One option for a mixing palette is a big white ceramic bathroom tile. Buy a bag of empty full pans and a roll of magnetic tape to stick to the bottom of them. Keep the colours in the ( flexible) order you like on a metal ruler alongside the tile. (Another ruler can make a lid) You can then easily pop your magnetised pans in and out of any tin for painting outside. (A few layers of acrylic enamel inside the lid for a good mixing surface...) a pencil tin will give a big enough mixing space and can also transport your pens or brushes...
I snuck a older plate out of my wife’s pantry. I like it - especially when I need to remix a color to match. She finally realized what I was using. She wasn’t terribly upset. Again thank you for this content and helpful insights
🤩Thanks! You have made me so happy.. In this video I found the Mijello Air Tight Palette that you used in a Tutorial that I wanted so badly... Ordered it, getting it tomorrow 10-8-24 , you are my hero!!! I love your tutorials and tips for beginners.. that's me... I will keep tuning in, wishing you all the best in 2024, Hugs, K
The best mixing palettes are the white bathroom tiles. They are better than plates because they are completely flat, they don't stain and you can cut them in whatever size you want and have always one with you. For storing my colours I've ordered a custom made wooden box from a S. Korean guy that I found on Etsy and that is the box that I mostly use for outdoor sketching and indoor smaller paintings. I don't particularly like metal boxes because they are heavier and most of the times they are clinging inside my bag ( along with the other painting stuff) and their paint stains even though I have some in my studio for larger paintings. But if I make something really big then I squeeze colour directly from the tubes into plates or bowls depending the amount of paint that I need because there is no point to scrub paint from pans if you want to cover large surfaces.
Excellent palette extenders. I have used plastic corks from milk bottles and metal corks from soda bottles fastended with glue dots or blue tack in the same way. I also have regular pans with magnetic tape or vanadium magnets on.
Having a card for each colour is awesome… that way when you’re looking for say mars black, you can check out your cards and know right away what brand you have it in and where to look.
At our age, Steve, "flexibility" is not a word that comes up too often! Ouch! lol! This is such an important discussion, mostly for anyone new to watercolor, but especially for those of us who are familiar as both a reminder and a refresher. Thank you for the great info and visuals, and I hope at this point you are feeling better. Stay well, my friend! ~ Mark
Bahahah! I pulled a muscle one day tripping over a door threshold. Whaaa..? I limped for 3 days. So yeah, not so flexible these days! Thanks friend for the support and encouraging comment as always!
I just ordered Cloverleaf Paintbox from Etsy (Guernsey, UK). I remember being in a squall in Guernsey, town shut down, no electricity. We stood in a little museum. Lovely scenery & people. You are costing me a lot of money as, my favorite TH-cam instructor. I have ordered many things that you have suggested. Stay healthy in the pandemic. Jeanne ( retired RN)
Haha! Well not really my intention which is rather to help you make good choices. Not everything I suggest is for everybody. But, hope you enjoy the palette. 😄
Just watching this again. Great idea to take swatch cards to the art supply store. Up to now I have to make 2 visits each time I go: once to buy the wrong color and once to exchange it. Also, combining palettes for different purposes -- good idea. I've been combining only to extend colors, not to, say, separate granulating from staining. You have so many good ideas. Thanks.
We travel internationally in gites & AirBnBs. On the 1st day stop for groceries, I buy a white glass salad plate to use as a palette for my small travel half pan set and bring home paintings and the plate as souvenirs. Small for travel, nice collection of similar size yet different plates from all over and easy to pack
Visit your local thrift store and you will likely find some porcelain-type plates etc. at very reasonable prices. Really enjoyed this video Steve. Thank you.
Great tip and makes sense . I am going to do that once this lockdown is lifted and the shops open! I wanted to buy it from amazon but no , Value Village it is!
Yes! I have often made note of the huge number of amazing porcelain plates & uniquely shaped potential paint storage items available for VERY low prices at thrift stores. What a great way by which one can reuse and repurpose previous kitchen-type material!!🥰🥰
Thanks Steve. I have to store my pallets with M Graham flat, not like a book or they creep over the well like a slow lava flow LOL. Dollar tree has white porcelain plates as well. Such a deal. Love them!
@@mariatony40 Sweet! I'm always keeping an eye out at our thrift store. I've read some people have found pallets with nice paint in them. Though I've never seen any artsy stuff in ours.
