Wednesday 16 November 2011

Homemade pochade box!

In between two painting posts, I would like to share my sheer excitement about this little pochade box my partner's father kindly built for me! I've never been very keen on the original pochade boxes available in UK as most restrict you to a specific panel size. I got the guerilla pochade box from the US which I'm very pleased with but I was looking for a lighter option so here it is (tadaaa...):



This box is very light, slim and portable and will take any panels sizes (within reason). The bottom part is for paint mixing and the hooks on both sides can be removed so they don't smash the paint between sessions.




I've re-used my metallic piece from my guerilla pochade box to hold the painting and this can be adjusted to different heights. To hold the back/top of the painting there is some velcro that can be fixed on the board or for any painting taller than the box, there is a hook coming from behind.

Here is the box with a 12"x10" board...



The box has a tripod fixing and some extra wood has been added to strengthen the fixing:


Here is the hook that can grab the top of the painting or just the box itself for extra stability:


Can't wait to try it out and will let you know if it passes the test of my energetic brushstrokes...

ps: I just saw yesterday a similar post from fellow painter Tim King who has built some great pochade boxes so click here to have a look.

11 comments:

  1. Hi Val,

    what a lovely box!
    I am a great fan of home build boxes although there are soo much nice specimen in the shops to buy, nothing beats a home made one!!

    You might wanna have a look at Wetcanvas as well, I'll put down a link here but I don't really know if it will work otherwise you have to look for the search engine yourself on WC.

    http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/search.php?searchid=37278

    Good luck, and if I can help you in any way building some nudges or hinges please feel free to ask!!

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  2. Very nice Valérie. It'll look even better when you get some paint on it and it starts to build up a nice patina.

    I have a nice handmade pochade box but have to admit I am waiting for my new Open Box M to arrive :-)

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  3. How cool. One of my friends husbands made her a modified box. Being made to her specifications she loved it. I hope yours is just what you need.
    Doug

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  4. Looks amazing to me! Hope to have a practical view of it, when I get the opportunity to paint alongside you.

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  5. Nice one Valerie, in particular I like the elastic canvas anchor, ingenious. You can see my first pochade box here ianlettice.blogspot.com/2011/03/pochade-boxes.html It was a bit heavy so I made a smaller one to the same design which I currently use. There's nothing like making your own (or if you are lucky getting a pal to make it!!!)

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  6. Thanks guys for the comments. I'm happy to see you are all as geeky as me and excited by new painting toys! René, I need to sign up with wetcanvas to be able to see the link so I'll do that soon. Roy I bet you can't wait for your open Box M to arrive, that's the real deal that one. I'll treat myself with one of those when I sell enough paintings! Ian - I like the look of your first pochade although it does look heavy so I can show off with my lightweight option, but I will be keeping a low profile if it collapses after a couple of brushstrokes and a little breeze!
    Happy painting everybody!

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  7. This is beautifully made Valerie! I made mine too and love it but it is definitely heavier!! Perhaps I will look to make a lighter version for backpacking.

    One suggestion which I added to mine and LOVE, is to glue a strong magnet or two somewhere on the outside edge of the box as a handy place to "stick" your palette knife. It's simple and soooo nice to have an extra hand.

    Cheers,
    Scott
    http://artistindisguise-scott.blogspot.com/

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  8. Thanks Scott for the comment and good tips. I had a look at your blog and your pochade is lovely and looks very much loved and cherished!

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