Home Forums Explore Subjects Plein Air French Easel vs. Pochade Box

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  • #985245
    tbezesky
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        I have a french easel and I have been thinking about selling it and getting a Pochade Box. The EasyL Versa.
        What are the pros and cons to the Pochade Box?

        Tracy Bezesky
        New Blog:
        http://www.dailyWIP.com/

        #1057653
        khourianya
        Default

            I have a french easel, an aluminum tripod easel and a small homemade pochade box. Having tried all 3 with my pastels, I vote pochade. It is just so easy to open up the box and start painting. I love it!

            Cori Nicholls
            #1057709
            ElisabethG
            Default

                What about the soltek? Not enough people using it to make it a choice? I love mine. I have had to send it back for the legs one time since I’ve had it – I bought it for $200 at an art society sale. It was in pristine condition- maybe used once by a watercolor artist? Now, it looks VERY well used indeed!:)

                [font=Palatino Linotype]C&C Always Welcome! :wave: [/font]

                [font=Palatino Linotype]Elisabeth[/font]
                [font=Palatino Linotype]www.elisabethmcginn.com[/font]

                #1057593
                JamieWG
                Default

                    IMO, for painting large, there is nothing better than a French easel. It’s like having my studio there with me. I use that almost all the time. If I’m going smaller than 11×14, I can use my pochade box instead. I use the box most toward the end of the day when I’m getting tired. I also have an aluminum, lightweight easel for treks that don’t permit me to lug the French. I’m not convinced that there’s a single solution for me. I think I need all three. The legs constantly breaking o the Soltek would drive me batty, so until they fix that problem, that’s not the easel for me.

                    Jamie

                    Hudson Valley Painter[/url]
                    Hudson Valley Sketches -- Reviews/Lightfastness Tests/Art Materials
                    [/url]
                    One year from now, you'll wish you had started today.

                    #1057578
                    tbezesky
                    Default

                        Jamie, which pochade box do you have?
                        My thinking is I don’t like to carry the french easel much and it doesn’t fit in normal backpack and it gets heavy if you carry it a distance, and I found this box they claimed to hold larger paintings, but I need to find out how well it works.
                        This is the one I am looking at:
                        EasyL Versa Pochade Box

                        Tracy Bezesky
                        New Blog:
                        http://www.dailyWIP.com/

                        #1057647
                        WTPDOSA
                        Default

                            I have two different easels; one a flat piece of birch with a 1/2 inch lip at the bottom, and the other is an EasyL Versa pochade box. Both mount on a tripod, and each one serves it’s own purpose. I’ve stopped using my panel and now only use my EasyL Versa because of it’s versitility when using w/s oils and watercolors; and that it holds a couple of wet panels.

                            [FONT="Verdana"]Peace,
                            Fr. Tom

                            “The only way the artist can appeal to humanity is in the guise of the high priest. He must show people more-more than they already see-and he must show them with so much human sympathy and understanding that they will recognize it as if they themselves had seen the beauty and the glory.” ~ Charles Hawthorn [/SIZE]

                            #1057565
                            Erik
                            Default

                                Although I primarily use my Open Box M easel, I do use my Jullian Easel now and then along with French Companion fold-out palette which gives me a lot of working space. As long as I don’t have to walk too far, the Jullian is wonderful.

                                I find the Open Box M to be incredibly lightweight and compact. I can fit everything I need into a hiking backpack.

                                #1057579
                                tbezesky
                                Default

                                    Tom, thanks for your help. Is Versa sturdy enough to hold larger panels as they claim?

                                    Tracy Bezesky
                                    New Blog:
                                    http://www.dailyWIP.com/

                                    #1057594
                                    JamieWG
                                    Default

                                        Jamie, which pochade box do you have?
                                        My thinking is I don’t like to carry the french easel much and it doesn’t fit in normal backpack and it gets heavy if you carry it a distance, and I found this box they claimed to hold larger paintings, but I need to find out how well it works.
                                        This is the one I am looking at:
                                        [URL=http://www.artworkessentials.com/products/VERSA/Versa.htm]EasyL Versa Pochade Box[/URL]

                                        Tracy, I strap my french easel to a luggage rack that I got at Staples which has large wheels. I just wheel it everywhere. It’s so easy. Because the wheels are large, it can navigate most of the terrain in the places I paint. I can paint 24×36 on it easily. However, if I’m going to have to climb, I bring the Weber Integra instead.

