Essential Tools Of The Trade: Artist Easel

I've been doing art for probably 15 or so years and I never thought to buy one of these.  It's a bit cumbersome if you don't have the proper space set out for it, which I don't but I manage.  This was the best and most affordable version of the easel I found at my local Hobby Lobby (after an official Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon from their website here as well as local taxes, it came out to about $20).  Ideally, I would prefer to have a complete drafting table, but this will do for the time being.  Any of you who do any type of art should definitely consider getting one as it puts far less strain on the back from slouching over.

Some other notes: As shown in the picture, I'm using Canson Fanboy Comic Book Art Boards for doing my art.  Although you can really use any type of paper for art, I find that using boards such as this can help make pencil work and subsequent scans cleaner.  They're not necessarily cheap, so I'd suggest picking some up when there's a sale.  If you have one near you, I'd recommend checking out Hobby Lobby or Michael's Craft Store for them.

I'd also recommend using a good eraser for doing art.  The classic pink ones are fine for doing general purpose stuff, but they don't fare as well for art work.  The erasers I use are Hi-Polymer erasers from Pentel.  They're pretty good at cleaning pencil lines, though it helps to draw with a light hand.