How to organise art supplies - my swatchbook | How to swatch watercolours

In this video I talk through my favourite swatchbook and answer your questions! As always I am excited to read what you do. Post production reflection: My focus is on how I swatch rather than the book itself, but I've received a few questions about my actual swatchbook hence discussing it in this video. If I didn't ALREADY have the disc holepuncher - I would use a ringbinder/folder or a sketchbook instead as the wholepunchers are quite pricey & imo not worth it if I were only using it for a swatchbook.
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💫 💫 💫 Materials 💫 💫 💫
The alternatives to a disc bound sketchbook are:
- A simple folder and holepunch/plastic sleeves
- A sketchbook
- A baseball / pokemon card folder
I had the materials to make a disc bound sketchbook, which are:
Holepunch: amzn.to/3w5YZwc
Moleskine Sketchbook or watercolour paper of your choice: amzn.to/3At6Dn9
Discs: amzn.to/3bXmNM7
Cover: amzn.to/3QHW30U
Cover: amzn.to/3ApExZS
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How to organise art supplies - my swatchbook | How to swatch watercolours

[@alexandrasartinsanity]

I think swatch books are such a personal thing. It took me months to really figure out what worked for me but now I absolutely love my system. All my supplies are swatched onto individual 1.5 inch square cards that I create using a paper punch, the cards then slide into binder coin sleeves. I organize by colour family rather then brand in my book so that when I’m looking to add a new paint I can see if I already have something similar.

[@samantharankinstinamisan5583]

Love you swatches using flowers. Flowers laugh in color😊

[@lara-ce2kg]

I find it so hard to find any information on people talking about Swatch books. when I find them so helpful. I have a problem with getting mine organized . So thank you for sharing yours

[@SketchesnScrubs]

You are more than welcome! I’m so glad you found it helpful 💛 happy swatching xx

[@sarosongfraser9333]

This is a great system!! You've given me all kinds of ideas. Also, thank you so much for breaking down not just how you put it together but WHY. I myself tend use mixed media, which means that I have all kinds of different papers and products getting swatched. So what I've done is put it all into a three ring binder using clear plastic sheet protectors. I can just slide any size of piece of paper up to 8 1/2" by 11" into these protectors, and they're nice and roomy, so I can put two pieces of paper back to back in one sheet protector. But I suspect this is likely not the ideal thing for the long run, as I have no idea what the plastic material will do my papers and inks/paints in the long run - however, I hadn't come across another way to do it that didn't involve reswatching everything.😵‍💫 But your system takes care of that, because I can just hole punch what I already have! Thank you so much!! (I do still highly recommend the binder + sheet protector method as a good cheap option if you're not worried about things like acid-free paper, or the supplies you work with are cheaper supplies. It works great!)

[@tonivenneberg6087]

Just getting started over 30 yrs leave. Now getting back into the game! Oh my how things have changed over the years1

[@iadenicole931]

Great video. like you, I have changed my methods a few times. I thought of doing one like yours but got lazy. The thought of punching all those holes overwhelmed me. I love all your videos, they are informative and entertaining. And you are a beautiful person!

[@vilvile]

I’m doing diffent swatchbooks for watercolors, one just for the labels, one for the typical squares, and one loose / playful. I think they help me practice a lot my technique. I learned and improved a lot when I did my pencil swatches, so I really embraced the habit for watercolors. That said, the most difficult part for me was to get the right gradation, from masse tone to light, and trying to avoid lines.

[@willemijnkamerling4011]

I have a traveler's notebook watercolour insert that I use as a swatchbook. To at least have all my watercolours together. For other mediums I use the sketchbook I use for that medium. I also swatch alot just to have something colourful to do. Recently I swatched on watercolour a paper and used those as birthday cards because the came out really fun. 😄 I love your repurlosed moleskine. It seems handy. I'm starting to catch up on your videos after summer camping holidays and busy first weeks of school for the kids. 🥰

[@joannnulmer9060]

I think this is a brilliant idea- and one I will likely lean on moving forward!!

[@aaronsydneygonzalez5771]

Just started my own water color journey last week, like literally bought water colors and everyrhing last week for my birthday. So I'm in the process of learning everything and planning on doing an interactive notebook/bullet journal sorta thing so I can document my entire journey of learning how to paint with water colors :)

[@SangriaDracul]

Came here from the Aussie Crafter channel. This is such a nice idea for swatching!

