There is a thread for artists looking for antique easels, but I would like to sing the praises of the new and improved easel. I have in my possession the single best purchase I have ever made. The Hughes easel. This easel is counterbalanced, and I can move it side to side and up and down with a nudge from my big toe. (When you are holding a palette in one hand and a brush or two and rag in the other, sometimes you need an extra limb to get the job done.) After years of running to the back of the easel to use the boat wrench, whacking the side of the canvas to move it a few inches over, and crank, crank, cranking from the front, it is so nice to simply ....nudge it....
I just finished a 5 1/2 x 4 1/2 foot portrait, and I could paint on the woman's right ear, then move the painting up and over to paint her shoe. Heaven!
The website,
http://www.hugheseasels.com/
Peggy