Watercolor Palettes
There are some items that I like to collect: barnacles from the beach, paper coasters from restaurants, and free terra cotta pots from the side of the road. In my studio I have a collection of paint palettes. Each one has a different purpose. Some are for storing paint and others are for mixing paint. Below are some of my favorites.
Favorite Palettes
Large Palette
This 33-well palette from Martin Mijello is my go to paint palette. This is one that I use to store and mix paint. It has two large mixing areas that nest together. This makes it so easy to work on multiple paintings at the same time as there is enough space to mix up the colors for different paintings. If I don’t finish the painting in one sitting then I can continue to use the paint that is in the mixing areas, and there is enough space to mix up color for another painting.
This is my go-to palette in my studio and it comes with me when I am teaching art classes. In particular I love how many wells it has. I commonly use the paint in 10 of the wells. It is also nice to have space for other paints that I am exploring. (I recently got one of Daniel Smith’s dot cards to try and I found some contenders to add to my palette.) My go to paints are from Daniel Smith and are: Cerulean Chromium, Ultramarine, Quinacridone Rose, Pyrrol Crimson, Pyrrol Scarlet, Quinacridone Gold, Hansa Medium Yellow, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, and Burnt Sienna.
Ceramic Palette
I LOVE this small compact 25-well palette from Case for Making + Cloutier Ceramics. I use in tandem with my large palette when I am in the studio painting. I love it for mixing specific colors. Easy to re-hydrate a color if it dries out. Easy to use a well adjacent to change the watercolor strength (value) or variation.
Small Palettes
I thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and used a Winsor & Newton travel palette. At the time I loved how it had everything that I needed in one compact unit. I continued to use this one afterwards but I recently kicked to the curb when I discovered Art Toolkits palettes. For reference, my bulky WN palette came in at 6.2 oz and my Art Toolkit palette (plus paintbrush) is 2.6 oz. I love that this product is so slim and compact. I can use all my favorite colors in this palette. I haven’t done this yet but I can customize my palette in the future if I need to. It is easy to take out a metal well and put in a different one with another color.
I’ve taught a course where students create their own watercolor paint from plants, earth, and synthetic pigments. In particular, I designed the class to have an eight color palette that features two reds, two blues, two yellows, an earth pigment, and a green. One of the yellows come from marigolds that I grew in my garden. A friend gave me a tin/3D printed palette that is perfect to hold this palette. It is fun to paint with this palette and also a great remembrance of the course
Paper Palettes
PAPER! That is right I love using watercolor paper to store watercolor paint. Specifically I use this when I create and mull up my own paint. When I first started making my own watercolor paint I went on a frenzy creating close to 90 lake pigments in 9 months! I would need a large palette to store all this paint. Therefore, I went to paper to store and test out colors. It is easy to re-wet the paint on the paper and then use it with my ceramic palette to mix colors/play with the levels of watercolor strength.
I also sell my own watercolor paint that I make. My palettes for there paints are paper. The paint can be used from the paper or one can pop off the dots of paint and put into another palette.
Lastly, I like paper palettes if I am providing paint for a watercolor class. With the right design, when the paper is all used up the palette become a great swatch card.
Palettes From Nature
I love to find hidden treasures on a beach. In particular I always have my eyes out of rocks or wood that have been altered by boring bivalves. They create perfect half circle for paint and it is so lovely to see the pattern of imperfect holes. In my garden the previous owners had left a collection of rocks. There were a set that had an indentation from fossilized shells; a perfect spot to hold paint.
Recycled and Reclaimed Palettes
I love to reuse; it is one of my super powers. I received some promo pens in the mail and the plastic protective packaging is a perfect 39-well palette. The packaging from the frozen dumplings is another great palette for either storing paint or mixing.
Paint Puddling on Plastic Palette
Have you used a plastic palette and noticed that the paint just puddles up instead of spreading out? You can correct this with a brillo pad or light sand paper. Give a good (and light) rubbing on the surface. You will not see indents in the surface. Upon using your paints, you’ll notice that the paint will spread out in an more even puddle over the plastic.
