Has anyone used the Creative Mark Cezanne?

[K12144]

Has anybody tried out the Creative Mark Cezanne half box easel? I've got my heart set on a half-box french easel, and had my eye on the Jullian Plein Aire, but I see the Cezanne is much cheaper (i.e. far more in my price range)...I assume there's a reason for this (it's not as good) but wanted to see what you all could tell me about it...

[Bruce Newman]

I haven't tried (or heard) of the Creative Mark Cezanne easel, Kat, but I was looking for my first easel about two years ago and did a lot of reasearch. Everyone told me to get a Jullian because it was the original, was much better made and would last. I did that and got myself a Jullian full French easel and I smile every time I use it.

You will save a little short-term money on other models but for the difference in price (spread over many years' use), I wonder if you want the potential headaches of the other models. Maybe just save a little longer?

[blondheim12]

I don't know about their easel but their canvas is not great. That may be a good indicator of their product quality. If you want a less expensive easel than Julian, I have had Mabef in the past and found itto be pretty good for the price.
Love,
Linda

[K12144]

Actually, everywhere I've seen the Mabef easels, they're MORE expensive than the Jullian...

[blondheim12]

It's been a long time since I bought a FE, having gone to using pochade boxes now, so perhaps Mabef has become more popular than it once was. It was pretty reasonable when I was using a FE.
love,
Linda

[coh]

I have a Mabef full French Easel that I bought about 4-5 years ago.
It received a moderate amount of use for the first 2 years, then had
a 2-year break, and has been used fairly heavily during the past 6-9
months. I use it as both my studio easel and my PA easel so it gets
taken down/put up frequently.

It has held up pretty well. Some of the screws come loose and need to
be tightened regularly, and I had to replace a couple with bolts and
wingnuts. I've never had another easel so I don't know how another
brand would have performed with the same workload.

Unfortunately I don't remember how much it cost compared to the Julian
easel...but since I'm a cheapskate it was probably cheaper

Chris

[Melania]

Chris,

I have a half-box Jullian, its lighter than full and I have lugged it around for 3 years, this year needed to tighten some hardware, I am pleased with it. Still in great shape. I gave it a quick coat of shellac, so paint wouldn't adhere to it everywhere.
I paid 100. Thats cheap I think.

Melanie