Building a mini palette with limited colors | watercolor sketching

[@barbararichards7202]

I've used pistachio shells and sea shells to hold extra colours, and used blutack to hold them in the palette

[@NatureSketchbook]

That sounds great, I'll have to try it! Thanks for sharing Barbara.

[@missclimpson]

I’ve been taking watercolor classes from a painter for some years and the colors she has us use are two yellows, two reds and two blues ( warm and cool colors). We learn to mix everything from these colors. I’ve added a few more colors but the six basic colors are the foundation.

[@NatureSketchbook]

That sounds like a very useful, classic approach - warm and cool primary colors, and a few extras. I too use this basic layout in all my field sketching palettes. :-)

[@askialuna7717]

I like the video because you also explain how you developed the color combination.I also see the challenge of putting together a palette that contains colours that I can also use for landscapes without having to mix them too much because there is hardly any mixing area on such a mini palette. That's why I think a standard primary colour palette isn't such a good idea as a mini landscape palette, there simply isn't a large mixing area for that.

[@okaybrandon8021]

Thank you so much, Julia! Thank you for sharing with such a calm, enthusiastic, and inspiring approach!

[@NatureSketchbook]

You're very welcome, and thank you so much for your kind words - I really appreciate it! :-)

[@fuzzydragons]

those colours def look like they would work for 19th century dutch paintings 😀

[@Katherine_AZ]

Julia … I’m not familiar with Schmincke Chestnut Brown and can’t find it on the product listing. Is it an older color? If so, do you mind sharing the pigment(s). Great video!

[@kb9847]

This was very helpful. I am putting together a tiny palette, I'm allowing myself 8 colours, but not much of them. After a lot of playing and mixing, I will do 2 Ultra Marine as I use a lot of that for mixing. Thanks for the info. I also subbed. :)

[@rubusgrey]

if you know a nerdy guy with a 3d printer they can print you empty pans and even whole palettes for pretty cheap! my husband has made me a ton of stuff and it’s amazing. he says the materials are very cheap once you have the printer.

[@msfrehel8758]

This was really interesting, thank you! I‘m into pigments, mixes etc.,🎨

[@creeksidehomeschoolers]

I wonder if you could use air dry clay to fit the size of your tin with the number of paint holes you want. I don't know how well air dry clay will hold watercolor over time or how it will hold up to getting rewet but its definitely getting my gears turning.

[@NatureSketchbook]

That should work - I've made mini pans from air dry/polymer clay before, it's a bit fiddly but so far nothing has crumbled. Though I think the clay shrinks a bit when it dries.

Yo uso cinta adhesiva por ambas caras con muy buen resultado.

[@NatureSketchbook]

Hi Marta 🙂 That's also a great solution!

[@PDogB]

This was very informative! Thank you for taking the time for this post!

[@amandabartlett309]

have you looked at Gallo indigo and greengold? I watched Dr Oto's review. Loved your take on this. thanks so much.

[@NatureSketchbook]

You're most welcome! Do you mean A. Gallo paints? I think they're made with honey, so they might be too runny for a field kit. Haven't tried them though, they're hard to get here.

[@grannieannie1371]

Hmm I need to play with indian red, green umber and buff titanium.

[@NatureSketchbook]

They are interesting pigments indeed!

[@lookingup4505]

Thanks for showing us how you came to pick your mini palettes. Very helpful. 😊

[@NatureSketchbook]

You're welcome! :)

[@askialuna7717]

I wonder why you use such a warm red, which tends towards orange? Mixed with the blue, unfortunately, it doesn't produce an intensive violet tone for violet flowers, for example. Well, it also depends on where the pallet is. i also have a small mini palette for landscapes and i swapped the greenish phthalo blue, which is more of a primary tone, for ultramarine because ultramarine with medium yellow results in more muted green tones and i would have to mute the shades of yellow and phthalo blue with another colour so that they are not too intense for my more delicate European landscapes painted with more natural colours.

[@NatureSketchbook]

For landscape sketches, I prefer the warm red as it gives more muted, natural tones. I wouldn't use this palette for botanical paintings and I agree you always have to decide which colors to use for different subjects.

[@engleharddinglefester4285]

Thank you so much!

[@tatyanastepanova8341]

It appears you managed to get an analogue of Schminke’s desert green supergranulating color by mixing QR and CG! Very interesting video, thank you!

[@NatureSketchbook]

Ah, that's so interesting! I saw a list on the internet a while back where someone had written down the pigment combinations of all kinds of supergranulating colors.

[@MedaHalmaciu]

Just throw away the candy. It's poison anyway.

[@NatureSketchbook]

I know at least one person who will love it, so I will give it to them and be their new favorite person. :)

[@impish22]

Did you ever do an update on your "no buy" art supply year?

[@NatureSketchbook]

I wrote a bit about it on my blog I think, but there was no big update. I'm generally trying to buy only essential or replacement supplies now.