DIY: Cigar Box Pochade

So this post will be a little different but, hopefully, still of interest to most of you. One of the issues that holds me back from painting outside is all the equipment involved. I have streamlined my needed supplies significantly but still require a tripod, pochade box (to hold my palette, brushes, canvas, etc. Typically I have one largish shoulder tote bag and the tripod with a shoulder strap, and a wet painting carrier. In all honesty, setting up my stuff makes me feel moderately conspicuous, especially in public areas. I enjoy painting so much, but not becoming an attraction or nuisance (yes, that happened🙄). So I've been searching out a more low-key approach: a cigar box! With a small, all-inclusive box I could paint almost anywhere with minimal supplies and no tripod.

I found this one at a local smoke shop for around $3. It's extra deep, 3-1/2", and has some pretty sweet labels and borders. Originally I planned to use it just to carry supplies, but remembered watching a YouTube video on making a pochade box out of one. I got inspired......

Step 1 was to locate all the YouTube videos and blog posts on how other artists tackled the upscaling of a cigar box and decide on what I needed my design to be. With the nice depth, I knew I could get at least 2 layers of storage, so the MacGyvering began with removing the flimsy hinges from the back and separating the lid and box.

(Step 2) I determined how much room I wanted for storing brushes, paint tubes, etc and used a strip of 1/8" craft wood 1" high, just enough to clear the paint tube size, and separate the brushes from the other items. During this process I knew I had to figure out how to create supports for a shelf  without losing precious storage area: canvas keys were exactly the right height so I glued one in each corner. The wood separator seemed a little weak with only wood glue so (if you look closely) you can see I glued round skewers on both sides to stabilize it.

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Paint tubes and brushes fit nicely in their compartments. Moving on to (step 3) the new torque hinges, which allow for the lid to stay in position while painting. I had to make a trip to Ace Hardware to get short screws that didn't go all the way through the box interior. Yes, I was a little nervous about doing this step, but it worked out fine.

Step 4: Now to the lid...it has a 3/4" depth, perfect for small panels. It took me a couple of days to decide how I wanted to hold the panels in place and came up with two clip ideas: the first clips are  metal 1/8" offset clips, attached with the tiniest screws I could find so they didn't perforate the outside of the lid. They're installed with a tiny washer so they swivel to hold a 6x6 panel in place. The second clips are the clear 3M Command clips, trimmed to hold a 4x6 panel but not get in the way when working on a 6x6 panel. I mistakenly put them at the top first, but taking them off would tear up the cool decal, so I left them and put 2 more at the bottom.

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6x6" panel

5x7" panel

 This is what the lid looks like with a 6x6 panel in place. The torque hinges allow for moderate brushstroke pressure, as well as being unaffected by wind or gravity. I glued  1/8" craft wood pieces above and below to make it easier to paint the panel edges. Several sizes of small panels will fit inside this box lid:  4x6, 5x5. 5x7, 6x6, etc.

4x6" panel

5x5" panel

Step 5: To create the shelves,  cut 2 rectangles of plexiglass to fit inside the box dimensions. Home Depot and Lowes both carry small sheets of plexiglass and it's relatively easy to cut with a sharp box cutter and ruler. 30 or so strokes with the blade and the sheet will snap apart with pressure. I painted the underside of each shelf with a mid-value gray acrylic paint and got a little fancy by adhering a value guide to one of the shelves. Cutting off a corner makes lifting them out much easier.

lower shelf

The lowest shelf is intended to hold the supplies below it in place during transport and also hold a small, wet painting in place using an extra big rubber band. I glued spacers (these are paint tube caps) in all 4 corners for the top shelf to rest on without touching the wet painting. The top shelf becomes the palette for my paint colors. The smooth surface is great for laying out and mixing the oil paint.

upper shelf

Step 6:  The box definitely needed a better, stronger latch and a lightweight but sturdy handle. Found these at a hobby store. Not sure which way to attach it ... I think I put the latch on upside down. haha! Again, I needed very short screws to prevent them from going all the way through to the interior. I had to saw off the integral screws that came on the handle and using a nut on the inside of the box to hold them in place, making sure it didn't interfere with the level of shelf supports. A little tricky.

Step 7:  Add-ons

 I did a trial run in my backyard and quickly learned that I needed some extras to manage the brushes and solvent: so side-wings were created out of some pvc L trim we had in the garage. Holes were drilled, L-brackets attached, a wire hoop to hold a tiny cup for turp was added. The metal L-bracket slides over the box edges and is held loosely in place by gravity and the plexiglass shelf.

​On the underside of the box, I stapled pieces of a suspender I found at a local thrift store; intended for my left hand to slide under if standing to paint.
Rubber feet on the bottom of the box really help keep the box stable on a flat surface. Again, the screws had to be short enough to not penetrate into the box.

Step 8:  Knowing there may be times I'll want to use a larger panel than will fit inside the box lid, I worked out an accessory unit from a light-weight wooden lid I had on hand. Measuring 11x7.5", it could hold panels up to 9x12 using a large 7" rubber band fixing it to the  cigar box lid and another band (or clips) to hold the panel on. The extra weight with the larger panel does make the box more difficult to manage.

11x7.5" wood piece held by 7" rubber band onto pochade lid.

8x10 vertical aspect

8x10 horizontal aspect

6x8 vertical aspect

This was a surprisingly fun project to do, requiring lots of mental planning and measuring and problem solving. Having a small pochade means limiting my color palette, cutting off the ends of paint brushes to fit, finding tiny containers for turp and medium, but it also opens up so many more opportunities to do plein air sketches, to paint on vacations, to be spontaneous. With this box, I can carry at least 2 wet paintings, paint at least 8 different size panels. have at least 6 paint tubes, 4 brushes, plus some other stuff. I'm looking forward to some happy painting!

​Thanks for reading my blog!!