Blodget’s Blog

How to Convert a Camera Tripod into a Painting Easel.

Necessity, who is the mother of invention.
Plato, The Republic
Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 BC - 347 BC)

I got a set of Holbein water soluble oil paints for Christmas and after looking around the house for a bit, I realized that I didn’t have good tilt-able easel. I did have several good camera tripods. What I really needed was a device that held a canvas and screwed on a tripod. So, I searched through art supply catalogs and the Internet, but I couldn’t find anything for sale. There are paint boxes that screw on a tripod and hold a canvas, but I didn’t need a paint box. I already had a good one.

After several weeks of thinking about it and going through at least 3 different designs, I decided to build one last weekend. I had everything I needed - wood, screws, power tools and an idea. I picked the easiest one to build. It uses two 1/2 inch dowels as rails and has 3 cross pieces that slide up and down. The center one screws onto the tripod and the outer two adjust for different sized canvases.

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