DIY: How to Build an Artist's Easel (For $20 or Less)

So you want a good, solid easel but don't want to spend $100-200. I recently found myself in this situation; a recent graduate between jobs, I was running low on cash but high on motivation to get my hands dirty and paint. I set out to buy supplies for painting, but I realized only when I was at the store that I was lacking a crucial element: an easel. I was shocked to see prices in the $100-200 range for anything remotely resembling a decent wooden easel, so, perhaps as a result of my computer science do-it-yourself mindset, I set out to build one from raw materials. Turns out it can be done for under $20! And if I did it, you can to.
Here's what you'll need:

• 4x 8-foot-long (96") 2"x3" wooden studs (~$2/stud),
• 2x 4" hinges (~$3.50/hinge),
• 1x Box of 3" screws (~$4/box),
• (Optional) 2x 2-3 feet of rope (See Step 6.5) (~$4)

Total build time: 1hr-2hrs.

Hint: You can find it all at Home Depot/Lowes. You'll also need to do some (minor) wood cutting, so unless you have the tools at home and feel comfortable with this, I'd suggest you head to Home Depot anyway.

Step 1: Cut each 8-foot stud into a 6-foot section and a 2-foot section. 

If you buy your wood at Home Depot, they can cut it for you! And they'll only charge $0.50 per cut, with the first two cuts free.

Why 6 feet and 2 feet? The 6 foot portions will form the legs of our easel, and the 2 foot portion will support our canvas and help stabilize the legs. I picked 6 feet because I'm just under 6 feet in height, so a 6 foot easel is perfect for me to paint standing up. If you're shorter than I, or paint sitting down, it may make more sense to pick a shorter height (like 5' to 5' 6"). You should feel it out for yourself!

Step 2: Using an electric screwdriver or drill, attach the 3" hinge to one of the ends of a stud.

We're going to start constructing our easel now, so the first step is to drill the hinge into one of the ends of the 6 foot portion of a stud. Make sure you're drilling into the 3" wide face of the stud, not the 2" face. Note: you can also get away with using an electric screwdriver over a drill, if you have to make a purchase. An electric screwdriver is a handy tool to have around, and it will only set you back around $25.

Step 3: Attach the other side of the hinge to the end of another stud.

To finish off this side of the easel, attach the other half of the hinge to another 6 foot stud. 

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 & 3 for the other two 6 foot studs.

Step 5: Close the sets of legs, and screw a 2 foot stud in between them just below the 4 foot mark.

This is another step you have to feel out for yourself: the question at hand is, how high or low do you want the support for your canvas to be? In my case, I usually don't work with canvases over 2 feet tall, so I added this crossbar below the 4 foot mark of my 6 foot canvas (that's 2 feet below the hinges). You might adjust this depending on the height you decided for your easel and the typical height of our paintings. 

Whatever you pick, make sure both sides of the 2 foot stud have at least 2 screws each in them so your legs don't wobble, and make sure it's being screwed in at the same height from the top on both sides.

Also, before you screw in, make sure you're screwing in at the same distance from the hinges on both sides. While not the end of the world if you mess up and have to do it over, the opportunity for error is high here.

Step 6: Repeat Step 5 on the opposite side of the legs.

This is mainly for support, but can also serve as a second face for your easel; if you sometimes paint 2-foot-tall canvases and sometimes paint 1-foot-tall canvases, it might be useful to position this second crossbar higher than the one on the other side. In either case, again make sure both sides have two screws in them.

(Optional) Step 6.5: Add supports on the side to keep your easel from flopping open.

This wasn't an issue for me, but some of you will encounter this: If you're painting on a low-friction floor (e.g. wood/linoleum/tile), your easel won't be able to maintain its position easily. This is not a problem if you're working on carpet, concrete, or outdoors, but you might want to apply the following fix anyway for versatility.

In order to keep our easel easily collapsible, we don't want to add wooden supports to the sides to keep it a fixed amount of open. Instead what I found a better solution is screwing in a piece of rope to each side of the easel. 2 sets of 2-3 feet of rope (also available by the foot at Home Depot/Lowes) will usually do, but you should feel it out yourself to figure out how open you want your easel to be.

Step 7: Get painting!

You now should be able to stand up your easel and get working! If you want to take it a step further, consider using the left over 2 foot studs to add a support for, say, a water glass or brushes, or adding some kind of wood finish to the easel.