I've put of buying a free week for a long time. I was given a fancy one years ago that was very heavy and the legs never worked right, but there were certain advantages to it that kept me looking for a better one. My search finally brought me to this one, and at a price point that I couldn't pass up. It arrived fully assembled with few parts to attach, and within minutes was ready for work. Its flat work surface allows using it as a table, and height is adjustable so I can use it sitting or standing, it's of sturdy construction and strong materials, well designed, lightweight and with an attractive sealed finish (it will get spattered, but I didn't buy it for decorative purposes - the my old box was gorgeous, but that was about it). The legs are aluminum and maybe not as pretty as the wooden ones, but they are very lightweight and strong, and affix pretty firmly to the box, and don't rattle much. Unless you're planning on trekking with it across a large continent or painting in a battle zone, I'm thinking it should be sound and serviceable for a good long time. There are other of similar design available, but they range from 25% more in price to double what this costs. If you're looking for a portable and lightweight French style easel that doubles as a small table and sets up pretty much anywhere, this is a very good and affordable alternative so that the time you'd spend fixing a fussy, fancy box can be spent painting, and the extra money can be used to buy paint and canvas. That's a win/win for any artist. My only criticism of this box is that there doesn't seem to be a lock for the single leg as their are for the fronts, but maybe I just haven't figured it out yet, or need to work out a fix. Altogether a great value.

Just what I was looking for RT o make some time to paint on a little getaway. Not too bulky or heavy. Easy to set up.

For a legs are held to the side with a weak magnetic button, one won’t stay in place so there is that when it’s closed. It does fold into a nice compact size. As long as you keep the pallet plate in place it holds its contents inside in place. The real test will be getting it out in the field next week.

Wife loved this a short a gift! She paints and draws often but did not have a portable easel. Found this one and it is not just an easel, but stores all of her art supplies as well. Light weight and sturdy.

A great product, versatile and sturdy construction.

I purchased this for my wife as a gift so we could use it as we traveled so she could create her pastel drawings. It is lightweight and folds up to be quite compact in order to fit with our other gear. We were pleasantly surprised by the great quality and the storage capacity for her pastels.

I purchases this almost a year ago. Even before I started taking sketching lessons. Not until I started using charcoal did I it setup for use. When I purchased it, I figured if I didn't like sketching, it was a nice piece of an interesting decoration in my home.I started using this easel this week with a charcoal drawing. I love that it is easy to setup. That there is nice storage space for graphite pencils or charcoal which meant my equipment was right at my fingertips. I didn't have to go through my storage box to gather what I needed. I simply placed them on in the easel box and got started.This is not heavy, yet works well for me with sketching and painting. I have not yet taken it out for sketching at a remote area. I am sure some of the more expensive French Box Easels are more grounded and stand so sturdy a big dog wouldn't knock it over. For me, at this point this easel is perfect.

In preparation for a trip to a National Park, I decided to build a plein air painting setup. (Past easel purchases include an aluminum tripod type, H-frame desktop and a floor-standing studio easel.) The fact that this French easel has aluminum legs and is lightweight compared to other French easels is what sold me over other choices.Sadly, the main flaw with this easel is that the height is not sufficiently adjustable (too low for those over 5' tall to use while standing). Another issue I found is that the aluminum legs are held in place by a small magnet. Unless you really tork down the wingnut when the legs are collapsed, it's far too easy to knock the folded legs askew while attempting to transport the easel.The main thing that sets this Falling Leaves easel apart is the fact that it is lighter than other French easels. This is important because the big drawback to French easels, in general, is that once you add your painting supplies to the box they are too heavy to carry all that far.Ultimately, I went back to an aluminum easel I purchased as an art student years ago but had not used for plein air because the manufacturer never thought to offer a carrying case. It became feasible to use my existing aluminum easel for plein air painting once I located beach umbrella carrying case here on Amazon that fits (ASIN B008A0JL3O) — allowing me to carry the easel, at only 2lbs, much like a folding camp chair. I then put my art supplies in a small backpack and bought a "beach wagon" sold on Amazon (ASIN B0B23ZP74G) to complete my plein air setup.Another option for plein air use— seemingly preferred by the pros — is a Pochade (box easel), which are mounted on a camera-style tripod. However, those setups were not any more lightweight than the U.S. Art Supply Aluminum Del Mar easel sold for less here on Amazon (ASIN B00PR8XMJQ). Additionally, the Pochade box easels don't allow for much flexibility in canvas size — so ultimately I couldn't justify investing in a Pochade setup given that I came up with a solution to transport my aluminum easel, which will accommodate a much broader canvas/panel size range (the exception is watercolor; neither this French easel nor my aluminum easel will tilt flat enough for that purpose).If you are buying this or any other French easel for studio use, it is not the best option (H-frame desktop or floor-standing model are the more traditional choices for studio use). Although the French easel is a classic design that has been in use for hundreds of years, it is best suited for those who have a limited amount of art supplies (i.e. children) that can be tucked away in the box when not in use — or for those who don't intend to travel all that far with it fully loaded. For those who don't mind the more substantial weight of a French easel over a Pochade easel, a final advantage of a French easel is that the added "heft" and the wider spread of the tripod-style legs lends itself to better stability in the event of breezy outdoor conditions. Apart from these uses, however, there are better choices than a French easel for plein air painting.