Pocket Watercolour Pallete

There are a bunch of these tutorials online.Here is another version!yay!

You will see above a couple images of ways I store my watercolour paints. The first is my collection of various tubes that I store in my studio drawer in a big tin. Way to cumbersome to take out of the house. The 2nd is my first customized pallette I made out of an old Derwent pencil tin.It is easier to take in my bag ,measuring about 5x7.5". I ordered a bunch of those little white plastic half pan off ebay. And they are great,but I don't find them very cheap for what they are,and there are tons of little vessels you could use for such a thing.

My suggestion is to use little aluminum eyeshadow dishes. I found these for super cheap on ebay but you could easily reuse old makeup palettes from around your house. The tin itself is a leftover metal holder from some gift certificate card I got for Christmas. Its super small but deep enough to hold everything you need for a really good pocket/travel pallette.

So first lay out your empty disks in your tin to figure out the best configuration to optimize the amount of colors you can fit.I carry my brushes seperate so I did not leave a space for that. Then I chose what colors were most important to me for mixes.

Squeeze out a nice amount of paint in your tins,use a toothpick to spread around and pop bubbles. I also tapped them on the table to help settle the bubbles. I left mine to dry overnight, making sure to leave the tube beside its disk for easy identification, later on. If you have cats,close the door! Cats and wet paint are the worst combination.

Choosing to work with what I already had in my studio, I found some blue sticky tack and used it to adhere both the paint discs and the tiny paint swatch .

Just take a little pea sized ball of it and warm it in your hand,stick it to the disc,stick disc in tin and press for a minute or so.

I had cut a piece of w/c paper to fit nicely in the lid.Divide into a grid for your swatches and paint out samples of each color,making sure to label each colour and brand with waterproof marker. Then stick to lid with more little balls of blue tack.

And your done.There is also enough room to fold up some paper towel before you head out to paint.

It makes a nice gift for somebody interested in watercolor painting. Individual tubes are expensive and you end up with a lot leftover after setting up your own palette. Save somebody the cost and make a sample tin for them.Im giving my friend this one for her birthday, maybe I will have somebody to paint with!

Kelly Armstrong