HOW TO MAKE A FREE POCHADE PAINT BOX by TOM BROWN

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Painting directly from Nature can make you a much better studio painter. And here’s a way to try it without spending a cent on special equipment.

It’s a compact pochade box you can make for virtually nothing. It’s small and portable, and it contains your paints and palette with mixing area, and it holds your painting in place while you paint.

To make one use any small cardboard box with a hinged lid like the one in the photos here. Tape a sheet of palette paper in the base and put out your colors while still at home; this saves time messing around with tubes of paint when you arrive where you’re going to paint. (Tip: Use a limited palette to keep things simple. I used 5 colors plus white for this one.)

I affix my panel to a piece of cardboard with rolled up bits of tape, sticky side out (a gessoed Masonite panel in this case). This allows me to handle the wet painting without smearing it or getting paint on my hands.

A spring clip attaches that inside the lid of the box while I paint. When I’m finished I unclip the panel and close the box. It’s that simple.

If you’re going to paint several paintings, bring multiple panels, with each one affixed to a separate cardboard backing. Then you can swap out a finished one and clip a fresh one in place right away.

I hope this helps you get started. And if you want more of my tips, tricks and techniques check out the videos in the right-hand column of my blog.

Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you HAPPY PAINTING!

Tom Brown

tombrownstudio@cox.net