easel frame. It is necessary to approach this work as carefully and responsibly as possible. It is optimal to do this work on a tiled floor, since the tiles are laid out at right angles. Such a surface will prove to be an excellent guide when leveling the bars.

Having decided to assemble an easel for painting with your own hands, drawings with dimensions are also easy to make. Relying on them, the easel should be assembled from the central block. This is a 146 cm rail. You need to put the part on the floor. It should lie strictly parallel to the seam that runs on the tiled floor between the tiles.

Note! If your house does not have rooms with tiled floors, it is recommended to make temporary markings on the regular flooring. To do this, it is optimal to use electrical tape or adhesive tape. Such a “frame” will become a good axis for assembling the structure.

You will need to assemble 2 supports. Each of them is 168 cm. Then you need to fix the overlapping slats of 53 and 39 cm. The slats also need to be fastened together. To do this, you will need to make holes in them first. For this, it is best to use drills with a diameter of 6 mm. The joints should be coated with wood glue. The parts themselves will need to be placed relative to each other. Self-tapping screws should be used to secure the joints.

Next, take the door hinge. It must be installed on the rear rail, the length of which is 39 cm. The part is placed in the center. With its help, a 154 cm long rail is attached to a small block. It will need to be adjusted in length. It is optimal to use a drill with a diameter of 6 mm for fixation.

Next, you need to make the shelves that are needed for the subframe. To do this you need to take a platband. It’s good if its width is 5 cm. The optimal length of the part is 60 cm. In total, you will need to prepare 3 such elements. You need to make 2 holes. They are performed at a distance of 15 cm from the edge of the part. To do this, use a drill with a diameter of 8 mm. Only 2 of the planks need to be fastened with nails and a hammer. They are placed at right angles to each other. The result will be a wonderful shelf. The back strap will prove to be a good fixation for this element.

The glue must dry thoroughly. It is recommended to give him 1 day for this. After 24 hours, you can safely continue assembling your own easel. It will need to be installed in a horizontal position. Now we need to secure the shelf for the subframe. You need to adjust it yourself according to the height level so that the artist can work comfortably. Also at this stage you should fix the hanging hook. It is this part that will hold the rear support.

On a note! You can complete the work on creating your own wooden easel at home by painting it. To do this, it is optimal to use stain or clear varnish. But you can take another paint you like.

Step-by-step tutorial on how to create a folding children's easel with your own hands

For beginning young artists, you can make the simplest, but quite easy-to-use desktop easel for drawing from a cardboard box. This design is very simple to make. It can be easily made by a mother or older sister without any male help. There’s definitely no need to nail anything down, saw it out or clean it with sandpaper. The whole job of creating a simple easel for a child will take no more than 10 minutes.

Required materials and tools

So, how to make a do-it-yourself easel for a child at home? Making a folding version from scrap materials is as easy as shelling pears. To make a primitive easel for children's creative activities, you will need to use the most unpretentious and affordable materials. So, here's what you will need to make a children's easel with your own hands:

carton boxes;
thick tape;
scissors;
"Velcro";
stationery knife.

The process of creating a children's easel from a cardboard box

Making a small folding easel from a cardboard box yourself, as mentioned above, is as easy as shelling pears.

The first step is to prepare all the necessary tools and materials. As for Velcro, it is not at all necessary to go to a specialized store that sells sewing accessories to get them. If you have old and unnecessary shoes or clothes at home, then such a device can be cut off from them. Look, there are probably Velcro on old cases for tablets or phones. Then you need to deal with the selected cardboard boxes. It should also be noted here that to create an easel you need fairly large containers. In a small area, it will simply be uninteresting for a child to draw. Two sides should be cut off from the box. These are adjacent planes connected by a common angle. No need to cut it!

The two cardboard sides should be folded. It is best to install them at an acute angle (30-40 degrees is optimal). But here you should independently adjust the degree of inclination, focusing on how it is more convenient for your child to draw. You need to use Velcro to fix the result.

On a note! If you don’t have Velcro tapes at hand in the house, neither old nor new, then don’t be upset. You can always replace them with regular tape. It’s always in everyday use!

Of course, a completely fair question may arise about how to use the resulting structure during creative activities. Everything is simple here. The next sheet for the drawing can be fixed with buttons or tape. If necessary, the used canvas is removed and clean paper is attached in the same way.

Video instructions

If you decide to make a real collapsible easel for painting or a tripod at home with your own hands, then you should first watch several videos with step-by-step recommendations:

What do you enjoy drawing most?

A do-it-yourself easel means savings first and convenience second. A homemade item can be customized specifically for you, making it multifunctional and meeting the requirements of each family member who uses it for work. Also, the design and design can be adjusted to the style of the room in which it will be located. Then it will be not only a working tool, but also a design element.

Materials and tools

There are several types of easels, differing in their design and functions. The set of necessary materials and tools depends on this. For the simplest easel, the following components are sufficient.

Tools:

a drawing or simple hand sketch from which you will create the design;
hammer/screwdriver;
nails/screws;
hacksaw.

Materials:

dry wood – plywood, solid wood, pine;
slats.

All sizes depend on your desire. Consider the user's height and the size of the canvas.

Desktop

Making a tabletop easel for your home with your own hands is not difficult and will not take much time. Its design is small in size.

