Narrative In Design - A pastel by Clarence Gagnon

Lucille Rodier Gagnon, Olive and Edna Pretty at Sainte-Pétronille, Île d’Orléans / Clarence Gagnon - 1919

This deceptively simple pastel by Clarence Gagnon is a study in design and composition. The design is not simple or formulaic or done for aesthetics alone as we will see. It impacts directly on the subject of the painting in a way that builds a narrative that can only be told through this design.

At first glance the pastel is a simple image of three ladies sitting on a fence at the edge of a river. The scenery is de-emphasized in favor of the three figures that are painted in higher chroma (brighter), and harmonious colors that make them stand out from the rest of the painting. But is there more about these girls than meets the eye? What is the story?

The blue clothing brings the right and middle figures together in the shape of the letter M forming a bond between them. The white clothing does the same in the shape of a W between the left and right figures. Their harmony of color intermingle to tell us of a friendship or a relation of the three. But something is amiss. While the two figures on the left each has her own lines that signal affinity with the figure on the right, somehow this linear affinity is not shared between them. They are close in proximity, but they each have an underlying secret affinity with the figure on the right.

There is an air of deceptive calmness to the painting that is brought about by the horizontal likes that outline the river banks. these split the painting into three almost equal horizontal areas also adding to the seeming calm. It is when you divide the painting vertically that you start seeing the tension that Gagnon has placed in there. You can clearly see that the left and middle figure have their heads almost touching. This is counter balanced by the further head of the right figure. The direction of the torsos in the figure also echo this affinity of the left and middle figure and the alienation of the right one.

More importantly though if you also draw vertical lines to divide the painting you would see how the tension is so expertly placed. The two figure on the left occupy the calm center of the painting. While the right figure literally teeters on the edge. 

The scene is peaceful, but something is not quite right with the ladies in the painting. How complex are their relationship with each other? Are there secrets that are not shared between the three? Gagnon hints to that, but leaves us to build the rest of the narrative. What an amazing painting isn't it?

The Ultimate Do-it-yourself Pochade Box

Ok! I finally did it. After weeks of planning and researching, I think I have built the ultimate pochade box. Here is the launch:

The Sojourn pochadeand Portage wet panel carrierA Canadian everyman’s pochade

The Sojourn is a plein air pochade box designed for artists who demand versatility from their tools and expect value at a low price. A one day garage-bench project, the Sojourn - which comes with its own wet panel carrier the Portage - can be built using the minimum of hand tools that are found in most suburban garages. It cost less than $90 in material to build this 12 1/2” x 15 1/2” x 2 1/2" slick pochade box and wet panel carrier, and what’s more you don’t have to be a workshop master to build the Sojourn. Everything you need is readily available at your local hardware store. Just take the shopping list that is provided and check-off the items as you place them in the cart. The detailed easy to follow step by step instructions below along with the diagrams will guide you through the project and help you finish your dream pochade in one rainy day.

The Sojourn Pochade has no equal in the market. Designed by a plein air artist for plein air artists, it is a light weight box (less than 6Lbs) that comes with its own slick wet panel carrier – the Portage. The Sojourn can carry one 11” x 14”. For longer trips the Portage wet panel carrier can carry up to 6 panels. Drop the Sojourn Pochade and the Portage wet panel carrier in a backpack and you are ready to go. I will be adding plans for partitions so you can turn the carring space to 6x8, 8x10 etc... soon so if you buy the plans, you will also get the partition plans as soon as I have them ready.


I have worked hard to document this pochade and help others build it from everyday material that you can find at the hardware store. As a matter of fact, the shopping list which comes with the plan is all you need to buy to get the project done.


To get the plan click here if you have an iPad or a Mac, you can also get the plans on iBooks or iTunes. Cost? $2.99! The price of a cup of Java! Get it!!

How to Build a Pochade Box For Plein Air Painting II

UPDATE:

Following numerous requests from readers, I have put together a detailed plan for building a beautiful pochade box. The plan will guide you to build a 15.5”x12.5”x2.5” pochade and an accompanying wet panel carrier – The pochade can carry a single 11”x14” wet panel.

I plan to add dividers shortly, to allow you to carry several size panels and not be limited to 11”x14” size. The dividers will be for the pochade and the wet panel carriers and will allow you to carry 5”x7”, 6”x8” and 8”x10” panels. If there is a need for 9”x11” dividers or any other size, I can make that as well. Please let me know. I can also scale the size down if there is a desire. I just need to hear your feedback.

What is really nice about this plan is that it utilizes off-the-shelf items from your hardware store and the minimum of tools to build. You do not need to be good at carpentry to finish this versatile and professional looking pochade.

The main reason that I built mine and why I am making the plans available is that I am a heavy user of my pochade. I can’t think of spending over $500 on one and use and abuse it as I do. I want one that is rugged and slick at the same time; one that can withstand my abuse without looking like a tank.

I have been building and planning pochades for over 7 years now. They have become successively more versatile and easier to build. This one is the best. I hope you will agree.

To order your plans ($2.99) please click here

Since I posted my video on how to make a cigar box into a painting box for plein air painting, I have had many people email me to ask about the pochade that I featured at the end of the video. I finally took some time this weekend and taped this video about building a full fledged pochade box. It was easier for me to tape and edit this video than to build detailed plans and post them on the Internet. I hope that once you see this video you will be able to build your own pochade box. They are not hard to build really. What took the most time for me was working through the problems and finding ways around them. With this video, you should have very few problems left to work around.

See previous video installment on this topic here:

http://artezan.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-take-on-building-pochade-or-cigar.html