Reviews

A Compact Painting Setup for Gouache

If you’ve been looking for a lightweight and portable pochade box for gouache painting, I think I’ve found it. Pochade boxes have been my outdoor easel of choice for oil painting since 2002. (Much more compact than a bulky French easel.) But I haven’t had one specifically to use with gouache until now.

I wanted something compact and lightweight for portability. I also wanted a tripod-mounted box since I like to stand while I paint. The U.GO pochade box from New Wave has been a great setup so far. (They aren’t paying me or sending me any freebies, I just really like their box.) You can, of course, use this pochade box for other media as well.

6” x 8” Compact Size

I bought the 6”x8” size since I mainly paint 5”x7” studies with gouache during beach trips or while camping with my family. I’ve taken it on a number of hikes. It’s even more fun to take on my mountain bike to spots further up the trail.

The underside of the box includes a 1/4″ threaded mount for attaching it to a tripod. My tripod’s quick release plate is shown attached.

The Open Box

A sturdy friction hinge holds the box open wherever you like it (up to 180 degrees) without having to tighten any screws.

The magnetic panel holder can be adjusted to hold panels up to 10” tall. Again, no screws required—it holds a panel quite securely.

To mount my watercolor paper, I’ve been using sticky tack on a 5”x7” piece of hardboard. When I’m finished painting, I sandwich the painting in with my other sheets of paper between two 5″x7″ pieces of hardboard for safe transport.

All of My Supplies

The total weight of all you see here is just 5.5 lbs. If I leave the tripod behind and use the pochade box on my lap, it’s only 3.5 lbs.

Gouache Painting Supplies (clockwise from tripod)

• Sirui AM-025K carbon fiber tripod (weight: 2 lbs., closed length: 12.5”)
• Small spray bottle
• New Wave U.GO 6”x8” pochade box
• Collapsible silicone water container with plastic trash bag
• Small stack of paper towel sheets
• Three Trekell brushes: Golden Taklon Round size 6, and Flat sizes 12 and 20
• Two 5”x7” hardboard panels (1/8” thick) with 5-6 sheets of watercolor paper in between, held together by New Wave silicone bands (the pochade box comes with one silicone band included)
• Small pouch with 9 tubes of M. Graham & Co. gouache paint, a pencil, a kneaded eraser, and a small multi-tool for opening paint tubes, etc. (see next photo for contents of this pouch)

Contents of My Small Gray Pouch

Very Compact

Everything fits into a small canvas bag that I can pop into a backpack with my tripod. The bag is 11″ x 7″ x 4″ with everything inside, and again, weighs 3.5 lbs.

In Action

At the time of this writing, I’ve been using the U.GO pochade box for about six months and it’s been holding up great. I think you’ll like it too if you’ve been looking to trim down your plein air setup for gouache.