New Pochade Boxes and a New Painting

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

There's snow in the mountains and freshly plowed fields in the valley. Spring is here! The painting shown above is the first one to come out of a new pochade box - the latest box in a string of pochade boxes which started with this:

6" x 8" Julian Thumb Box

Bought online as a clearance item, this is the first pochade box I owned. It's advantages are that it's light and very portable. Disadvantages are: it only holds one panel, the lid doesn't open past 90° , it doesn't attach to a tripod, and the thumb hole is a miserable way to paint. Nonetheless, I made an adapter so it could be attached to a tripod (which can be seen here), and built some 6" x 8" panel holders. That little thumb box was carried all over the place until other pochade boxes came along.

When I wanted an 8" x 10" pochade box, I built one. The idea for the design of the 8" x 10" box came from the Julian thumb box, with a few changes. The lid was made to open a little past 90° and hold three panels. Instead of the miserable thumb hole, a T-nut was added so the box can attach to a tripod. Also, the brace that holds the lid open can be detached and stored inside the box when not in use. That pochade box can be seen here. From there I built a number of other pochade boxes of various designs and sizes. Depending upon the box, they hold painting panels in these sizes: 5" x 7", 6" x 8", or 8" x 10". A couple examples of those can be seen here and here. Any paintings larger than 8" x 10" had to be done on an easel.

Pochade boxes are intended to be small and portable. With more than one of each of the sizes previously mentioned, I thought I was pretty well set. But - I can't seem to stop building pochade boxes! The advantages of having a 9" x 12" pochade box kept coming to mind. Although a box that size wouldn't be as small and easy to carry as the smaller pochade boxes, it would be easier than carrying an easel and panel holders. Also, 9" x 12" paintings sell better for me than the smaller sizes do. Besides that, I had access to woodworking stuff, and had some pieces of alder wood and baltic birch that were just begging me to make them into pochade boxes! So I did. Here they are:

The design of these 9" x 12" pochade boxes is the same as the 8" x 10" box mentioned earlier in this post. The only real difference besides the size is that the slide-out palette is made of clear Plexiglas rather than baltic birch. That's because I didn't have any 1/8" baltic birch available and a local art supply store was selling 1/8" Plexiglas scraps for just a buck or two each. That works. Here's a couple more pictures:

Both 9" x 12" pochade boxes hold the same size panels, of course, but one of the boxes has a slightly deeper bottom than the other. That's just because of the pieces of wood that were available to me at the time. Both boxes work just fine. Here's a couple photos of the slimmer 9" x 12" box in action:

The image at the top of this post shows the first painting to come out of the 9" x 12" pochade box. I'm looking forward to more!

The Day Before Equinox

7" x 5" Oil on Panel

The last full day of winter I went out looking for something wild and green to paint. After climbing a few hundred feet up a mountainside I came across this cliffrose. Not terribly green, but it's wonderful gesture snagged my attention. It looks like a dancing tree that was frozen in mid-twirl.

My Setup for the Day

The hike up to that spot was a little steep, but the little 5" x 7" pochade box can go anywhere. Just a hundred yards or so up the slope from me a single mule deer browsed on thin mountain grasses as I painted.

The View Across the Valley from the Day's Painting Spot.

It was a great day to be out painting! 

I've recently finished a couple more projects - new pieces of plein air painting equipment - that I'll be posting about in a few days, so stay tuned!

Vernal Equinox 2014

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

To celebrate this first day of spring I took the little 5 x 7 pochade box up to the mouth of Slate Canyon. Walking up a steep trail through sagebrush, I saw this view of the southern Wasatch and thought a painting of it would make a nice memento of this really nice spring day.

Japanese Woman - Charcoal Sketch

Here's a sketch made a few years ago at the weekly drawing session. It's charcoal and "white charcoal" on light gray paper. Size approximately 15" x 11". This model, like several of our models, sat for us on numerous occasions. There are a couple more sketches I made of her that I'll post sometime in the future - one in color and one of her in an unexpected cultural outfit - so stay tuned!

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

Spring in February

8" x 10" Oil on Panel

There were a couple really nice days during the last week of February. Temperatures were in the 50's and breezes, if there were any, were mild. Songbirds were not only singing more, but also different kinds of songs. In marshy ranch land and near the lake western chorus frogs added their voices to the approach of spring. Ducks and geese were staking out their favorite spots in marsh puddles or along the river. The trumpet calls of sandhill cranes could be heard across the fields. As I painted the scene shown above, I heard the high-pitched staccato call of a bald eagle - not a sign of spring, but always cool to hear. I even had to pick a couple bugs out of my paint -  a sure sign the weather's getting warmer.

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

These were perfect days to go outside with the pochade boxes, so I headed for the river trail west of town. Wednesday the 8x10 pochade box went with me. The next day was the little 5x7's turn. If I only painted indoors in a studio, I'd play hooky on days like these. But, for me, painting and the outdoors fit together wonderfully so there's no need to choose between painting and enjoying an early springlike day. Why not do both?

February Overcast

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

Halfway through the month I finally went painting. It wasn't a very sunny day, but my paintbox wanted to go outdoors, so I went with it! After walking along the river trail for a while, I discovered it really was a nice day to be outside after all. A gray day spent outdoors is always better than a sunny day stuck indoors. 

This was painted west of town along the bike path that follows the river.

Utah 2014 Show

Tomorrow, February 21, 2014 is the opening of a new show at Evergreen Gallery, 3295 South 2000 East  in Salt Lake City. The show is called Utah 2014. It's a group show, and all of the painters featured in the exhibit have each painted a 20" x 14" cradle board for the show. The opening reception is tomorrow from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM. All of the paintings in the exhibit are for sale. Pictured above is my entry for the show, a plein air oil painting made a few weeks ago. Here is something Evergreen Gallery has published about the show:

"Utah 2014 is the first annual Evergreen Framing Co. & Gallery, Inc. artist reception and exhibition of the new year. This event presents unique and collectable artwork, created by 28 established and emerging local artists. All art is on 20 x 14 cradle boards, with each artist creating work in their recognizable style with everything from landscapes to modern, inspired by their journey and reflection of Utah. Please come and join us for a night of art, artists and conversations of how we are inspired by the very place we call home. Friday, February 21, 2014 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm."

While visiting the show, you can also tour the rest of the gallery and see a few other paintings I've recently delivered for sale.

For more information, you can click on the link, or contact Evergreen Gallery at 801-467-8770.