Do I need/want a drawing easel?

When I'm drawing from a picture, both the picture and my paper are flat on the table.  Everything seems to turn out fine.  

But when I'm drawing from life, I noticed I don't always get the... I don't have words to explain this.  Because my paper is flat, the image I draw has a distortion.  But it looks okay.   Then when I look directly at the paper later I can see it's no longer the same shape as it was when the paper was on the table.  

So I was thinking of some sort of drawing easel.  

Something make-shift at first to try the idea out.

If I like it, I might invest in a nice one as it would also help with my watercolour paintings.  



So what do you think?  Nifty tool?  Would it help with my current issue?  
Any recomendations?  

It strikes me as a personal choice.  In my painting/ drawing days I disliked easels. Paints tend to run more.  It was, for me, and unnatural drawing position. The easel represented one added piece of clutter.

Easels are great for several reasons, including posture. Leaning over a table eventually hurts my neck. Drawing while standing encourages use of the whole arm instead of just the wrist. I only prefer seated posture for tiny drawings.

At times, since I don't have an easel, I have taped my drawing paper to the wall.

I've never owned anything more than a (cheap-o) table-top easel, which I hated, because it was not stable, and solid across the table, with any pressure applied on my charcoal. However, because of exactly what Devon brought up (posture & comfort), I've always wanted a full sized, sturdy one. Something that might help you decide - go to a window with a view of something you'd like to paint or draw, tape a piece of paper to one side of the item to paint, and work with that, for a bit. Of course, you'll have to keep in mind that the easel will not be perfectly vertical, and of course, as John mentioned, paint will run (unless it's very thick). This is how I figured out that yes - I want one.

There are also easels that can be used both as a traditional easel and as a horizontal one. Not cheap, by any means, but this is what I dream of, for learning plein aire water color painting, but still being able to use in the traditional position, for other mediums. I like multipurpose...

you can always take your painting and hold it up on something to get perspective, if that is the issue.
personally, i find it almost impossible to draw on an easel-- painting is slightly easier. I was given a really fancy one, which I gave to my kid (also an artist) and I think it currently serves as a stand for a full-length mirror. I had dreams of taking it to the beach etc to paint on, in the end I prefer to do watercolors on a smaller scale and i just hold the darn block in my lap.

You could always rig up a stand to try it out (i'm thinking the laptop stands or, if you're like me and a bit older, the kid of "document stands" we had to use in office work a million years ago when we had to type while reading a document. Even an old plate display holder will hold up a drawing pad.)

This is probably a leftover from classes I took as a kid, but with watercolour, I find it easier to keep the paper propped up a few inches on one end, so it's at least 20 degrees.  For wet washes, it let's us use gravity to get a more even coverage and is easier to see for thicker, detailed work.  That's what gave me the idea that I might like an easel.

For drawing, I'm not sure.  I need to find a more stable way to prop up the bord so I can test it out, but so far, everything I've tried just falls down when I apply too much pressure erasing or draw too quickly.  


If I did get one, I was thinking a table easel with a drawer.  I could mount a tripod hole on the bottom (if I could find out how to call it so I can buy one) and turn it into a plein air box.

I propped up a drawing bord to do some oil pastels this morning.  Two big things presented themselves.

1. It needs to be way more stable
2. drawing at that height and angle forces me to use my whole arm not just the wrist.  In some ways this is good as the tutorials say I 'should' be drawing with the arm.  From another point of view, my shoulder hurts from using new muscles.  

I would have to slowly ease my body into this and do some more testing to see if my body can adapt.

I tried some more versions.  Not having a lot of luck with stability for a make-shift easel.

Anyone got some more ideas I can try?  I wan to give this a decent shot before I decide if I want to invest money in a table top easel.  

This is going to sound like the wack-assiest idea you've ever heard. But....

if you took a wheelbarrow and turned it upside down on top of a table, you'd have a very stable angled surface.
i realize you farm sheep and your wheelbarrows are probably not what you'd want on your dining table. but if you were to put one on a picnic table or something outside and lean a board or two across the "legs", you'd have a pretty stable surface at table height. You'd have to finangle to adjust the angle but it wouldn't be too hard to tie some cloth or angle the barrow itself up or down.
for trying out, I think you'd make yourself something more stable than a tabletop easel actually is (the ones I've seen, anyway).

Clipboard propped up with a stack of books?
If your table is slippery add some blue tack (or maybe just a chunk kneaded eraser) to keep it from sliding around.

I got to try drawing on some different easels last week and WOW!

Drawing the same item flat on the table,  then on an incline,  then with the paper vertical,  the distortion was significant.  

Vertical hurt my arm and shoulder if I'm not standing.  

45 degree incline was best for my body and had minimal distortion.   It was better for my back than having the paper flat on the table.  I was also able to stay further back from the drawing which minimised the problem with my eyes at near distances.

So glad I could try out these different options.

From what I've learned trying out different easels, I've decided on this meeden table easel to start with.  It seems to be the best match for my body and also the right hight for my body/chair/table.



It's got a very simple system for keeping it up which I like better than the ones with the wing nuts as this tends to slip over time.  I also wonder if it's possible to make another grove for this so I can use it with watercolours.



It's also very portable so I can pack up my stuff in the drawer and take it out in the garden in the summer.

I ended up getting a floor easel as well.

My drawing table easel is a good match for me, especially now, I'm working more from life.  I can do this thing called sight size, which I don't understand well enough to put into words.



But there are two issues that come up.

1.  My back.  It limits how long I can sit in a day.  
2. I have visual distortion at closer than arms length that I'm working on fixing.   But still, I need to get up quite frequently so I can take a few steps back.  This is a hassle when sitting and my back protests.

I tried a few simple standing easels like a-frame or tripod, but they fall over for me.  Maybe I shouldn't have got the cheapest ones.

So this happened for both drawing and painting.



I found I can draw and paint for longer sessions if I can stand.

Making a tabletop easel from a pizza box (2 boxes apparently).