Home Forums Explore Media Watercolor The Learning Zone Alla Prima Pochade to Watercolor

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  • #473623
    v.kapoor
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        Hey all!

        I’m new to watercolors and own an Alla Prima Pochade Box.
        Have any of you adapted one of these boxes to use with watercolors?

        Would love to hear your ideas or see some pics.

        Thank you-

        #831918

        Just did a Google Advanced search and found this question has been answered before.

        Doug


        We must leave our mark on this world

        #831923
        v.kapoor
        Default

            I already found that thread, but it doesn’t answer if anyone uses an Alla Prima. Sienna and Guerilla both make watercolor palettes that fit into their pochades, but what are Alla Prima users doing to modify their pochades?

            Would love any insight on this.
            Thanks!

            #831926
            calvin_0
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                why do you want to modify your pochade box? is there a particular need that your box doesnt provide?

                if your box could fit in one of these, you should be good to go..

                #831919
                briantmeyer
                Default

                    In general any box works, just find the pallette, water cup, brush holder which work for you. Not much to adapt but what you are using is designed for oils and acrylics. I have developed quite a few boxes, mostly you just need a palette and water container, and a way of holding your paper/brushes. I don’t see how you can modify that particular box to work better, its going to work as is just fine, and the real issue is the overall design is based on a box from the get go.

                    Here is a hand held palette I set up, note your stuff does not need to be in the box to be useful, but this gives the idea of things you need. Enamel spray paint can make anything a mixing area. Just figure out a palette, brush holder, cup holder, which fits into your pochade, the canvas holder can hold a pad of paper.

                    The issue with what you have, is you can’t really easily adjust the angle you are painting at. Gravity, the angle we paint at, that is something you want to be able to adjust constantly – hence the popularity of just using a board on a tripod, with some sort of swivel to adjust to any angle.

                    I used to have boxes on top, and there is a tendency for the box to tip over if the tripod can’t handle the given amount of weight, either because the swivel top gets loose, or because its top heavy. I now avoid this approach entirely, just too risky. If you want to use a big box, the french easel with its own legs, or even better a table like zbukvics is a better design.

                    The better approach is to attach your box to the bottom of the tripod, onto the legs, then just have a board with a tripod connector on the back. And then its simpler to just have a shelf there. The board can be really light, and the box’s weight actually keeps the tripod from tipping if its in strong winds since its lower.

                    This is also rather easy to setup yourself, a tray of some sort on the legs, then there are various ways of getting a connector onto the back of the board. The board can be anything from wood to gatorboard to coroplast ( like they use for election / real estate signs ). And because the board is on the swivel connector which adjusts position, if you got a nasty drip coming down, you can quickly change it to horizontal without knocking over your entire box.

                    The en plein air pro is a good example of this. It has the feature of the board having a lip, so you can use sketchbooks on it.

                    I have boards with 1/4″ 20 tpi insert nuts on them, costs a few dollars and you just have to drill a piece of wood so it can fit into, then glue it on to light piece of wood, plastic, hardboard, gatorboard, etc. This thread size is the same as found on cameras. They also have a mounting plate you can get for about $20 on amazon. The tripod connector just screws onto this, then it attaches via a quick release system.

                    #831920
                    briantmeyer
                    Default

                        Here is an actual setup of someone who was painting watercolors since before I was born. This is Jim Millard, who has probably taught just about everyone a thing or two about watercolors, a real master of the california school style.




                        You can see all the gear he has, with a chair, rolling cart, table, and an easel, but what is relevant to you is the last shot, showing the tray under the picture. Note the palette and watercup, buy something like these, and put them in your box some where. You might want to measure your box, and look for a palette that will fit into it well, palettes can be as simple and small as a sucrets box, or the big pikes palettes.

                        As you use them, you will adjust this, but it should kind of look like what is presented here functionally – regardless if you are using a box, an easel, a pochade, a plein air pro, which isn’t really that important, but generally the area under your painting has your palette and a water container, perhaps 2 water containers even.

                        #831922
                        teshparekh
                        Default

                            Hey all!

                            I’m new to watercolors and own an Alla Prima Pochade Box.
                            Have any of you adapted one of these boxes to use with watercolors?

                            Would love to hear your ideas or see some pics.

                            Thank you-

                            Will you please post a picture of your pochade box setup?

                            Thank you.

                            - Tesh Parekh

                            #831924
                            v.kapoor
                            Default

                                Thanks for all the tips/photos everyone! Keep you posted on my set-up.

                                #831921
                                Monichetta
                                Default

                                    Hope this isn’t too off topic. Made me think of adapting a pochade I have here for watercolour.

                                    Can someone remind me which is the best white enamel (?) paint for turning a clear glass plate into a mixing palette? And is it possible to use paint under or over the plate- that is mix watercolour paint directly on the glass surface, having made the underside white to show the colours? Does glass make watercolour bead up or is it like porcelain? Thanks, and sorry it’s such a basic question!

                                    'Art is an experience, not an object.'
                                    ~ Robert Motherwell

                                    #831925
                                    Ted B.
                                    Default

                                        Typically glass is too-smooth for water-based paint, great for acrylics and oils.

                                        The method I’ve used is to take a plastic palette like Calvin_0 posted and spray the inside with White automotive touch-up paint from the hardware store. (Not the primer.) The enamel kills most of the water beading, and a plastic palette is relatively affordable. If the staining gets annoying, just thoroughly clean, let dry well, and respray.

                                        If you want to paint a sealed oalette like the Mijello, be careful of the gasket …and the lip on the other half. Masking tape is your friend…

                                        Radical Fundemunsellist

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