Ohh wow 😯. I began watercolor painting with a Sakura Koi 30 colors Pocket Field Set because it was recommended by the teacher I was taking a Nature Journal Drawing class. After the class, watching various watercolor painting videos on U-Tube I got overwhelmed with what to do until I saw one of your videos where you said that there’s no set standard for a specific basic palette of colors. I decided to try to make my own palette set. I bought some empty half pans and full pans, a roll of magnetic tape to cut to size for the pans. I had a rectangular Christmas cookie tin that I was able to put 28 each of the half pans & full pans, 48 total. I added my own colors that I liked and I loved the fact that it is just the right size for me to use for my studio set or small enough to take as my Plein Air set because the metal tin can easily attached to the magnetic strip on my portable sketch board. I am thrilled to see your process of palettes, colors, and the vast variety of palette options. Thanks for sharing this knowledge and process with us.
Excellent. Your years of experience really helps me as I’m at about my first anniversary of painting a lot. I’ve tried lots of mixing surfaces and storage. I even picked up an antique, clear glass deviled egg plate that will probably work great. Thank you!
I have a Pike palette but instead of filling the wells directly I just use the large plastic inserts that ones uses in paint tins. They would rattle around so I hold them in place using small cut lengths of soft silicone piping to slip in and fill the gap. Doing that allows me to rearrange or swap out the colours without throwing any paint away.
Hi! I just love all of your watercolor wisdom!! Since I seem to be a collector, I gather too much paint. I started with M. Graham because you like it so much. I did something that I haven't seen anyone else do yet, but I thought I would share because it has worked out well for me. I purchased the really large ceramic rectangular palette by American Journey. It has two huge mixing spaces, 22 extra large spots for paint, and 8 smaller corner spots. I purchased velcro and empty half pans. Two half pans fit into each of the 22 large spots. Only one half pan each for the smaller corner spots. This makes a total of 52 half pans! I definitely use some paints more than others, but I have all of my M. Graham paint here in one place. And I have written the paint names on the half pans, which is so helpful. I also put velcro in a smaller palette, so I can now pull out the half pans temporarily if I want to use a smaller palette. I can also easily switch around the locations or remove a color and add a different one. I'm extra tidy with the pans, but really messy in the big mixing spaces, so I don't get the velcro dirty.
Loved all the ideas you present here!!! Stacking those palettes. on a book shelf is my favorite "wow" idea! I have so many small palettes stuck in drawers! I use the bulletproof glass 36 palette for my studio palette and add colors in half pans or squeeze in corners - it does have big empty spaces! I think about changing but I LOVE the way the water reacts in the mixing area AND how nicely it cleans. One of those "aesthetic" things. I wonder if the ceramic plates would "feel" the same? OH and for travel this year I used 2 of the mini metal palettes - took out the pan holders and made 3 rows. I could use full pans for some of the most used colors. Thanks again for being out there!!
I use the Mijello with 18 wells. I put my color swatch chart under the clear plastic piece that's in the cover. That's why you like the clear tray - you just haven't thought of using it that way. And you can still mix colors on it. :)
Hope you feel better soon. I find watching this palette collection is very therapeutic in itself! Thank you for taking the time to make this video, very enjoyable!!
Because I switch back and forth between Western watercolors and Chinese brush painting with occasional use of Chinese watercolors (they mix well with the soot ink), I tend to use old Corel saucers and small plates we had. I do have palettes for both types of paint set up, using the well-type palettes. I also have a couple of the round "flower" 6-well porcelain palettes that are perfect for when I do Chinese watercolors. My experience is limited, as I came to painting pretty late and have only been active for about a year and a half. At the end of the day, I know what is working for me, and am always looking for better or different ways to do things. You've just showed me several ways to make my wallet get thinner.
Call me crazy, I found a great watercolor deep well container with a lid at Hobby Lobby, 24 holes. Love it & then I use a large porcelain plate to mix. Works for me. Great info too today.
I have also seen people have good luck with white ceramic devilled egg trays. They can often be found at Goodwill type stores. Good size, clean to white, no stains.
Please keep on sharing your wisdom. I need a workable watercolor palette, with wide wells. I live in Iceland, far away from art supplies shops. Thank you, my friend :)
Also with that fusion pallette. You can fit full size brushes, pencil or pen, eraser, right on top of the bottom part and the lid closes just fine. It doesn't leak so I find it makes a great travel pallette. I can cut down one of those thin sponge type wipe/cloths to fit one of the smaller mixing spaces. I use this most of the time, on the go or at home.
I love it when you go through things like this. Very helpful. I paint for cards and journal pages, not big pieces, so it helps me to figure out the scale of the supplies that would work for me. thanks as always for sharing.
