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.

The Avon, Bath on a sunny winter day

Last Saturday I went painting just a short walk from my flat alongside the Avon. It was a beautiful sunny day and the opportunity to try for the first time my new pochade box which I ordered specially from the USA (I'm such a nerd aren't I).

The Avon, Bath on a  sunny winter day    oil on board   14"x10"

As I was painting, a kid passing by told me (with a strong local accent) "you shouldn't paint the bridge, it's a horrible bridge." I'm afraid I didn't follow his advice and did find it rather interesting to paint and was pleased to include it in the painting!