                                        My box was made by Loretta Louviere. She’s not making them anymore. For me, the most critical thing in a pochade box was that it be very compact and lightweight. I only work small on it (up to about 11×14, though I’ve done 8×16 on it as well).

                                        Jamie

                                        Hudson Valley Painter[/url]
                                        Hudson Valley Sketches -- Reviews/Lightfastness Tests/Art Materials
                                        [/url]
                                        One year from now, you'll wish you had started today.

                                        #1057552

                                        Hi Guys, I also have both. If I know what I am going to paint and the walk is not far it’s the Jullian everytime. What I like the best is all the stuff you can pile on top of it. With a pochade box all your junk has to go on the ground. Jamie, I managed to get one of Lorreta,s last boxes, love it,beautifully made box.

                                        Tony

                                        #1057648
                                        WTPDOSA
                                        Default

                                            In my opinion, not only will the Versa hold larger panels, but canvases as well. It has almost no limit to the width which makes it wonderful for landscape configurations. If one was handy with tools, one could paint as large as you could make the T bar, which is easily removed and replaced. How big were you thinking en plein air?

                                            [FONT="Verdana"]Peace,
                                            Fr. Tom

                                            “The only way the artist can appeal to humanity is in the guise of the high priest. He must show people more-more than they already see-and he must show them with so much human sympathy and understanding that they will recognize it as if they themselves had seen the beauty and the glory.” ~ Charles Hawthorn [/SIZE]

                                            #1057531
                                            Larry Seiler
                                            Default

                                                I had to vote pochade box, because its the work horse for much of what I have been doing the past 1-1/2 years or so…thing is though, its not one or the other.

                                                I have the El Greco Trident mahogany half-box…which is a bit of a pain carrying in-country for 1-2 miles….but, for painting on supports 16X20 or larger….there’s nuthin’ better! I’d take that hands down.

                                                Convenience, setting up speed and tearing down, storing in a backpack for hiking…the pochade box rules.

                                                Larry

                                                Larry Seiler- Signature Member IPAP; Signature Member American Impressionist Society AIS
                                                Main website! https://larryseiler-artist.com/

                                                #1057847

                                                IMO, for painting large, there is nothing better than a French easel. It’s like having my studio there with me. I use that almost all the time. If I’m going smaller than 11×14, I can use my pochade box instead. I use the box most toward the end of the day when I’m getting tired. I also have an aluminum, lightweight easel for treks that don’t permit me to lug the French. I’m not convinced that there’s a single solution for me. I think I need all three. The legs constantly breaking o the Soltek would drive me batty, so until they fix that problem, that’s not the easel for me.

                                                Jamie

                                                I also have a French easel and an Integra for the same reasons. I didn’t use the Jullian even once last year, as the Integra was so convenient.

                                                A strange thing happened. Since getting the French companion, I LOVE the Jullian again!

                                                #1057580
                                                tbezesky
                                                Default

                                                    In my opinion, not only will the Versa hold larger panels, but canvases as well. It has almost no limit to the width which makes it wonderful for landscape configurations. If one was handy with tools, one could paint as large as you could make the T bar, which is easily removed and replaced. How big were you thinking en plein air?

                                                    Right now I haven’t gone bigger than 12×16 for plein air, but I want to go bigger once I get faster and more adapted to plein air, and sometimes a more panoramic size. I generally like to paint bigger.
                                                    I also do some figure life painting with a group, there I have been using a 14″x18″ vertical. Parking is not good where we go either so dragging the french easel is a pain.

                                                    Tracy Bezesky
                                                    New Blog:
                                                    http://www.dailyWIP.com/

                                                    #1057649
                                                    WTPDOSA
                                                    Default

                                                        Tracy,
                                                        From what youv’e mentioned, I’d say that the EasyL Versa would be just what the doctor ordered.

                                                        [FONT="Verdana"]Peace,
                                                        Fr. Tom

                                                        “The only way the artist can appeal to humanity is in the guise of the high priest. He must show people more-more than they already see-and he must show them with so much human sympathy and understanding that they will recognize it as if they themselves had seen the beauty and the glory.” ~ Charles Hawthorn [/SIZE]

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