[@CreatingCuteArt]

Swatch books are life!! I love your swatching, so relaxing, so pretty, so organized!!❤️❤️❤️🤗🤗🤗

[@CreatingCuteArt]

You know my swatch book very well! Arteza watercolor sketchbook, and it doesn’t have nearly the organization you’ve achieved here! The ring bound was a stoke of genius 👍❤️🤗😎

[@Lauraisabelgonzalezart]

I just ordered some new sketch books and can't wait to swatch all my colors while listening to you!

[@allcb155]

This is brilliant! I was almost on the way to settling on a way to swatch (and not just watercolours, pencils as well!), but one can easily overthink it. Thank you for sharing how you do it, it has given me more ideas ❤️

[@loondabo9207]

Super thanks for this video. I really need to see how people organize their swatches because I have barely been managing to make my own system work

[@fionagray9319]

Ooh I like your swatchbook.i love the fact you can remove pages and compare them then side by side with other swatches. I started my first swatchbook a couple of months ago. Mine is A6 , a hahnemuhle watercolour sketchbook that I wanted to be able to carry with me when shopping for art materials. I have a tendency to go "oh I love that colour!" Buy it, and then discover I have it. Argh! I'm trying to use it for all mediums, watercolour, ecoline pens, coloured pencils, etc.

[@dindinlagdameo6738]

I have a big one. I use baseball card fillers! 9 cards per page.

[@Chidera.m]

your swatches are so creative, love it!

[@PatriciaPageMosaicArtsCrafts]

Another great and informative video, I swatch all my supplies in a big file and I keep the labels, but nothing like this🙃 this has inspired me to use my stamps to swatch my watercolours with permanent ink to avoid bleeding but what fun if you don't know what to paint. Don't know how I missed your live 😭😭😭🙂❤

[@nanablooms]

Lovely swatching!

[@customMadebyACLD]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I've been watching a lot of videos lately on how to do this. I love coloring books and also have alot of pens. So need a way to gather all the info. You video is so inspiring. Love the discbound system. Use it a lot. Its so versatile. 💙💜🥰😍💕💜💙

[@SketchesnScrubs]

You are so welcome! Thank you so much for watching and your kind words! Happy swatching x

[@godzandheros]

I used to use cards for each paint and put them in a binder with clear pockets for collector cards like pokemon cards, magic the gathering, etc and I got lazy and abandoned that system and now, I mostly use my sketchbook to swatch now. I want a more organized system, though, and will probably eventually create a designated book or folder for my swatches in the future to have all in one place.

[@joannaowen6653]

Great video! I have a watercolour A4 sketchbook as my swatch journal

[@bigmamma6946]

Hello Im just starting one. Fabulous video thank you.

[@margaretspringer9197]

I just swatch in sketchbooks, trying to write on the front covers what's in each one. This isn't really a system, and can make it hard to find things, but it's worked well with oil pastels, acrylic markers, and colored pencils (I consult the relevant swatch page while I'm working, comparing the colors to my subject).

[@E4Alabbasy]

Love your system 😍 I especially love swatching because it encourage me to use the art supply because I used it and got a taste for it

[@raches4264]

I found a small A6 size file and replaced the paper with watercolour postcards. I searched each set of paints, and then swatched individual paints within their brand in a kind of rainbow colour order.

[@jshortforjay]

i love the floral swatches! so pretty to look at :) i don't have a proper swatchbook... just a bunch of swatch cards that i hole punched and a ring i stole off my cue cards to keep it together 😂 so it's not as organised as yours but it does the job!

[@kysq384]

I use an A4 etcher for the paint swatches which has color name and brand, and then I have an excel spreadsheet with the pigment and sundry info, because my handwriting is a basically unreadable.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Very fun to see your methods! I have most of my swatches in my A4 Etchr sketchbook.

[@JohnSmith-xb4ux]

I went to check out Atlantis Art Store today, good shop to visit, always searching for what's new. Recommended, in case you didn't visit it. 😊

[@themightierpencil]

I’d started a swatch book but I don’t like the quality of the paper in the sketchbook I’m using. I have that same Moleskin so I decided to use that one I stead and the swatches are so much better, so thank you

[@katarinaholik]

Few months ago I prepared swatch cards for all my pigments, even labeled them. Have it all, folder, trading card pockets, labeled cards, just need to swatch.