I have quite a few supplementary palettes: one for just cadmium paints (to keep the toxic ones away from the kids I sometimes paint with); Primatek palette; Jane blundell mixing set palette; a palette with landscape pigments for a holiday destination I frequently go to (which has a more tropical feel); a palette of paints that have white as part of the mix (so I don’t contaminate the transparent pigments with them). I’m currently making a palette for my daughter, for a ‘whimsical’ painting style. Also wanted to add that I collect little hors d’oevres plates and deviled egg dishes from thrift/charity shops. Small, cheap, ceramic. It helps if I’m trying a looser style where fresh little blobs of pigment in washes work best. Fab!
Wow, I will never feel guilty again for buying additional palettes or any art supplies! 😅 This was actually very helpful.....you always spark new ideas. Thanks!
you probably dont care at all but does anyone know of a trick to log back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost the password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me
@Josue Felix i really appreciate your reply. I found the site on google and im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Hope better soon! I am going to use your idea of getting a 36 or better portable palette to store half pans in allowing switching out pan in your regular portable palette. Never even occurred to me--great idea! Thanks for sharing
You have given us a wonderful rundown on the different styles of pallets! It may sound silly, but it was really fun to watch this video! I made myself a pallet out of an empty metal Aqua Blend, Spectrum noir pencil box. It holds 49 full pans and is working well for me! I am not an accomplished artist by any means, but just love watercolor! Thanks for all of your helpful hints and instructions. Hopefully you will feel better soon!
Thank you Steve for your channel. Is such a blessing for me that just begun painting in watercolor and can't do "regular" courses as I'm in day 68 of quarantine of a 100 days (Peru is going crazy). Even getting supplies is hard, so here I can see kinda of what I need and really search for it. I hope you're doing amazing ! Taake care
This came at the perfect time! I finally got my gouache and watercolor collection where I want and now I'm trying to decide how to build my palettes. Thanks!
Love the Mijello palette-I cut a piece of white copy paper and stick it to the back of the clear pull out tray with double stick tape. Then I have a good white mixing surface that I can pull out.
Nice. I, like you, have a few different pallets each depending on what & where I'm painting. Question; do you have a separate video explaining what each detail on your individual pallet cards mean i.e. the triangle or square with a line through it... If not will you consider doing a short one explain it & how you go about completing the cards. Thanks
Great video. As a beginner it was reassuring that I haven’t been too far off in my palette development. I used my daughters discarded butter dish for a palette and mixing dish. It’s one of my favorites right now. You also changed my thinking about making and using color cards. Thanks!
This was well done! I really can use these ideas. I have a lot of paints. Lots of palettes. And I bought a Robex for my main one. I love it because I have a large quantity to choose from and I just remove the colors I want to use. Works for me and I keep the "special" colors in the smaller palettes.
Great video! Wonderful variety of palette selections. I did everything myself, except that nifty 4-folding square ones. Recently, I just placed 1mm thick magnets to all of my full pans, got rid of all those metal brackets because of rust, and just separate the pigments I need for that day. I store them in a 24- full pan metal palette than can fit up to 36 full pans. I have also just upgraded my labeling my pans with a digital labeler to avoid confusion.
I love my meeden 36 well folding palette! I added more pans in the center totaling 46half pans and 2 full pans with room still for 1 water brush. It’s perfect! I keep it in my French easel. My main palette came as a Jerry Q Art 24 color set with 2 mixing stations that attach to either side which means i can leave unused paint in the mixing areas for next time no worries where the meeden one i feel i must wipe down...before storing... i love both!
thanks steve, as always, love all the info you give us. it really helps us newbies decide which pallet or paints to try before we spend a ton of money on stuff we thought we might like. your the best.
Always love to hear you tell us about things watercolor. I appreciate all the links in the "more" section. I know that's a lot of work getting them in. My question: Do you have a link for a painter's smock?
Hi Steve, The small, blue, lidded, palette, at 11:03 is my palette. Good for studio and travel! FYI, I created a reference colour chart that I keep under the clear, pull-out, tray. This works brilliantly as a quick reference for the colours as well as the paint names when I want refill the wells or give reference to a colour in a painting, such as for a FB post or for a friend that also paints. No more rooting around in the box of DS tubes for the names of paints. :)
Love my Paint Box. Even if I miss two weeks, the paints don't dry out. Compact to take on the road and no spills. Had to wait about 8 months though, but worth the wait. Best palette I have.
The disc binding system is awesome but you can do without a punch; just make two holes and cut a slit in the hole through the edge of the paper; but the discbound system I use for storing diy wc sketchbook. That way I can add the paper of my choise in the size I want. The rings dont need to match the punch; i have the memory keepers punch. You have them in different brands.
