Hi, I am Jeff, and I built a wall-sized easel for Krissy. As Krissy has started working on larger canvases, 4'x5' and in the future, even larger ones working on a fixed height aluminum easel was just not cutting it as it often resulted in awkward posture and sore back, neck, and arms. A part of my job of working with Krissy is reducing friction in the creative process.
The solution was simple: find the biggest wall area in her studio and make it into an easel.
Enter The French Cleat
At the center of this design is what is called the French cleat. They have a Wikipedia page for you to dig into them more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cleat.
This build uses 3/4" plywood for the cleats, 1/2" plywood for the box, and some scrap wood for lips, etc. It is really a simple build, it took about a half a day with glue drying time.
The Build
It really comes down to making the cleats the same size and placing them on the rails the same distance apart.
I didn't photograph making the box; it is a simple box with lips to keep things from rolling off and deep enough to hold paint and supplies while allowing the canvas to lean a bit for stability.
The Finished Product
