Using a Fellowes Laptop GoRiser as a Portable Drawing Desk
[dc]I[/dc] don’t always draw at home. Sure, drawing at home is ideal, because it means pants are optional—but, there are times I want to work on a comic elsewhere (and during wedding planning, there were nights I was not allowed to be around). I enjoy drawing at a drawing desk though, or on any slanted surface, which makes working on comics remotely a challenge (plus there is the having to wear pants).
Unintended Use
Then I got a Fellowes Laptop GoRiser. While actually a portable laptop ‘desk’ or cooler, the GoRiser works great as a portable drawing table.
Working on the Guilt Trip Ghost Goes to Court comic. Photo by me.
I used a different laptop desk as a drawing table in the past, but it was metal, bulky, and wasn’t very portable (kinda like the first Iron Man armor). The perk of the GoRiser is, it folds up—it is thinner than my sketchbook and very light. The trick behind this is the flexible plastic loop the GoRiser uses for support, which allows the GoRiser to fold up to a more compact size.
Sketchbook is My Co-Pilot
Speaking of sketchbooks, you’ll need one if you want to use the GoRiser. Like most laptop ‘coolers,’ the GoRiser has holes for airflow.
Once I set my sketchbook down on the GoRiser though, the holes aren’t an issue. If I’m working on a comic, I clip a piece of Bristol to the back of my sketchbook. This might seem like a lot of work to some, but it this process paid immediate dividends for me.
Drawing Al Fresco
As the photo above shows, I worked on a comic on a sunny day along Lansing’s River Trail. Other times, I used the GoRiser as a desk at various coffee shops.
Handy! Image via Amazon.
Pros of the GoRiser:
- Lightweight.
- Folds up.
- Portable—it easily fits in my backpack.
- Thin.
- Provides a slanted drawing or writing surface on a table or your lap.
- More affordable than larger, ‘real’ portable drawing desks.
Cons of the GoRiser:
- You can’t draw on a piece of paper by itself because of the air holes.
- Might not be stable enough for some artists (it can bounce a bit).
- No built-in way to keep it from sliding around (a pro of my real portable drawing table, which I’ll review later).
If you like using a drawing table, but want to work mobile, or want to try using a drawing table at a low-cost, consider the Fellowes Laptop GoRiser (or any laptop desk). There are times I really need to focus, and working on comics other than at home helps a lot (especially places with free coffee refills).
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