Friday, April 26

Paint a Pochade

My Pochade
7 x 9 in/17.8 x 22.9 cm
Copyright 2013
OK. What, you may ask, is a pochade?

First. Let's get the pronunciation right. It's poh-SHOD with the accent on SHOD. It's French.

Actually it's French for the word poche or pocket, according to Wikipedia. I suppose that's pocket, as in a painting small enough to fit in your pocket or almost anyway. It is a small sketch-like painting that "captures the color and atmosphere of a scene."

You may also be familiar with the term pochade box, which is a type of portable easel popular for en plein air painting. It's like a Swiss-army-knife for painters, in that in addition to being an adjustable easel, it's also a stand and a paintbox with partitions that folds up and can be carried under one arm. But I'm not talking about that pochade box.

I'm talking a pochade as in a small painting.Why paint a pochade?

A pochade makes a great study for a bigger painting either en plein air or in the studio.

A pochade allows you to paint only the main elements, due to its small size.

A pochade or more accurately the support on which you paint a pochade can be paper, wood, canvas (or other) and is relatively inexpensive, again due to its small size.

A pochade can be and maybe should be painted rather quickly.

A pochade makes a great small painting and a statement all by itself, especially framed.

Painting a pochade is fun.