First of all, the Grey Walnut ATWORTH French Easel is AWESOME!! Over 30 years ago, I purchased two French Easels for my wife and I. We’re both artists and we still have them and use them for studio/plein-air drawing, watercolor and acrylic painting. A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to start painting with oils, too. I purchased painting supplies and an aluminum easel. The aluminum easel didn’t cut it and I took it back to the store the next day. I researched Pochade boxes and tripods online and ordered one. When the box arrived, I assembled it and thought it looked and worked great. When I started adding tubes of paint, brushes and supplies in the box and mounting a canvas on the easel I realized the easel and box were just too small for me. There wasn’t much work surface and the tripod just didn’t feel stable with a larger canvas or Masonite sheet fixed on it. I packed it up and sent it back. Our French easels, though sometimes heavy and bulky, seemed to be the best solution, so I started looking for French easels online. Our old French easel boxes are lite colored, so the grey walnut offered an easy way to differentiate from my old box and the easel shelf and shoulder strap looked like a great addition to what I was already accustomed to…so I placed my order on Amazon Prime including FREE delivery. When my order arrived (a couple of days ahead of schedule), I was DELIGHTED with my new ATWORTH French Easel. To my surprise and delight, the legs and arms are actually of a heavier construction than our old boxes. To test it, I’ve already fixed a pen & ink drawing on watercolor paper stretched on a 42” wide X 32” tall sheet of .25” Masonite weighing 14 Lbs to the easel and it supports it just fine (see attached photos). The adjustable aluminum tray inside the drawer is a good idea, but I’m disappointed that it falls apart and won’t keep assembled in the drawer. To remedy that, I had a roll of aluminum duct tape that I cut into strips and taped the joints together with the tape. It holds together perfect now. I prefer to have the easel shelf hang off the side of the drawer when it’s drawn out where it’s handier, as opposed to attaching it to the back of the box. So that’s where I’m putting it. While shopping online for the easel, I discovered backpack straps that attach by the bolts and wingnuts on each back leg and the top of the base of the easel box, near the handle. I ordered one of those and attached it to my ATWORTH French Easel. It is comfortable and makes carrying the easel much easier. It also frees up both hands, which is nice. My new ATWORTH Easel is the BEST!