16 colour sketching palette

This palette has a few different names, including the 'Airtight Watercolour Palette' from Mont Marte. It is an inexpensive well-style palette, so the paint is added directly to the wells, rather than needing watercolour pans or half-pans. This gives really great brush access. I fill the wells just in the deeper end to leave room for single colour washes within each well too.
I set this one up a number of years ago as a 'sketching palette' with a warm and a cool yellow, red and blue, along with a number of convenience greens and a lot of great earth colours. I find these are the colours I often use while sketching on location, whatever the subject - landscape, urban, people, flowers etc.
The brush is a Raphael 8404 size 4 sable. The paint is Daniel Smith. The colours are mentioned through the video. They are Buff Titanium, Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Pyrrol Orange (I use the older more red version but the new mid-orange version is also lovely), Quinacridone Rose, Ultramarine, Cerulean Chromium, Perylene Green, Undersea Green, Sap Green, Yellow Ochre, Goethite, Burnt Sienna, Indian Red, Raw Umber, Jane's Grey.

[@margaretzee8162]

I could listen to you talk about colors forever - so happy that you are back on KZbin! And great tip on the sketchbook!

[@janeblundellart]

😊 thank you

[@ahairysituation121]

I love they way you dont do endless rambling

[@kunaljanvalkar2850]

Rambling while doing something is still something I can enjoy but I have seen people just sitting in front of the camera and do on and on about something not even remotely useful...😢 Anything beyond the 30min mark is rarely worth the time, unless it's a real time 'draw with me' type demo...

[@sherryfurr9115]

I am so glad to hear you say that you want your paints to dry. I always let mine dry out before closing them up. The brands I use rewet with just the touch of a wet brush.

[@janeblundellart]

Yes that’s what I look for too. Some brands require spraying or pre-wetting so you don’t destroy your brush getting them going. All that water can cause metal palettes to rust.

[@gwenster]

Thank you for this! I am trying to decide on a color selection for a travel palette, so this is a very useful video.

[@janeblundellart]

Glad it was helpful!

[@marjoriebelt2842]

This is so helpful - as always! Thank you!

[@janeblundellart]

So glad!

[@whatifitnt]

Thank you Jane 💖💝

[@OkieSketcher1949]

Ibelieve I have the same palette but it is rectangular. Has a clear plastic insert that covers the mixing area of the lid. Really a good palette and I use it for my plein air work.

[@janeblundellart]

That sounds like the larger Mijello palette with 18 colours. I’ll do a video on that one too, along with the 20-colour Mijello palette. This one doesn’t have the removable tray.

[@OkieSketcher1949]

@@janeblundellart I can’t get to mine right now but I am pretty sure mine is the 18 paint well model.

[@nancywillette8762]

This was very helpful. Thank you.

[@sheriwitthoft5895]

Thank you for sharing a little of your wisdom. I enjoyed this very much

[@mjpete27]

This is a lovely video and your explanation is quite nice. I believe that several people have confused this palette with the mijello offerings. The well in this palette are on the longer or thinner type. So many others are much more square shaped. I am one of those artists that do not fill the well to allow my brushes to pickup a less concentrated mixture of the color. I have recently seen a couple of videos where the paint was at the “bottom” and up one side to allow more paint into the “belly” of the brush yet still leave room for the diluted mixture of the colors.

[@janeblundellart]

I generally only fill half of any of these wells for exactly that purpose - to leave room for weaker or stronger washes of the colour within the colour well.

[@wendychampness1901]

So glad to see you on KZbin ❤

[@isabellalucia7820]

This is wonderful - I was just finalising palette choices to take advantage of the Jackson’s sale and was checking whether you had an affiliate link (cause you’ve been so helpful replying to me about colours and I can’t afford colours and course).

[@janeblundellart]

I do have affiliate links with Jackson’s on my website but I think they need updating…

[@isabellalucia7820]

Yep they do.

[@KrisWiltseArt]

That palette has become my favorite. Easy on the brushes! I'm sad the old formulation of DS transparent pyrrole orange is no more. It was a beautiful earthy red that was a pleasure to work with. With that said, the new one is a mainstay on my palette. Great mixer.

[@janeblundellart]

Yes I’d like it if we had both versions available. The new version is a stunning transparent orange, but the previous version was a stunning transparent warm red. However we just have to adapt as one pigment version ceases to be available and is replaced with another.

[@niafer9444]

I just wanted to say a big 'thank you!' for everything you have done. I am fascinated by pigments and their properties. I have spent many happy hours reading and gazing at your wonderful blog, which helped enormously when the time came to chose my palette colours. Thank you :) I am not sure how you can keep your barcode sticker on the brush, though. It takes me a while to peel them off and remove the gum, but I could never leave them on. :)

[@janeblundellart]

Great that you have found it all useful. I have plans to add lots more to my website, blog and KZbin this year. I agree that's a bit odd not to remove the stickers. However I have old and new versions of some brushes and it makes it easier to identify them. I have taken them all off every pencil I've bought and I agree it's a fiddle to get them off. I keep some surgical spirit in my studio (96% alcohol) to speed it up.

