Anderson Swivel Easel Review

[Deborah Secor]

I just received the Anderson Swivel easel and it looks pretty good to me. I’ve been warned by several friends to check out a few things about it before making a final decision, so I’m being analytical.



My first impression is that it’s light, well crafted, and easy to open and close. The hardware looks good, the black finish on the wood is nicer than a stain, as it will wipe clean, and I like the color from a reflection standpoint (but I wonder how hot it will get in the summer around here!) The box—not a drawer—is shallow, only about the depth of a box of Unisons with the lid on, 1 1/8”. You have to lower the mast backwards to open the box.





There are 3 compartments dividing the inside of the box. A box of 18 Unison colors fits in the larger compartment nicely, with a finger’s width to spare on the side. Two flaps open on piano hinges so that there’s a flat shelf on each side. Open it’s 17 ½” x 18 ½”, including the box below. My travel box opens up and sits nicely on that space, no problem.

Here are the complaints I heard:
• The mast doesn't extend, and therefore it's too low.
I was most worried about the height, but as you can see from the comparison shot, it’s the same height as my working easel.



I admit that not being able to raise up the mast might be a problem if I was much taller than I am (5’4”), especially if I want to paint a horizontal image, but it also seems to me that turning the mast so that the legs and bulk of the box are out of my way allows me to step up to the painting surface, and makes the height issue moot for me.



I don’t like to have things tower too high into the wind when on location, and can even see myself lowering my board to a nearly horizontal position if it’s windy and I really want to go on working! We’ll see how this works, but my sense of things is that it isn’t too low. It sets up at the same height as the French easel.

• It only accommodates a board 15 ½" wide, although the dimensions advertised are 16x20".
Yep, it only takes a 14” or 15” wide board, but as you can see I used my handy-dandy bungee cords and adapted it to use a board that’s 18x24”. There's a small slot at the bottom of the mast that this board fits snugly into, which is nice. The knob at the bottom of the mast adjusts to push on a board, if it isn't quite the right width, making it far more stable so it doesn't rattle around in the holder.


I have two of these 18x24" boards taped together to hold my paper, so that seems to be all I’ll need. I intend to have a drawing board cut to 14x18” to accommodate my 12x18” Wallis paper, so I can carry the board stored in the mast with it closed up (in order to carry ‘wet paintings’, which pastels always are!) That would give it more heft in the wind, should I want it.

• It won't stay closed (the mast swivels away from the box when closed.)
The mast seems secure when closed at this point. If it begins to loosen in time it might swivel away from the box, but now it’s okay. It's a not-quite-stiff feel now, taking a firm hand to move it.

• It's unstable, especially in the wind.
It’s a bit jiggly when set up. I have to explain that both of my French easels are so aged that they do more than jiggle, however, so this thing seems like the Rock of Gibraltar to me! They have changed the back leg to a sliding one such as you find in a standard French easel, with two metal extending legs on the sides. It all seems nice and secure to me at the moment.

• A snap broke the first time it was used.
It comes with a 60-day warranty on parts, so if something breaks I’ll replace it. I will be annoyed if that happens, however! It should be better quality than that.

I'm going out on location on Thursday, weather permitting, so I'll let you know how it goes. I bought it from Dakota, and they assure me they have "a 100% satisfaction return policy. If, for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return it for a full refund. You are responsible for the cost to ship it back to us." That's fair, and I will do it if it doesn't seem to be the product I want. At the moment I'm happy, however.

I hope this helps some of you who are trying to make a decision on easels.

Deborah

[Shari]

Dee,

Thanks so much for all the detailed pics and for taking the time to do this. Mine should arrive next week. I can't wait to hear how you do with yours on location.

[artist_pw]

Hi:

Thank you for your time and comments. I am thinking about getting one of these because they seem so similar to the Soltek easels and are far less. Since the main box is wooden, that wouldn't be a problem for me to modify it as I may want, because my husband is a woodworker anyway. If the black color bothered me, I would repaint it to another color probably easily enough. The main thing it looks like it would be good to change would be the interior compartments. Thanks again.

[HarvestMoon]

Deborah, wow- a great review- I am becoming an easel junkie- are you going to use this outside- how would it be to tote around outdoors in the fire ants?
Linda

[Shari]

Hey Linda I recognize that pic, but you had a different name before. Nice to see you again.

[Deborah Secor]

Hi Linda! I'll be able to answer your question better after taking it outdoors, but it seems like it will be quite useful! It's nice and lightweight. We'll see.

Deborah

[Paintswithdogs]

Deborah,
Thanks for your review! I've been thinking about getting an Anderson for a while because I could turn it so that the box is on the right to hold my palette better. However, now that I've seen more photos and heard more comments, I think that I will stick to painting with my Soltek with the easel in the front and the box in the rear. Also, I thought that the Anderson might make a smaller footprint than the Soltek -- I often paint at the zoo where it can be crowded -- but I see from your photos that the advertising photos were deceptive in that respect. Thanks for saving me all the postage back and forth!

