9 Best H-Frame Easels for Artists: from Light to Heavy Duty

Whether an aspiring artist or a professional, you will need an excellent sturdy easel for your paintings. And one of the first types of easels that come to mind is the H-frame easel. They are named that way because of their rectangular shape and because their framing reminds of the capital letter H.

Right angles make up the H-frame easel’s design and make it sturdy. All bars are either parallel to each other or create rectangular shapes. The main frame also has crossbar support, allowing it to handle big heavy canvases.

H-frame easels are a great option for an indoor studio easel if you have the space. They are large and sturdy, and won’t move by accident, even when you are very emotional with your brush strokes. Also, the design makes it very stable so that you won’t accidentally kick it down.

H-frame easels are suitable for all levels of artists, and they come in a large variety of sizes and capabilities. They are three categories of H-Frame easels: light, medium, and heavy-duty ones. The larger an easel is, the bigger the canvases it can hold. 

Your preference of the canvas size to work on will define the type of easel you’ll be looking for. But, no matter how big it is, the easel’s design and heavy bottom will prevent it from swaying.

The weight of the easel also depends on how large its frame is, so you’ll need to consider that if you plan on moving it around your art space. Dragging them across the room can leave scratches, and picking them up can be pretty heavy. Luckily, many H-frame easels feature casters at the bottom for easy moving.

9 Best H-Frame Easels for Artists

Their rectangular base is excellent for supporting the canvas, and most of them also have a ledge for art supplies underneath the canvas space. It will allow you to optimize your working space and keep everything you need close by. This tray will also collect some graphite dust falling off your canvas on the floor if you’re working with dry materials.

The materials that H-frame easels are best for are thick paints like gouache, acrylics, and oils or compressed dry mediums like graphite or pastels. The easel’s tilt is mainly vertical, but some models allow a back or forward tilt to prevent your oil paintings from collecting dust. H-frame easels are adjustable in several parameters and are quite easy to set up and adjust on your own.

Among the downsides of H-frame easels is that not too many available models can fold very effectively. You can somehow fold or flatten them for storage, but they’ll still take up quite a lot of space, so they won’t be good for tiny art spaces. In that case, consider a tabletop easel.

Another downside is that H-frame easels’ price range varies from medium to high since making such sturdy and heavy easels cheap is basically impossible. But they are absolutely worth their price and will last a lifetime.

Here’s a list of some H-frame easel options, from light to heavy-duty ones. You’ll be able to choose the perfect one for your art space, depending on how large you prefer your paintings to be. It’s always best to get the one that’s a little larger because you can place a smaller canvas on a bigger easel, but not vice versa.

Light Duty H-Frame Easels:

Best Frontier H-Frame Easel

This easel, made of solid oak, is a good option that isn’t too expensive for an easel of this type. The wood it’s made of is left unfinished to reduce the price, and it may not even matter to you when you’ll be using it.

It can accommodate a canvas up to 46 inches tall and will be easily adjustable for that cause. You can also adjust its angles and the height at which the canvas will be standing using just a few small handles. The easel will arrive at your place fully assembled, so it will need no extra assistance on your side.

The base of the easel, measuring 22 x 24 inches, is sturdy and solid, has a square shape, and has no wheels. The easel would be great for keeping it constantly in one place at your art studio, and then tilting and adjusting it however you want.

It features a small, two inches wide and 16 inches long tray at the bottom of the canvas space. You can use it for placing the art materials you are using at the moment.

The maximum overall height of this easel is 66 inches. You will be able to use it either while sitting or standing up since the canvas placement is perfectly adjustable.

Mabef Small Studio Easel

This easel is quite pricey for a light-duty one, but it has some unexpectedly cool features that you’ll totally enjoy. It’s made of stain-resistant oiled beechwood, which is convenient for an artist’s easel (unless you want it stained with paints for a unique aesthetic).

