a folding easel has three telescoping legs , leg locks for locking each of the legs at arbitrarily extended positions , two tie - bars each hinged at one end to an axle supported on a corresponding leg lock , one tie - bar being snap - engageable to an axle on a third leg lock , the remaining tie - bar being snap - engageable to an intermediate point of the first tie - bar to form a t tie - bar arrangement for maintaining the three legs in fixed spaced apart relationship and usable as a shelf for paint boxes or the like , the tie - bars being readily disengageable without removal of fasteners for folding together of the three legs .