Product Description

Ideal for the budding artist, this easel provides the perfect workspace for your child's creative skills. The rolling paper bar at the top of the easel lets you roll out more paper -- so after you complete one masterpiece, you have a fresh palette for the next one! Easel comes with a canvas carry bag so you can bring it anywhere. Crafted with a sturdy metal frame, the entire easel (except frame) is washable. Art supplies not included. Measures 26"L x 22"W x 50"H. Some assembly required.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4141 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Rose Art
• Model: 49162UN
• Released on: 2007-08-15
• Dimensions: 36.00" h x 10.00" w x 6.00" l, 12.90 pounds

Features

• Transportable easel with dry erase board provides sturdy work surface and handy access to art supplies
• Lightweight and portable design; paper roll attaches to top
• Durable metal frame with plastic connectors; washable fabrics
• Includes 50-foot paper roll, 8 washable markers, large carrying bag
• Colorful and stores easily

Amazon.com Product Description
The RoseArt Smart Easel provides a sturdy work surface, handy access to markers and materials, a dry erase board and a roll of paper that attaches to the easel to keep your young artist's creativity freely flowing. Intended for ages four and up, this kid-sized easel also features a lightweight, portable design so that it can easily be taken outdoors or on the road. This means that your little van Gogh can be out in the field painting sunflowers in no time, and that the whole easel can be compactly stowed away when not in use.

The Smart Easel is lightweight, portable, and features pockets, and pen holders. View larger.

A large fabric under-tray serves as a catch-all for finished artwork. View larger.

Art Anytime, Anywhere
After fairly simple assembly, which requires an adult but not any tools, the included 50-foot roll of butcher paper slips onto a bar at the top for an ongoing paper supply. Three plastic clips are included to hold the paper securely in place at the bottom. The Smart Easel also comes with eight washable markers (in classic rainbow colors plus versatile brown and black), so your young artist can get started right away. Two flaps swing out from the easel's sides, featuring mesh pockets and elastic pen holsters that are designed to hold a variety of coloring materials. The plastic paint tray at the bottom is the perfect size for small paint jars, wet brushes, glue or glitter. A large fabric under-tray at the base serves as a catch-all for finished artwork, at least until the refrigerator debut or hallway retrospective can be scheduled.

When art time is over, or a new location for drawing is desired, the easel can be quickly washed down and folded up. The fabric side flaps, under-tray, and carrying bag are all made of washable materials, and the paint tray can be removed for cleaning or spills. Stray marks from the washable pens can be removed from most surfaces with warm water and mild soap. The easel's durable metal frame with plastic connecting pieces is 50 inches tall and has a sturdy 4-leg design. Weighing in at about 13 pounds, the easel is substantial enough to remain stable while in use, but light enough to be carried by an adult or older child. The set also includes a large bag with a handle and shoulder strap for easy transportation.

Set-up and Organization Features
A slight downside to the easel is its assembly process. Although the easel includes easy-to-read directions, and though the pieces themselves were easy to snap together without any tools, the set-up was a bit confusing and took about 30 minutes. Once assembled, the easel has an inviting appeal. The design of the side flaps definitely encourages tidiness. Plus, having all the supplies neatly on hand, and all the colors in full view, helps keep the creative momentum going. The thrill of having all that paper at your fingertips is also a great incentive to make more art.

Another small downside is that the paint tray is a bit too narrow to hold a mason jar for cleaning brushes or to comfortably balance an open watercolor box. And while the tray's separate cup-shaped space is handy for preventing spills, it is also quite small -- about the size of one paint jar or a Dixie cup. And inconveniently, the easel doesn't come with any dry erase markers or erasers, which makes its whiteboard seem like an accident waiting to happen. However, even if the dry erase board gets permanently marked, it will still serve its main purpose as a sturdy work surface for the paper.

Overall, the RoseArt Smart Easel inspires creativity in young artists-to-be, with an easy-to-clean, portable design that will keep parents pleased.

What's in the Box
Easel with dry erase board, side flaps, under-tray, paint tray, carrying bag, 50-foot paper roll, and 8 washable markers.

From the Manufacturer
Now your little artist can create a masterpiece at home or on the go with this revolutionary fold n' go easel. The Smart! Easel is the ultimate portable, easy clean and store easel. It's patented design is the answer to any families space saving needs.

Customer Reviews

Okay but...
Well my daughter is a drawing nut. So I knew she would love this and so far she does. The drawbacks are the drawing board is pretty flexable. I was excited for the dry erase board since my daughter loves those things well I pull it out of the box and it's in 2 peices. You clip the board together and there is a line, bump right down the middle. So when you draw you go over a bump. It doesn't line up without having a lip on it. If I would have seen this in the pictures and video I would not have purchased this easel. To be honest I'm quite disappointed luckily she doesn't seem to annoyed with it yet!

Not an easel expert. . .
Our 5 year old loves it and went through the included roll of paper in a few days. As I type this review, Amazon is offering a bundle that includes 18" easel paper rolls. 18" rolls will not fit on this easel! You need 14" which I am not finding very easily.

Good fun for our kids, with only a few minor drawbacks
Our kids and their friends have a lot of fun with this easel. I bought it with an "EXPO dry erase system" that fits nicely into the pouch beneath the easel, so they have extra pens, an eraser and some spray to make cleaning the white board easier. The product was fairly easy and intuitive to set up, though the instructions leave a lot to be desired (24 photo illustrations with no accompanying text).

The main drawbacks:
* The pouch beneath the easel is a lot more shallow than the pictures would indicate. There's only about an inch and a half to two inches of "lip", so our kids can't store many of their drawings there, like I'd intended. You could get a small plastic bucket for the space to hold items to make it more useful.

* The pens tend to fall out of the elastic holders on the easel's two side wings. As I mentioned, I got them an EXPO set that stores nicely under the easel. Our kids haven't utilized these side wings much at all or this would be more of a problem.

* The kids' only complaint is that the dry erase board is hard to clean. You'll need some spray to help with that.

* The seam down the middle of the white board is a bit annoying, as other reviewers have mentioned. Oddly our kids (8 and 12) don't seem to mind that much. Of course when they draw on the paper the seam appears in those pictures, too. If you think your child will not like this, definitely buy a different easel.

Redesign suggestions for RoseArt:
1) Add more fabric to the front section of the pouch beneath the easel to make the space more functional.
2) Make the white board a solid piece and give it its own carrying case. It wouldn't add to the overall weight, and the money spent on a little extra fabric and a different shipping container might be saved by not having to machine apart the two pieces. I'd be willing to pay a couple of extra bucks to fix this, which is really the biggest flaw of the product.
3) Take a few minutes and have someone come up with better assembly instructions. My husband and I are pretty bright but got stuck partway through because the next step was not very clear.