Keeping oil paint usable for the Pochade Box.

This is an update on the Pochade Box I made last year and how I keep paint on the palette.




The box after six months use

So far I haven’t found any reason to make modifications to the box apart from drilling four small holes, one in each corner to let the rain out!

One thing I have made is a second palette. I can now have two palettes set with paint.

Usually one for landscapes and one for portraits I like to experiment with different colour palettes. I designed the box with a slide out palette, so as soon as I finish painting for the day I put the palette in the freezer.
That way the paint stays usable for days, and with some pigments for weeks. Oil paint dries by a chemical reaction, the oil oxidizes, that is it reacts with oxygen in the air which causes it to polymerise. This reaction can be slowed down by cooling the paint.

I’ve made a wooden block with two groves in it to keep the two palettes separated.



First palette set in the block



The two palettes showing the separation

They then get put into a plastic bag before going in the freezer.

Ready for the freezer

Getting ready for spring.

Pochade box.

Thought I would document my oak pochade box today. Pochade has become the name for a small paintbox usually for use outdoors. Pochade is a French word and the early pochade was a simple fold up wooden envelop, the bottom leaf was the palette while the top held a single sheet of canvas taped into the lid. Two strips of wood separate the wet palette from the painted sketch when closed for carrying home. This is still a good solution if you like to sit while painting and has the advantage of being extremely light weight.
For my Box I wanted it to fit on a tripod as I like to stand while painting. It also needed to be self-contained and carry my paint tubes, brushes plus multiple wet painting boards.

The standard camera tripod thread is 1/4" Whitworth so I turned up a bronze bush tapped with a1/4"w thread.

The bush is fitted into the internal oak block which is glued to the back and bottom of the box to form a rigid support with the tripod head.

The four 9"x12" painting boards fit into the groves and are held in place while travelling by the removable top bar.

The top and palette are both secured by the same catch.

More tomorrow, let me know if you want more details of the construction.