Soho Urban Artist Scout Pochade Box for Plein Air Painting Easel with Storage, Lightweight & Portable, Mahogany Finish

This is a really good plein air box for its low price: $70.00 at time of purchase. A couple reviews mention it being smaller than they expected, but I found it it be the perfect size as a plein air pochade. The storage compartment is large enough to fit roughly 25 tubes of travel size (22mL) paint. It could easily fit fewer tubes of a larger size. I personally only store my split primaries and two whites, to keep weight low. The separate compartment for brushes is able to fit at least eight medium sized ones, in addition to my double palette cups. Just be cautious of how many you store, they can slip out into the paint compartment when traveling if you overfill it. The slide out palette is nice, as is the acrylic palette. You can slip a value scale between the two and attach palette paper to the acrylic board, if you hate cleaning paint as much as I do. The extended tray holds the small travel brushes I need, but cannot hold larger studio brushes. These holes could be drilled to be larger without compromising structural integrity, but I like it as is. The tray does not extend to a full horizontal position, which I personally like, as it prevents my working brushes from falling onto the ground. Palette cups can snugly clip onto the side tray, but be cautious of scratching the varnish. Overall, this is a lovely pochade that is perfect for painting outdoors or indoors, but the nature of its portability means compromising for less storage capacity, and its price point means compromising on weight. *Review Update I've had the chance to use this in the field with an 8lb load capacity tripod and it worked beautifully. I am bumping up my review to five stars and would strongly suggest this box if you've been looking for a reasonable compromise on price. This pochade is everything I needed and more.

I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting with this pochade box. Definitely functional, and does what it's advertised to do, but just doesn't get a lot of use from me. But, It's a quaint art supplies holder complete with strap and a spot for a tripod attachment, palette, and spot to hold paintbrushes when in an active painting. If you're looking for a cheap, easy way to hold art supplies and paint on the go, it's a good buy. But it doesn't quite have the layout I was looking for personally, and if I'm being completely honest I destroyed my box and rebuilt it around an old shoebox to create a sketchbook case. Your mileage may vary.

I use this primarily for oil painting. I had some trouble with stability and my pochade was spinning all around. Once I figured that out ( and used some glue to firmly affix the tripod mount after screwing it in) it holds great and is stable. I use the matching soho tripod. The interior holds brushes and W&N medium bottles and smaller tubes of oil paint. There is just one divider wish it had two. I can also carry palette knives and the medium cups without lids. I use gray palette paper. If you paint on the acrylic and your paint dries, you will probably dissolve the acrylic if you use thinner, so use a paper towel and baby wipes. You can mix directly on the wood too if you prefer. I’m pondering adding a glass palette. Not sure if it can support that weight. To keep it tightly closed I add a big rubber band like you would fit sketchbooks or your wet painting and contents will go everywhere. I’m considering buying a second one for gouache because I simply cannot afford expensive pochades. It ok for gouache but it’s not great for holding non spiral sketchbooks. You can paint on watercolor panels in gouache, I love that. I have trouble attaching my paper towel holder securely to this. The brush holes don’t always match what I have either. But you can add more accessories.

I bought this box because of its design, specifically the panel securing hardware and the ability to carry wet panels inside while the box is closed. Also, I wanted to be able to use it on my lap, as I need to sit while painting plein air. There seemed to be nothing similar in my price range with these features. BUT there is a major flaw in the design. In the first one I bought, the thin, sliding wooden pallette was warped, preventing the box from closing. So I returned that one and re-bought it. The second one was somewhat warped but could be finessed into the slot for closing, so I kept it. We wanted a second one for my husband, so we ordered another one. It was warped and not closeable. Again, we returned that one and re-bought another one. Warped again! My husband ended up cutting off the end of the pallette so the box would close without the pallette having to slide into the slot. This is poor workmanship, but again, the features of this particular box was worth it to us. We'll see how it performs in the field. Good luck getting a good one that doesn't require modification.

Have struggled with French easel and only one time did someone have to remove me from the pieces...(Kidding) Actually, the pochade box is wonderful: it starts out Much lighter, and even loaded it's not heavy. It's easy to carry with handle or strap, easy to set up on a tripod, and is stable. Palette excellent.

I rarely leave negative reviews. But this "pochade box" is well deserving of its one star fate. Now, I'm willing to accept that I maybe got a rotten apple. The box came basically ripped to shreds. I immediately noticed the side latch was (a) off center and (b) had no tension, meaning when the box is shut there is this awkward, floppy gap on the right side. But I can let that go. Then, I saw that the tripod plate, which is secured by 4 screws, was loose, as one of the screws was slipping in and out of the drilled hole. The final straw was securing the quick release on my tripod (has a 33lb payload and made of carbon, so not a cheapy by any means) to the tripod plate. The female end of the plate (accessible from the bottom) had sunk in roughly an 8th of an inch, meaning there is no way to get your quick release plate male end to fit flush with the female end. There is an inevitable gap that leads to the box being unstable. Beyond that, there was evidence of prior use, bad craftsmanship, and, overall, just very little pride in a $100 product. Stick with Sienna or New Wave. Yes, they are more expensive, but I'd rather pay $150-$220 on something I'll use as opposed to $100+ on something I'll end up leaving on the side of the road.

The box itself is not the solid wood I expected for the price, but a mahogany finish on thin wood. Ok, silly me for higher expectations. This is 2022–nothing is made like the old days. BUT—-it is still a lovely box, nice brass colored finishings and serves its purpose. The only real drawback is the center metal plate in the bottom which is higher than the rest of the bottom of the box and makes putting my watercolor boxes inside a little wobbly, causing the sliding pallet to have a tough time closing. But it does close with a little careful push. The strap is great and I like the divided area for brushes. I don’t need the plastic part for acrylics or oils because I use watercolors but it’s a wonderful idea for those who use the other mediums! The holes for brushes are too small for my brushes but I don’t use that feature anyway. Others may love that though if your brushes are thin. The screws & brackets for holding the canvas or paper block is really a nice feature provided it’s a 9x12 or smaller. I work a little larger so I just lean it up against the back and it works fine so no issue there. I would have LOVED it more if it had a wood piece—a sliding piece of wood wedge (?) on the bottom to sit it on my lap to paint that way. I know you can use a tripod, but that’s just one more thing to carry. A wedge to tip it toward me would’ve made it great. Everyone works differently so I’d say I DO like this box, and I’d say to get the box because it’s nice and sturdy, easy to take with you, and is a handy small size for short outings, but just be aware you may not need all the bells & whistles or that it might be a little smaller than you thought it would be for all the money. Draw out your measurements to be sure it’s right for your needs. But overall,I enjoy having it and it’s a nice box to have.

beautiful... except when you try to attach it to your tripod and the piece screwing in falls out. I have superglue all over my hands and it still isnt working. Not worth it for plein air.