How to Build a Pochade Box from a Cigar Box

POCHADE BOXES are a compact, portable painting studio in a box which work especially well for the landscape artist. I made this one myself and I will show you how.

But first a bit of pochade box history…

The word, “pochade” is French which means a quick color sketch. Originally painters from the 18^th and 19^th century had to lug big heavy French easels into the field. Pochade boxes have made painting out-of-doors or ‘en plein air’ painting easy. A small pochade box makes it easy to pack for painting trips.

Traditional pochade boxes had three simple elements:

• A hinged lid that functioned as an easel and wet carrier.
• A palette and the lower portion of the box that stored paints, brushes and other mediums.
• The cigar box made into a tiny, portable studio.

Back ‘in the day’ these homemade and compact painting boxes made it easy for the painter to work quickly out-of-doors.

Today, pochade boxes have become popular again.Now days they are sized to use a 5×7, 6×8 or 8×10 painting panel.As well as the panel, they hold everything you need to paint: colors, palette, brushes, mediums, and solvents. They are small, so that you can take them anywhere and paint from the car.

With these easy directions you can make a pochade box out of a cigar box just like the old impressionist masters!

It is easy to make a pochade box at home. There are many online instructions to help you make your own, but Ellie Clemen’s tips  were really helpful. I bought many different cigar boxes on eBay, but you can also visit your local tobacco shops orliquor stores that also sell cigars. The kind of box to look for is one with a recessed cover. Many have a flat cover, and are not as suitable for transforming into pochade boxes. The recess cover allows enough depth for your panel to sit. My favorite cigar box brands are Bering, Hemingway, Te Amo and House of Windsor.

These boxes are approximately 8×7×3 inches deep.  This size works well with a 5×7 panel that sits in the lid.

Ok…here we go!

Make a brace hardware support for the cover:
Since your painting panel will be resting in the cover of the box, you need some way to make the cover strong enough to hold in place while you are painting. I made a support with two small pieces of metal called mending strips.

These are easily found in a hardware store.  Then I used asmall flathead screw with a small wingnut to hold the metal strips together in order to hold the lid up to the desired angle.  I uses two small screws to mount the mending strips to the box…one on the lid and one on the box.  See picture below.

All the cigar boxes have cheap hardware that will not hold up to outdoor painting. I replaced the hinges and add a new latch (a hook and eye works well) to the front. These small hinges and latches can easily be found in a good hardware store or craft store.

Make a panel holder:

Cigar boxes have small fillets of wood that extend up from the lower part of the box into the cover and you can use these wood fillets keep the panel in place when the box is closed.

For my box, the 5×7 panel fit the cover exactly horizontally. To be sure that the panel doesn’t move while I’m painting, I used a hook screw to hold the panel in place. Or you can simply use double stick tape to hold your panel in place while you’re painting.

I hope you try building your own pochade box. I keep it in my car and use it while waiting for my kids during soccer or tutoring. On hikes, I can pack it easily along with a camera and whip out small studies. Also, mine worked really well for me on a family vacation in the Virgin Islands. I could paint with my pochade box in my lap while sitting on the beach. 

Enjoy and go find your own places to use your new little pochade box – even in your own backyard!

Happy Painting – LorI