I bought my new bigger pochade box to produce finished paintings. I got
the idea from Stefan Baumann's 1920 box. Design of this old box was very
thoughtfully executed. Three panels (no standardization for size at that time),
palette, paints, oil etc and brushes. The previous artist who owned it put
cardboard separations for tubes. This is very similar to what the Hudson
River School artists and most of the other olden day painters used. They sat on a tripod stool and painted
straightaway. No business with tripod and other stuff (observe Albert Bierstadt
surrounded by American Indians). This box will serve its true purpose
if it is put inside a Gloucester easel (now Take it easel).
I looked over the internet and found only this box from Indian artists product manufacturer Brustro. It is intended by the manufacturer to be a mere pallet
and color carrier box (not sure why) but its perfect size, weight and good looks are well suited to those old designs.
Palette, brushes, tubes etc. I pasted a few wood chips inside as palette rests.
I
prefer rags as against paper towels to wipe off paint. Need just five colors of Mark Carder
palette and a few extras, a plastic medicinal spray bottle filled with
medium and I am in business.
Below is an 8X10 canvas board but you can add masonite/MDF/ply panels as well. The maker could have gone
straightaway to a size for an 8X10 or a 9X12 to make life easy. Anyway, I decided to make further changes.
This is how the box would sit on my lap sitting down. Perfect size. I Needed something stable to keep the box in place.
Box
shut. As I said earlier - this box is specifically for finished paintings from my tours. I will use my little thumb box locally. I can put this a tripod hole later if I make the base a
little harder.
Made my new 8X10 panels by putting three coats of gesso on top of MDF panels. I found an e-commerce plastic bag and turned it into a brush holder using a bulldog clip. Big brushes are placed to the rear inside the bag. Only
thing remains is to fix the panel holders in place and create an L for
smaller panels. This box can hold three wet panels.
My outdoor painting box is almost done. I bought a powerdrill and
attached the left panel holder onto that woodblock that I cut all by
myself. This box can now hold three MDF panels. I made an 'L' for vertical format and smaller panels (if any).
I ordered a few D
clips from amazon. I put two of those onto the
sides of the lower base to attach a strap. I will tie this strap around
my waste tightly while painting so that the box doesn't fall off when I am a little
less attentive of my posture. The strap of my old violin case came into use here. Now this box is ready for all my plein air adventures.☺