[@katarinaholik]

@@SketchesnScrubs yes, but I can't make myself do it. Now that rain has finnaly started, maybe tomorrow I'll do it 😀 there are more than hundred paints to swatch 😀

[@lpayne91]

Loved seeing how you swatch. I don’t have many paints so am using an A 5 moleskin water colour sketch book as my swatch book. I may start and write pgiment info too seeing as I don’t have many paints and start as I mean to go on 🤞.. I got swatch stamps from a UK stamp shop called “mama makes” so that my swatches are within either stamped squares or mini colour wheels . Now I need to get better at colour mixing lol xx

[@Maresmurf]

You make me want to do a swatch ring bound book also. I can just imagine how nice it must work. I swatch in a a5 sketchbook and also keep the labels. I also swatch on a piece of watercolor paper for my palettes so I always have in handy.

[@alimccartney2262]

I love all these different ideas! I just got a new watercolor set, and I am looking forward to trying out some of these techniques.

[@ActionCat2000]

@@SketchesnScrubs it's by a brand called Dyvicl. It's a travel set that has color pans in stacked sections that fan out for use. I bought it because Super Rae Dizzle tried it on her channel and gave it such a great review (it's not expensive -- less than $20). You might like it, since you do a lot of plein-air work! PS - sorry, I just realized I've been leaving comments from my two different sign-ons. It's still me :)

[@katarinaholik]

I just got a qroquis moleskine sketchbook and a watercolor one. I'm using the qroquis one regularly for colored pencils and other dry media. Watercolor one I'm a bit intimidated with the size, although both are A4, the watercolor one intimidates me.

[@FaithAnnNB]

❤️ swatching! Great video to watch after work today! I use a B5 size Fabriano watercolour book (with rings) for swatching. I wish I could re-order the pages, but I don’t see myself going to that level of effort. Wow. You really put effort into your book! I like my swatches to be large enough to see the granulation and the changes in colour intensity, I also do the black line thing so I can tell how opaque it is. However, I really like your extra step to see how the colour lifts! I need to do that going forward. I do swatches of my colours on their own, but I also tend to swatch a few mixes of primary colours as well, to see what the secondary colours will look like. I do think my swatch book would be better with 100% cotton paper since I always paint on 100% cotton and then I’d see the colours more accurately, however, the main reason for choosing the book that I’m currently using is that I decided I don’t like the paper anymore and I didn’t want to waste it. So, I thought it would make an “okay-ish” swatch book ☺️.

[@FaithAnnNB]

Also… I have two types of pages. One type is where I’ll do all of my paints by a specific brand together. If I bought a specific palette, like a Daniel Smith 24-pan set or something, I’d do a page of swatches for that palette. Or, I’d keep swatches of my tubes for a specific brand together. Then, the other type of swatch pages are dedicated to my custom palettes that I make up myself with mixed brands, so that I can see if the 12-15 colours I’ve chosen for a palette has everything I need (and if the paints are single pigment and mix well together and if they don’t, do I have the convenience mix I need).

[@tonivenneberg6087]

Yes after many many years being away from painting.. so many companies now!

[@ThisKittyPlays]

Great video! tysm!

[@annihull6373]

Hello! Thank you for sharing your creative knowledge. I found and subscribed to your Channel today through Aussie Crafter. Looking forward to learning more from you. Blessings. P. S. Presently my swatches are completely unorganized and I think that some have been losted, but since I don't really know what I'm doing at this point in regards to painting each time I paint is kind of some form of swatching.😂

[@aussiecrafter]

This is brilliant! What a great way to organise swatching 👌

[@sandfly60]

I can't part with labels either. One page of labels and swatch the page next to them,.

[@karenirving7088]

Great video. I am sooo confused with swatching

[@SketchesnScrubs]

Thanks Karen! I hope this helped but if you have any extra questions - feel free to ask ❤️

[@RebecaNavarro]

Im making mine and im watching ideas of organitation of other artists 👀

[@SketchesnScrubs]

That’s a good strategy Rebecca! Xx

[@fuzzydragons]

I hardly ever do swatches, i dont have the patience to do it lol 😝

[@Julie-vy3oz]

I am a very random swatches lol

[@Julie-vy3oz]

@@SketchesnScrubs I didn’t write that well lol sorry! (When I’m at work…) I meant to type I’m very random at swatching. I do them all over my journals when ever I get something new