The easel is set apart with an adjustable crank, which will help you raise and lower the canvas tray. It can hold a canvas up to 84 ½ inches high. The overall height of the easel can be up to 142 inches tall.

The base of this easel is sturdy enough to handle big canvases. Also, it has four lockable casters, so you’ll be able to quickly move it around. The tilt of the easel is also adjustable with the help of a couple of small handles, and it goes from vertical to a rather noticeable back tilt.

Not only does this easel have a tray for some art supplies at the bottom, but it also has two side drawers for extra storage space, which is truly useful. You can stick your paint tubes or brushes in here or hang a special paint water bucket if you want, and it will not tip the sturdy easel over.

TANGKULA H-Frame Easel

This lightweight easel is made of solid beechwood. It is light enough for you to transport easily and sturdy enough to have a long-term service time. It has no casters, but you can just pick it up and transfer it to another place. You can fold it so that it’s completely flat, so it’s easy to carry around or transport in your car.

Another thing that makes it suitable for outdoor use is that the wood is well-oiled. It’s resistant to damage and corrosion, making it more smooth so you won’t damage your hands on accident.

The easel has an adjustable folding range up to 90 degrees, from entirely vertical to flat (for transportation purposes). It can cater to any painting posture and any person’s height due to its adjustability. Also, the easel can hold a canvas with a maximum height of 45.5 inches, and the easel itself is 88.5 inches tall.

It also has a front storage compartment, spacey enough to fit the brushes and a small set of paint tubes. This storage makes it easier to paint outside without worrying about taking extra bags or holders with you.

Medium Duty H-Frame Easels:

Mabef Artist Plus Easel

This medium-duty easel has quite a simple design; however, this doesn’t make it less sturdy. It’s an excellent investment because this easel will be long-lasting and reliable, with a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer. It’s made of solid oiled beechwood, making the construction strong, and your hands will be safe from any wood splinters.

You can adjust the easel however you want with small and convenient handles, and it’s even capable of a slight forward tilt. You can lower the lower canvas tray almost to the floor (great for kids or artists who prefer working in a seated position).

The top mast moves independently, and you can adjust the height easily. The overall size of a canvas can be up to 7 feet high, and the easel itself is 23 x 24 ¼ inches and weighs 28 lbs.

This size makes it a great option for a studio with dedicated easel space. It has no casters at the bottom, and it won’t be too easy to move it around. So, if you have a certain amount of space where you can place this easel permanently, then it’ll be an excellent choice for you.

The easel also has a small storage tray under the canvas tray, conveniently secured by its sides. This means that your paint tubes or brushes won’t roll off and fall out of the tray even if you tilt the easel forward.

Pacific Arc Brazos Bamboo H-Frame Easel

Bamboo is considered to be a very eco-friendly material since it’s renewable and highly regenerative. Bamboo items also have a particular texture, wood color, and look, making them authentic, outstanding, and fitting into any interior. This easel is marked as an environmentally friendly product, instantly giving the easel some bonus points.

The natural bamboo finish, being quite a trendy interior topic in our time, will make this easel a beautiful addition to your art studio. It will be good for larger art spaces and smaller ones because you can fold it for storage or transportation. Thus, you won’t have to keep it in its place all the time.

You can easily adjust both the height and the angle of this easel, which can hold a canvas up to 82 inches high on it. The easel will be 98 inches tall when fully extended, and its other measurements are 21 ½ x 24 ¼ inches. The canvas tray of this easel is 22 inches long.

The design of this easel doesn’t feature any wheels at the bottom, but it won’t be too hard to transport since it weighs around 22 lbs. Not too bad for a medium-duty easel, right? Its design is also sturdy, stable, and quite simplistic.

MEEDEN Medium-Duty Studio H-Frame Easel

This easel is simple and minimalistic, back-to-basics in its style, but very stable and sturdy nonetheless. Its square stand makes it stand without swaying no matter how you decide to tilt it. The solid beechwood the easel is made of is lightweight yet quite sturdy; held together with brass hardware, it will last for a very long time.

