Secondhand Pochade?

[Julie Deane]

That gorgeous landscape!!! Is that out your front door?

[Laurel Alanna McBrine]

Wow, what a great setup. I also have a french half easel, but sometimes it is too bulky and heavy to be practical.

I have rigged up a few systems using old cigar boxes or simply a piece of masonite (I use sturdy clamps to attach the panel I paint on), that screw to the tripod, but I particularly love your shelf below. It must be very convenient to have somewhere to put your brushes, palette and oil when using your tripod setup. Outdoor painting has enough challenges - dealing with wind, bugs, dust, curious passersby - without having to juggle equipment too.

Are you able to give some close up photos or a description so we can understand how you made it?

By the way, I love your plein air pieces of those gorgeous vistas!

[Nancy Bea Miller]

Hi everyone;

Wow, thanks for showing us your cool system Allan! Truly impressive. I actually do already have a home-made system I use for outdoor painting that is not too a distant trek from house or car...but I am interested in a pochade system for hiking a good distance carrying a small and light plein air system. Which is what the pochade systems are for, specifically.

I have tried Craigslist and Ebay as yet to no avail. Plenty of people trying to sell their French easels ,but I've had no luck with finding secondhand pochades. I even emailed one of the pochade manufacturers which runs a newsy/folksy plein air newsletter asking if they might include a "Classified" section where people trading up to the next level could sell their used system. Perhaps this was a bit ingenuous, as I received no reply.

Please keep me in mind if you hear of a source? And thanks again for all the interest in and response to my query!

[Allan Rahbek]

Nancy Bae,
Here are the details, I hope it illustrates how everything is made.

The first picture is all the peaces you need to make an easel out of a photo tripod, if you hold the palette in the hand.

The easel is as lightweight as the pochade system and it takes canvas up to 30 " in the hight. I put it into a backpack. The only thing you will have to carry in hand is the finished painting.

Julie and Laurel,
Thanks, the landscapes are from Geilo, Norway.

[Allan Rahbek]

More pics.

[Michele Rushworth]

Quite ingenious, Allan. Thanks for posting it.

Though that might have been "easy" for you to make, I feel quite sure that it would be beyond my limited handyman abilities to put together, let alone to find or make the parts for!

[Laurel Alanna McBrine]

Nancy Bea,

I hope you find what you are looking for. If you don't, you might want to try attaching a nut to the bottom of a cigar box, small wooden easel box (fairly inexpensive at art supply stores) or even just a piece of masonite (I glued a 1 1/2" square piece of wood to the middle to hold the nut) that will allow you to attach it to your tripod. Not perfect, but cheap

Allan,

Thanks for the photos - my hat is off to your creative inventiveness. Very impressive!

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

Quite ingenious, Allan. Thanks for posting it.

Though that might have been "easy" for you to make, I feel quite sure that it would be beyond my limited handyman abilities to put together, let alone to find or make the parts for!

Michele,
I know that one have to have a workplace and some tools. But the materials are cheep.

The flat metal was taken from an old stainless kitchen table, the aluminum pipes are 5/8", total lengt 60". the wing nuts from the hardware store.

The shelf and palette are made from birch plywood and varnised.

Then, of cause, you will have to buy a couple of wine bottles to your good friend the handyman

If anybody is going to try it, please ask questions, I will post additional meassures.