To make it, you will need 4 slats - 2 of the same length, one shorter by 1 centimeter and a rail for the crossbar + slats for the frame or a solid sheet of plywood corresponding to the dimensions.

We cut two identical slats at an angle of 15-20 degrees and connect them to a short stick using a bolt with a nut or wing. This is necessary to create the shape of the stand. We place a crossbar on two frames cut at an angle with glue or nails, and move the shorter one to the side. It turns out to be a tabletop mini-tripod.

The easel is ready. If desired, you can make a stretcher or plywood base for it.

Floor

It has many types and variations of production. Each of them is available for manufacturing on your own. Among the advantages are collapsible, portable, double-sided and others.

Tripod

Another name is lyre. Suitable for creating pictures and drawing on a dense base. A convenient folding option will help save space. You can make a special sheet of wood for lining under the drawings.

Much more slats and connecting elements will be useful here - 4 two-meter slats (2x4.5 cm), several slats for planks (2x3 cm). To make the folding element work, purchase bolts and anchors.

You can combine the structure in the same way as for a tabletop easel. But for greater stability, a structure reinforced with planks in three places is suitable - top, middle and bottom. Add a shelf to the bottom bar for a base and writing utensils. Attach the rear leg to the door hinge to the middle crossbar. If you have to work with large formats, then add the middle bar from the middle above the main canvas to the required distance.

Firecracker

To make a simple folding clapper easel, you need to add door hinges to the basic list of required materials. At the end we will get a convenient portable easel. In order to carry it comfortably, it is important to consider the dimensions.

You will need wood blanks measuring 1200x50x20 mm - 4 pieces, 560x50x20 mm - 4 pieces and 600x100x12 mm - 2 pieces. Next, we assemble our easel on a flat surface. When installing the hinges, be sure to check the angle of our clapperboard, otherwise the legs will be crooked and the easel will sway. We screw the screws so that the heads cut deep into the wood. To make the process easier and avoid chipping the wood, pre-drill holes for the screws with a thin drill bit.

Surfaces can be treated with sandpaper or covered with self-adhesive film.

Double-sided

An excellent option for a child. It can be made according to the principle of a firecracker, but there is a risk that the child will feel uncomfortable and the legs will converge. A homemade easel provides for fixing legs and surfaces. This can be easily done at home using wooden bridges on the legs around the entire perimeter of the easel.

A children's easel can be diversified with decorations. It is also good to leave one side wooden - for drawing and games, and make the other side metal so that the child can play with magnets - letters, colored dots, and so on.

Sketchbook

Assembling a wooden portable sketchbook for drawing yourself is also not difficult. The approximate size for convenience and comfort is 30x40 cm. The base and lid are best made of wood, but the side walls are made of plywood. You will also need wooden blocks or slats to connect the elements, although this can be done without them. To secure the cover you will need a metal support with bolts. If you plan to store paper or cardboard in the lid, then you need to make the lid on a base with paints and brushes.

Reading time ≈ 6 minutes

How to build an easel with your own hands, where to get drawings with dimensions, how to do everything right? This question interests every artist, designer, and drawing enthusiast. After all, the easel is one of the main attributes of all artists. It helps to organize the space most correctly and provide maximum comfort while drawing.

Description of the procedure

Of course, you can buy all the accessories in a specialized store, but the pricing policy there will be very high. Therefore, it is worth trying your hand and trying to build an easel with your own hands. In addition to saving significant money, you can be proud of your own work for a very long time.

Proper organization of the workspace

Preparations before work

In fact, making an easel for painting is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. Ideally, it is better to entrust the construction process to a man, but if desired, a woman can cope with such a task. And soon you will be able to enjoy a properly designed workspace for creativity.

Below you can find step-by-step instructions with which anyone can make an easel with their own hands (drawings with dimensions are attached). Of course, the parameters can be very diverse, it all depends on individual needs. In the drawing below you can see the specific parameters of this model.

Drawing of an easel with parameters

To make construction as correct and convenient as possible, you need to stock up on tools and materials. You will definitely need:

glue for working with wood;
door hinge (20 mm);
sandpaper (100 – 200);
screwdriver (phillips);
three pine slats – 45*20 mm and 3 m length;
roulette;
hook (130 mm);
4 things. without head studs (20 mm);
emery wheel (100 – 200);
saw;
screwdriver;
6 pcs. self-tapping screws – 34*2.9 mm;
drill and bit (6 and 8 mm);
grinding machine;
jigsaw;
marker;
2 pcs. screws for wing-type furniture – 72*5.2 mm.

A simple easel option

Step-by-step instructions for making your own easel

Before you make an easel at home, you should take care of all the little things. Also make sure that you have all the necessary materials on hand. Below are detailed instructions, following which you can easily create a practical easel for painting.

Easel shelf

Wood glue dries completely within 24 hours. So, once the creation of the easel for painting is finished, you should let it sit for at least a day. After this, you can safely proceed to further assembly of your personal homemade easel.

Read also: how to do it yourself.

It must be installed horizontally. After this, you should install and fix the shelf. For convenience during work, you need to correctly adjust everything in height.

Now is the time to fix the hanging hook. With its help, the rear support rail will be held in the required position.