Of course I went crazy buying tons of colors when I started and truth be told I still find new colors to try out.. Angela Fehr recommended a huge rotating palette by Robax Engineering with removable wells that I eventually bought and has worked quite well since I do have the space for it. What I like is that when I start a new painting I simply remove the wells that I want to use and use another surface for mixing. My colors are stored by color groups with the paint info written on the outside of each removable well. Also I can put the wells in so that they are tilted and I can read the info on the outside.I do like the rotating capabilities since I can reach any color that way easily. Of course now that it’s full I am trying out painting with paint fresh from the tube! Do you think that is a waste of paint? Thank you for all of your suggestions!
Donna Carraway Thanks I’m going to look for that. I especially like the idea of the removable wells and being able to mark on them, and then tilt them so you can read what the colors are. I’m new at this and that’s been one of my biggest problems is trying to figure out which paint is which once I get it onto the pallet. I tried marking on masking tape, but it just gets smeared and bent down, doesn’t do much good. The certain shades of colors like browns, blues, greens, it’s hard for me to tell which is which once I squeeze them out. So thanks again, I’ll give this a try!
Wow! I'm fairly new to wc painting so I think it odd to have so many palettes. lol I have a large palette that I received when I bought my first paints; Daniel Smith, but I used them all up (and a few dried up) so I recently bought 30 colors of the M Graham paints. I did purchase a very small travel palette to take to the Art group I attend as it takes up less space on the table. I think, since I saw this video, that I need to get some of the ones you have listed. Sounds like one can not have enough palettes! Thanks! I really enjoy all the knowledge you share. I'm learning a lot.
What a great and informative video! I always felt weird having all the different palettes and now I know it is normal. It is a constant learning curve and experimenting. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Thanks for doing this video. Very helpful..but now I have pallet envy! I’m new at watercolor and have just one pallet like your Fusion one. It’s worked really well for me and travels well to class each week. I also have a butcher tray that I use for experimenting with new colors. I’ve been feeling the urge to go a little bigger to make room for a few more colors. But now you’ve convinced me that a supplemental pallet might be the way to go.
Thanks so much, as always. So at 10:37 you show Premiere palette. I have a couple and like them, alas, I, for plein air, use magnets as well. That is why I use a metal palette. So, knowing how inventive you are, could you suggest a way to use the Premiere, plastic palette with magnets? Would you put magnets in the mixing areas of the palette? Magnetic strips? I use magnets to anchor my water vessels, previous life were Marie's Blue Cheese salad dressing. Seems to work. Cheers and thanks so much for you wonderful teaching style. Oops, Blessings as well. Oops 15:31 gives an option, but let us know what you think about magnets in the mixing area of the plastic palettes.
So happy I found you. Thank you for explaining the different types of palettes. I am a total beginner but need some help. Thank you for shedding some light on this subject. Sooo 😁 happy 😊
Wow! Almost information overload for this beginner, LOL!!! As I'm probably only going to be painting at home, with minimal space, it's nice to see the various options! I'm definitely leaning towards the porcelain plates, for now. Thanks again for another great video Steve!
Hehee. You are my inspiration! I have collected 80% of the palettes that you showed. My ceramic plates look just as dirty :) Your filing system is awesome - I wish I have the patience to do it. I typed all my watercolors, gouache and oil color in Excel spreadsheets. So far for watercolor, I have 202 different colored artist tubes, 334 artist pans, and 166 student colors. Excel file helps me to see what I have by color name, brand, pigments but doesn't show how each color looks like. I still have to go through my palettes/tubes to find them...
I am notorious for buying tons of palettes. Im still fairly new to watercolors but finding the "perfect" palette is difficult. I am also struggling with keeping my tube paints from cracking when i put them in pans or wells.
Loved all the info on so many different pallets! All with the flexibility in keeping options open. I’ve discovered most mixing space like a regular plate or meat tray isn’t as good on my slanted table. The colors run to the lowest edge at odd moments. I bought white fondue plates at goodwill. Any type of white or cream divided plate works great as a mixing space to keep the paint puddles from running together.
thanks for the information, the evolution you went through made me feel better about the purchases that I have made over the years. It seems hard to get the right size, weight with nice size mixing areas, so the supplemental to palettes looks great to me. Thanks for the ideas and reference information. Get well soon!
This is another very helpful video. I have been wanting a new table top palette. With bigger slanted wells. I went to amazon through your link and found the less $5 plastic palette. I then got to looking around amazon as I always do ALL THE TIME, 😍 and found a Meeden air tight pallet like the mijello. For under $15. It comes in pink and black. The whole tray comes out(3 large mixing areas) and you can add magnets and half pans and whole pans fit in it. The wells are slanted a pretty big.
