About us
what we believe
Painting outdoors changes the way we see the world.
Art has the power to slow us down, sharpen our attention, and change the way we see ordinary things. Painting outdoors does this more directly than almost anything else.
We think the tools painters carry should support that practice. An easel that's clumsy to set up, or too heavy to carry far, or that fails in the small details, takes something away from the experience.
Walnut Art exists to give that back.
Founder story
"For painters who don't settle."
I'm a designer. My father is an artist who has spent years painting outdoors, carrying the same worn-out plein air box on every trip. I watched him head out each time loaded with bags of tools, occasionally losing a brush, sometimes smudging a fresh painting on the way home.
One day I couldn't hold back. "Dad, that box is falling apart. Let me get you a new one." He shook his head. "I'm used to it. A new one would just slow me down."
I didn't buy it. I went online and bought him several plein air boxes, different sizes, different features. He turned them all down. Too heavy. Missing key functions. Something always felt off. I visited a few of his painter friends and found the same story: brand-new easel boxes on the market couldn't match the DIY rigs these artists had been tweaking for years.
They all said it was about habit. What I saw was different: painters had gotten so used to awkward tools that the awkwardness became invisible. They had simply stopped looking for something better.
I refused to accept that. I wanted to build a plein air easel that painters would genuinely love using. For my father, and for every painter tired of settling.
My father and I split the work. We documented every friction point from real painting sessions and designed each feature around those observations. After each prototype, we handed it to painter friends for field testing, then adjusted based on their feedback. We used the best materials we could find and cut no corners, even in the places nobody would see.
Two years and over a dozen prototypes later, the easel we'd been chasing finally came together. Above all, the painters who tested it gave it the highest praise we could ask for.
Plein air painting should feel like this: when you are fully immersed in your art, your gear should stay out of your way. That belief guided us from day one, and it will guide Walnut Art for as long as we exist.
"We built the tool we always wanted. Now we'd like to share it with you."
DANIEL Z.
Founder & Designer
how we build
Respect for materials. Respect for the craft.
Every Walnut Art Easel is built from solid black walnut and pine, sustainably harvested from New Zealand. All hardware and accessories are CNC-machined to spec for a precise fit, so the easel holds up in the field and ages well. We build in small batches, assemble each component and apply natural oil finish by hand, then inspect every easel before it ships.
We asked what a good painting experience should feel like, and worked backward from there. Every material, every dimension, every mechanism in this box exists because it makes painting outdoors meaningfully better.
That's why the Walnut Art Easel costs more than other pochade boxes. We simply refused to compromise on the ones that actually matter.
Join us outside and create boldly.
The Walnut Art Pro Series Easel is available now, with free shipping across the continental United States.