You will be happy to know that the Anderson is probably the better choice for you anyway as it CAN hold that large box of Unisons. There is no way that the Soltek would be able to do that as its trays are only 4" wide, a little more if you can slide under the 3/8" lip.

Happy Painting!
Julie

[Linda]

Nice review Deborah.
I also have an Anderson which I have had since last summer. I purchased it for a Lorenzo Chavez workshop and it was given quite a workout. On uneven ground the legs can be adjusted to keep the tray level. I'm a leftie so I like the fact that I can have my pastels to the left of my support. It was sturdy enough so that I was able to sit my pastels in a case across the tray since I had too many to fit inside. My only complaint is that the easel part or bracket that holds the support did tend to loosen and want to swivel while being carried. I just use a bungie to hold it in place. An extra always comes in handy anyway.
Regards,
Linda

[Kathryn Wilson]

Deborah, now that you've had this easel for a little while, can you review again? Anything new to add - problems you didn't see the first time, or extra bonuses you didn't find on your first outing?

[Deborah Secor]

I wish the fall had given me more opportunity to use it, but I guess I'm far more a 'fair weather' plein air painter than I thought! I did take it out a few times before winter closed in and I had no trouble with the mast swiveling while I carried it. I heard others criticize that, too, so one of two things has happened. Either they addressed and fixed that problem or mine is too new to have loosened up yet. We'll see.

I found I could decide how large the footprint needs to be to remain stable. In fact, in one tight squeeze on a narrow pathway I used it with one leg unextended and poking against a ledge and it was quite stable--more than I was! In another instance I spread it out into the deep wet grass and it was light enough not to sink in up to its knees. I, however, am not that light soooooo.....I moved. (Great river view. Good photo spot. Not for painting.)

I'm glad I'm only 5'4". I found that in many instances I slanted the mast backward and painted at a flatter angle, so I could look directly (or nearly directly) over the top of the board and paint just what I was looking at. That I really liked, though I straightened it up to dust off the excess pastel and examine my painting regularly. I usually paint no more than a half-hour in any one direction, so that works for me.

I have an old Rembrandt box that I take with me that has my modest palette, and along with the Unisons in the photo above I have more than enough pastels. I can open the box and set it on top of the easel quite nicely. Only one little oddity, not really a problem, is that with the mast upright I can't open the doors on the top of the easel. But hey, pushing back the mast, opening it up and then repositioning the mast is really no big deal.

All in all, so far I like it a lot. It will get more of a test once this snow is gone. They're calling for up to 7" today and tomorrow. Needless to say, the Anderson isn't getting any exposure right now!

Deborah

[Jude68]

Deborah,
I am new to this board. I am so glad I found your review on this easel. I too have thought of buying one. Right now I use my French full box easel. I am getting older and it is getting heavier for me. I find it difficult to cut down on pastels when out in the field. As a result, I don't go out much any more. I find myself becoming more of a studio painter. But I miss going out. How do you decide which pastels to take with you? I have thought about just takinjg shades of gray and a digital camera. That would limit me to ten sticks. Since I paint a lot in watercolor too, do you think this easel will work with watercolor also?

Judith

[Hiawatha]

Deborah, I,too, am new and prettywell convince myself to get an Anderson, based on your review. I was so excited at the prospect I did not realize using an umbrella to shade the painting when "en plein aire" would be a challenge. I see there has been little comment in the last six months, but I wonder if you (or others) have meantime tackled this challenge and with what success?

Hiawatha

[Kathryn Wilson]

I had the pleasure of painting plein air with Deborah and saw the Anderson easel. I thought it looked very portable and that's important when traveling - I did not, however, see how you would attach an umbrella, but I paint with a cap on to shade my eyes. I can understand though you might want to shade the paper in a bright sunlit sky.

[Deborah Secor]

I don't use an umbrella too often, choosing a location with shade instead when I can. There's usually a tree or bush, or a building of some kind casting shade. I have a clamp-on umbrella that I can fasten to my board if needed. It's just a little umbrella from Target meant to fasten to a beach chair. It makes the whole set-up a bit of a kite in the wind, though, so when possible I don't use it.

When I paint on location I work fast. That way, if I've chosen a spot with shade it doesn't change so much that I'm standing in the sun. I rarely spend more than an hour on a plein air painting--if that.

All in all, I have no argument with the Anderson. It's very lightweight, it's flexible, it's easy to set up and take down. I love being able to turn the mast any which way so that I can simply turn around and paint what's to my left or right, or behind me, without moving my easel. I also tend to peek over the top of the board, lowering it slightly, so that I can paint what I'm looking at directly. (You can get a peek at it in the video on the Artist's Magazine page, since I had it set up in the booth at IAPS. Check out 'the well built underdrawing' video, under techniques.)

Oh, and Kat, that little painting of the flower pot I did while we were in Old Town is framed and in the Santa Fe gallery now!

Hope that helps...
Deborah

[Kathryn Wilson]

Deborah, it should sell!

I will get back to the turquoise blue door and the cafe scene someday - I have good ref paintings and photos to work from.