I followed the included instructions for this easel and found it was very easy to setup. Most of the setup is one time only as, once assembled, all you need to do to fit it back in its case is compress the legs and unscrew the tray to make it small enough to fit back in the case. So portability is not an issue with this easel. Once setup you can see that it is a really nice looking easel. It is made of polyurethaned reddish wood and looks quite nice. It will also hold a very large canvas. Also, I think that it would be able to stand up on a somewhat windy day especially if you were using a small to medium size canvas. Finally, the legs can be adjusted individually making this easel useful for uneven terrain.