[@judygainer1766]

I have that palette. There is a removable tray in the lid

[@janeblundellart]

I think you have the larger Mijello palette then. It looks similar but hold 18 colours. This doesn’t have a removable insert.

[@ChapmanGriffith]

Thank you for sharing this with us. However, any plans to selling your stencil to the public?

[@janeblundellart]

Hmm. I have created a number of them, but most are very specific for my courses. I’ll think about it for the few that are more obvious in their use…

[@ChapmanGriffith]

@@janeblundellart Thank you for reply and I can understand the stencils being limited to your students . I would love to take one of your courses unfortunately limited funds thanks to the cost of living skyrocketing in the States.

[@janeblundellart]

Send me an email and I’ll let you know the details if you are interested.

[@bleuvertetforetdepin7308]

Raphael 8404 are so reliable and stunningly pretty . i noticed you don't have a cool yellow (like a PY3) is it for lightfast issues ? or did your realise you don't need it for sketching ? thanks for sharing .

[@janeblundellart]

Both. PY97 is more lightfast and, I think, a beautiful mid yellow. I can easily make it cooler by adding a tiny touch of green. (Sap green in this palette). I find I can do all I need with hansa yellow medium and quinacridone gold as my two yellows when sketching and also in the studio.

[@deejcarter2003]

How can I get your stencils?

[@janeblundellart]

I haven’t made them available publicly as they were mostly designed for very specific lessons in my courses. Though this one I could - it is wonderful to use. Send me an email.

[@stevesidare2493]

I wish I had gotten that pallet instead of the 18 well Mijello. Yours fits in a pencil case. Mine is too long. Bummer.

[@janeblundellart]

I like the Mijello 18-colour palette too. I’ll be showing that one next.

[@SherryMcKinney-of6jm]

Do you sell those stencils you used to swatch colors please?

[@janeblundellart]

I sell them to my online students, rather than publicly, but send me an email if you want more information.

[@SherryMcKinney-of6jm]

@@janeblundellart ok I will thanks.

[@dianequinn1500]

couldn't hear

[@janeblundellart]

Sorry about that. It was fine when I checked before making it public. I’ll raise the volume on the next one.

[@susanjohnson4454]

Where can I buy that color wheel stencil?!?! I like nature journaling and it looks perfect for a phenology wheel. Does it happen to have 30 or 31 segments? 🤞

[@janeblundellart]

Send me an email if you are interested. I created one triad stencil for 24 colours divided into 5 segments (shown here), another with 18 colours divided into 5 segments. I also created a larger and a smaller colour wheel for 'mixing opposites', not for triads. These have 16 colours divided into 5 segments and 3 segments.

[@susanjohnson4454]

@@janeblundellart thank you. I sent an email.

[@Wacky_Whimsy]

Jane, may I ask where you use Yellow Ochre that can't be done with Goethite? You turned me on to Goethite years ago and I have not looked back to Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna since, but this makes me wonder what I might be missing by using both. Thank you :)

[@janeblundellart]

Goethite is my favourite of the yellow earth colours due to its gorgeous granulation. You can add a little quin gold to it when you need it to be a little more yellow or have more tinting strength. So yellow ochre is included here not so much for the colour but because it is a little more opaque, like Indian red and cerulean chromium. I love exploring the possibilities of various earth triads.

[@Wacky_Whimsy]

@@janeblundellart oh yes, that definitely makes sense. I have been thinking "limited palette" for so long that I didn't consider opacity! Thank you so much!

[@awatercolourist]

2nd 👋

[@awatercolourist]

6:39 Why did you say that the Indian Red is an orange earth colour? Isn't it more purple?

[@pendlera2959]

I think she just said them out of order. The burnt sienna is an earth orange, while the Indian red is an earth red. An earth purple would be more like perylene violet, caput mortem, or mars violet.

[@janeblundellart]

I said them in the wrong order but the burnt Sienna is the earth orange and the Indian red is the earth red. Sorry about that.

[@awatercolourist]

@@janeblundellart Not at all! Thanks for the clarification 🙂

[@awatercolourist]

@@pendlera2959 Thanks!

[@NicoleLan622]

If you want am earth purple, I'm loving Violet Iron Oxide from DaVinci

[@reneequery1758]

Could the colours be named?

[@janeblundellart]

I've added the names in the text.

[@reneequery1758]

@@janeblundellart Thanks, I think I discovered them after sending the comment.

[@dorothygladsjo3510]

Could you list the colors?

[@janeblundellart]

I've shown then through the video and mentioned each one, however I've added them to the description for you.