Pochade Box ready for travel.

Now is the season to get outside.  The weather is perfect for outdoor activities—outdoor painting being one of them.  And there are artists with the ability to paint outside with achingly beautiful results (unfortunately I am not one of them but it doesn’t stop me from trying).  En plein air is the act of painting outdoors, enabling an artist to capture the changing details of light and weather.  With the invention of tube paint in 1841, artists were able to carry their supplies.  A pochade box is used to make painting outdoors more convenient by organizing equipment as if a mobile studio.  John Constable, one of the early plein air artists, was known to make pochades in the size of the intended painting.  I have had a reliable pochade box for twenty years and am surprised at how often I am asked where to buy one and what to buy.  This post discusses the basics of a pochade box and includes my list of plein air essentials.

Troy Broussard, 2005, Castleton Tower, Utah.

French impressionists Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-August Renoir advocated plein air painting and much of their work was done beneath the sky.  Not to mention my own work in the same paragraph as such august masters but included with the information is a selection of my own plein air pieces.

From the French word poche or pocket, a pochade also refers to the type of painting done en plein air.  A pochade captures the colors and atmosphere of a scene, and differs from a croquis which is line art or drawing.  The most successful pochade box has several characteristics:  it is sturdy but lightweight, it holds enough supplies for a day’s work, and it has a hinged lid that becomes an easel.

Troy Broussard, 2018, Guadalupe River, Texas.

When I go on a trip, whether a road trip or camping, the pochade box is as an important travel tool as my other luggage.  Years ago friend and fellow painter Michael Anderson and I assembled our pochade boxes together.  After a few trial runs we perfected the materials list from palettes to paints to table coverings.  The table covering was important because we actually set up at an outdoor restaurant.  Keep the wine coming!  And we carried them onto an international flight—the TSA searched the boxes and were unsure what to make of them.  But when Michael flashed magazine articles from our recent exhibits, the intrigued agents allowed our kits on board.  And I like to adorn the box with a sticker from each place I go—at this point I am running low on available surface space but it looks rather worldly.

It’s me painting on a cliff in Canyonlands National Park.

In my quest for a streamlined lifestyle, I have not had a dedicated art studio for years.  However, when I am working on a painting I need only take my box to the dining table and it has all the tools necessary for the day’s project—or a good start anyway.

I like a box with ample interior space for everything needed.  The first box shown below is most similar to mine–it is inexpensive, durable, and has plenty of room for the list of supplies.  The canvas can fit inside or affix to the lid.  I have customized mine with a shoulder strap for ease of carry.  The second box shown has more bells and whistles, including a nylon carrying case and a camera/phone mount.  Both boxes are perfect for the hobbiest, whether beginner or a seasoned painter.

And whether you should select acrylic or oil paint, I have learned that wet oil is difficult to transport especially with other luggage, people, and a dog.

Troy Broussard, 2007, Houma Marsh, Louisiana.

The following list represents the basics necessary for work in the field:

     Brushes (5-6 with varying purposes)

     Palette

     Palette Knife

     Water Jar (an olive jar works well)

     Towel or Rag

     Place Mat or Small Table Cloth

     Pencil

     Business Cards

      Paint (small tubes):

Troy Broussard, 2007, Houma Marsh, Louisiana.

                            white

                            black

                            buff titanium

                            red

                            yellow  

                            French ultramarine blue

                            Phthalo green

                            Phthalo blue

                            purple

Troy Broussard, 2020, Galveston, Texas.

                            rose

                            yellow ochre

                            Hooker’s green

                            sap green

                            leaf green

                            orange

                            burnt umber

                            raw sienna

                            burnt sienna

               (optional colors)

                            Van Dyck brown

                            terracotta

                            cobalt

                            cyan

                            gold