Thank you! I haven't actually tried them because I like my existing palette a lot but perhaps I'll give them a go for a video review. :) I admire Mark's channel so much and think he has made realistic oil painting approachable for so many, that it could be cool to review even his whole system at some point.

@@ChelseaLang Considering that you don't use any medium, you might find them a little odd. They are of the consistency of paints with a small amount of oil added. Less stiff than most paints. That said they are clearly very good. But not for me. NB: I have only tried Burnt Umber and White; I cannot speak to other colours.

Thank you! 😊I'm quite taken by it myself. I'm glad you like it and happy painting to you too! :D

I'm in the same boat, but fortunately I'm a carpenter so I'm going to build my own. I'm trying to figure out how heavy the counterweight is. Did you find one that's similar to this cylinder type?

Thank you so much, Ariel! Amazingly this easel is quite a bit smaller footprint-wise than my previous one, but it absolutely is a goliath nonetheless. I'm loving it for my big 3x4' painting! I take it you're outside of the US? I was actually really impressed with the speed and ease of the shipping from Geneva here to my studio in NC.

@@ChelseaLang Yes indeed, I am from outside the US. The package would have to travel just short of five thousand miles from Texas to Santiago, Chile, and probably pay a large sum in customs. So I guess I'll have to settle for my regular easel for now.

@@arielrgh Oh wow! Yes, that would be quite the journey. I will cross my fingers that your regular easel serves you very well in the meantime though. :)

The cool thing about Mark Carder (no 't') is that he makes amazing products, but also shows people how to make super affordable, and very serviceable alternatives.

@@Kdogpiper Yes, but the "Affordable" doesn't mean great for the long term.

@@chrisgriffith1573 It 100% depends on the product, the person buying and the purpose of the product, and what YOU mean by "great" and what I mean by "great". In my book, if something does everything that I expect it to do, then I might call it "great". Example, I bought an inexpensive quartz Cassio watch about 5 years ago, made of stainless steel, it keeps perfect time within 2 seconds a year, I don't have to wind it because it's a quartz movement and has batteries, I can swim with it because it has a screw down crown. It cost me $45. I could have bought a stainless steel Rolex for $12,000 and would have to set the time every month to true it up because it's mechanical. Sure, it's hand made a gorgeous, but it's still just a watch. I could buy a brand new Casio, every year for 266 years for what the Rolex cost. It's a dumb example, but I think you get the point.

@@Kdogpiper I guess my experience has reserved my use of the word great for things that do MORE than just get me by while in college, because that is exactly the type of easel I upgraded from, and it very much was like the design Mark Carder suggests is "affordable"... given a handsaw, glue and screwdriver. Sure its "great" when you got nothing, but I have professional needs as a lot of other artist do, and I have skills which make that "great easel" a piece of crap now. (your perspective/my perspective)

@@chrisgriffith1573 - if it works it works. I just saw a very talented painter that used a cardboard box notched out and made a VERY low cost ($0) and effective as a brush holder. Sure, you could go out and spend a hundred bucks on one made by Carder, which is great if you got the money. Or, you could build one out of wood, like Carder designed, which is very inexpensive and will last a lifetime, or you could make one out of a cardboard box for nothing. I can certainly afford absolutely anything that Mark Carder makes, if I want. But I tend to watch my pennies when it comes to certain things, and overspend on other things, like scotch and cigars; go figure. I actually admire people who use super cost effective ways of getting the job done.

Right!? I really applaud Mark's workmanship in designing it.

Chelsea Lang yes, except that I don’t want to polish the easel myself, like what you did before the assembly. Do they polish for customers?

😂Right!? I'm glad you think so too. 😆

Thank you! :DDDD I'm gonna go work on a painting on it right now.

Hi Renee, thank you so much! I'll have to thank Trish as well for pointing you my way. :D So the paintings on the wall are all attached with the velcro style command strips -- not the plain adhesive ones I use for magnetizing my panels, but the two-part ones, where one strip sticks to the wall and the other strip sticks to the painting. I find that they're just super helpful for panels and do an amazing job. The only time I've EVER had an issue was when I couldn't stick the strip firmly on the wall because it was too high for me to get good leverage (or the wall wasn't clean enough, lol). For audiobooks I stick with Audible, and I play them on my iPhone. I've heard about other apps where you can support indie bookstores through audiobook purchases, and like that idea a lot, but haven't done enough research yet to know of a good alternative. I usually put my reference on my laptop, but used my iPad for the really big painting, because the iPad could give me a slightly larger image to look at for a portrait-orientation photo. I LOVE the idea of Mark's color checker and think it's great. I usually just hold up my 'loaded' brush up to my reference though if I'm working from life. From photos I find that the blue light of my tablet or laptop precludes the paint on my brush from being lit correctly, so i 'wing' the colors more or less. Thank you so much for your thoughtful questions! :D

I do! You have a good eye. :) I've had it for quite a while. While I don't often put wet brushes in the little rack on top anymore, I like this quite a lot -- I've taken it everywhere with me and honestly beaten it up half to death. 😂 Mark comes up with some great products.

@@ChelseaLang I built one using his video and pieces and parts from a thrift store, I do use mine a lot, just have to remember to use the brush dip every so often. And thank you so much for teaching about the Murphys Oil Soap. I rescued a dried brush with it.

Happy to help! 1) I paint sitting mostly, but for the big painting I will stand. Ideally I'd stand all of the time, but I don't just because I get tired of standing and I'm lazy. 2) I listen to audiobooks mostly, sometimes podcasts. Honestly I'd stream more often if it didn't mean turning off my audiobooks, lol. 3) I try to paint no more than 4-5 hours per day but that's on a great day -- sometimes I have to change gears and work on marketing because I'm just not feeling the painting. Thank you for your questions!

Thank you! Cheers!

Following. I have the same question!