The adjustable upper slider is a multi-slot one, and these slots are perfect for canvases and other possible kinds of working surfaces. The 3-inch wide canvas tray at the bottom will secure your work in its place, keeping it leveled and steady. The ratchet mechanism under the canvas tray is made of metal and works straightforwardly, allowing you to place the canvas however it is comfortable for you.

This easel can hold canvases up to 48 inches tall, and the upper slider can be placed really high, so watch out not to hit your studio ceiling. It’s also foldable for storage and transportation (you can fold the stand to make it flat), so you can have it even in smaller art spaces. That is, of course, if you have the space to store the folded 69 x 22-inch easel!

Heavy Duty H-Frame Easels:

Best Kelley Easel

This beauty will totally give your studio the look of a Pre-Raphaelite painter’s workspace and will immediately become the focal point of any room it will end up in. It’s actually a modified version of an 1871 Paris easel and another powerful version of that grand design.

Its solid oak construction, the texture and the color of the wood, and its rounded aesthetic design give off an antique vibe. Except for probably the casters at the bottom, but hey, a good heavy-duty easel must be easy to move around despite the weight! The casters are lockable and very convenient.

This easel is designed mostly for portrait painters, but you can use it for the landscape orientation of the canvas as well. You can tilt it backward or even forward, adjust its height with one convenient (and stylish) crank, and make it comfortable for yourself no matter what your working position is.

You can use it with canvases up to 84 inches tall, and its maximum overall height will be 104 inches. Its base’s dimensions are 30 x 30 inches, and this easel definitely requires some space in your studio, but it will totally be worth it. You will also enjoy its sturdiness and quality.

MEEDEN Heavy Duty Extra Large H-Frame Studio Easel

This extra-large easel is a dream for any artist who works with massive canvases. It’s made of solid European beechwood, handcrafted and hand-finished, coated for extra convenience and durability. After receiving it, it will require some assembly, but the instructions and tools are included and easy to follow.

The easel’s frame can be adjusted from vertical to completely horizontal, as well as a 5-degree forward tilt, and you can do this very easily by turning a few knobs. So, it’s suitable for any working materials, as well as for a lot of working positions.

It features a spacious, secure storage tray under the canvas tray. You’ll be able to store some of your necessary materials in it without them falling out, no matter how you position the frame. By the way, you can adjust the tray to almost any position via the metal ratchet mechanism.

The base of this easel is extra sturdy, so you won’t have to worry about the security of your extra-large canvases. It features four casters, but you can remove them for extra stability if you’re not planning on moving the easel around.

Its 25 ½ x 27 ½-inch base and 80-inch minimum height would surely take some space in your studio. However, an easel like that is an absolute must for those who work in large dimensions.

Best Abiquiu Studio Easel

This easel, made of solid red oak, is available in two versions, one wider than the other, and a melamine tab tray is sold separately. If you decide to purchase it as well, the tray will feature three drawers and a tool shelf, which is pretty impressive and can come in handy when you’re working. But you can simply use the built-in tray that is 32 inches wide (for the smaller version) and is also able to hold some supplies.

The canvases that this easel can handle can be as large as 120 inches tall, so this one is a real giant. But despite it being large and quite heavy, you’ll be able to move it with the help of the lockable casters on its base. Don’t be intimidated; it’s quite easy to adjust due to its design and mechanisms that are capable of holding weighty works.

Probably the most significant thing about this easel is its stability and sturdiness, and that’s exactly what you would expect from a heavy-duty easel. You can adjust it to any tilt or angle and enjoy your working process without distractions or issues.

The H-frame easels are a solid option for artists of any experience level, and they won’t disappoint.

As you can see, there are different options for people with different requirements.

So – it’s more than possible to find a perfect one that’s right for you!