As someone who loves to get outdoors I knew I wanted to try plein air painting, but I didn’t want to spend too much on equipment until I was sure it was something I would enjoy and stick with. So I built my own pochade box. I think the total cost was somewhere around $15. I was able to use some bits and pieces of wood and hardware that we already had around, so if you had buy everything you might be looking at $20 or so. Still a lot better than most of the pochades I’ve seen online.
I started with a silver chest I found in the thrift store for $9.99. I ripped out the cardboard and fake fabric that formed the indentations for the spoons, etc, and was left with a nice solid wooden box – except for the bottom, which turned out to be heavy cardboard. It measures about 10.75 x 14.5 x 3″; that’s an 8 x 10″ canvas board sitting in it to give an idea of its size.
Then I partitioned off the inside with some 1/4 x 1.25″ strips of wood, which also formed a support for a palette I cut to fit from a piece of masonite. (It needs to be coated with oil periodically to keep it from soaking up the oil in the paints.) I also stuck a thin strip of masonite on the bottom of the lid (under the canvas board), as well as a scrap from a paint stirring stick on the side. They extend past the edge of the lid just enough to hold the palette in place when the lid is closed. I screwed a piece of 1 x 1″ wood to the back to support the lid when it’s open.
Finally, I screwed a scrap piece of plywood to the bottom to give a solid surface to insert a tee nut into, so I could use it with a tripod. The plywood is longer than the box, so it forms a nice little shelf that I can set things on as I paint. I put the tee nut at the point of balance when the lid is open, determined by balancing it on a small pill bottle. That’s why it’s not in the centre of the box.
It’s not a thing of beauty, but this has worked reasonably well for me so far. Its biggest drawback is that the bottom of the panel is so close to the palette that I keep getting paint all over my arm and hand. But it’s definitely good enough to use for the time being. I found a video on Zan Barrage’s blog that shows how to make a couple of great pochades, so once I have a better sense of what I want in one I will probably try to build another.