Aww, palette heaven! Thanks, Steve. I have so many, some the same as you. Have bought high dollar and at thrift stores, including deviled egg porcelain plates. One thing I don't like is the foldup ones with paint on each side. (Addenda: The ones I have I usually just keep open.) Common sense you have to wait for the paint to dry before closing them, but even if you do that, the dry paint can fall out. Seems like the designers may have missed that potential flaw. Just my experience. Never knew about the palette extenders on Etsy nor the rubber stamps for swatches--good ideas. Thank you for all you do!
Thanks for doing this, even being sick. How caring of us you are! Loving the swatch card idea. What do you make your watercolor cards out of and what size?
The Meeden 36 half pan palette is unavailable currently. Fortunately for me, I also bought one about a year and a half ago. It's the only palette I've been able to find with the 2 extra fold out mixing areas. Very cool palette, glad you have one as well. I actually filled it with more half pans and now have 56 + the small ceramic mixing dish also fit and holds the color I use most.
interestingly, while some artists look for bigger and bigger palettes, i find myself trying to find smaller and more compact ones. I love carrying my art suplies out with me and i dont really have a fixed location in the house i paint from, so portable options are my favourites. I also find large set ups just a bit cumbersome to my art flow, having to move my arm around too much to get to my paint water rag and mixing space. I just recently just my own art toolkit palette, im also playing around with the fraser price palette box.
Thanks, Steve, for the helpful insights. BTW to anyone who cares, those cheapy "supplemental" palettes are available at Hobby Lobby for like $3.49...and that's without coupon, so don't buy at Amazon without checking HL. Strangely, the Mijello palettes aren't a bargain at all at HL.
Oh thank you! I've been looking for a few and hadn't been able to find them in the right size. Like the low ramps also. Have put two of the Reeves palettes in my cart.
Thank you for the palette 🎨 history and education! It was very helpful. It’s good to know how to keep things separated. I need to do the color swatching on trading card size like you have, as a great quick reference. I too, have spent the week dealing with bronchitis! Hope your better soon!
And just as I was looking for some palette storage options for both storage and creating various color options, I find this video. Steve, I love your videos...but I always seem to find myself buying new supplies after watching them! Hobby Lobby has a version of those folding plastic palettes. I think they are either $2.99 or $3.99. I’ve been using them to test out new paints as I add to my collection before they go into a “permanent” palette. I stopped just using a plate to put out a small dot after the 2nd paint in a row kind of exploded out of the tube when I opened it. Either pigment expansion or someone mangled the tube, but using the plastic palette allows me to try and use all the paint rather than possibly watching it wash down the drain.
Great recommendations. I have a lots of paint and palettes. I love Fusion and give them filled with professional tube paint to family/friends starting WC.
I’m a beginner (and lol, I think I’ll be a beginner for all my life!), I’ve begun with half pans, then I tried whole pans, and I’m continuing with ‘em, even if I now buy tubes and squeeze the paint in the pans and let dry. The whole pan is a measure I really feel comfortable with: I can pick up lots of paint if I want to, using big brushes it’s easier than with half pans. I don’t really mind about very large mixing areas as I tend to let the colors mix on the paper. But after having seen all of your palettes, 🤣 well now I want them all!
Hope you are feeling a bit better by now, Steve! I have been pondering about a pallette as well, so this came just in time. I have one made of porcelain, but it is quite small, and it has no small individual wells for paints. I ended up putting dollops of paint on the edges, so guess who keeps having paint on her sleeves and hands all the time? Also, it has no top and the paints with honey base attract little flies, and what about dust? Do you all keep your pallette open plates with paints in a drawer or cupboard, when not in use? I have been looking for a pallette with a cover, and preferably with wells on one side. There are so many different ones of them around on line. And over here in the Netherlands empty pallets are still rare and expensive. A picture on line does not tell you everything. I found one of those cheap ones (the Reeves?)just this week, so I'll see how that will work out. But it is good to be flexible, as Steve says, and showing all those pallettes was a great help to me. Thank you, Steve, just in time. Just one question, though, I read in the Complete Watercolorist's Ess. Notebook from G MacKenzie ( Great recommendation, btw!) that slanted wells influences the cleanliness of your colours. Those wells would allow dirty pigment ( going from one colour to the other, I guess) to flow back and contaminate the original colour in the well. Do you find that a problem at all in those slanted wells? I try not to go from one well to the other, but it happens. :)
I just got an order from Adventurous Art of their mini palette extenders and oh my god it's changing my life. I love micro palettes and they're PERFECT.
One option for a mixing palette is a big white ceramic bathroom tile. Buy a bag of empty full pans and a roll of magnetic tape to stick to the bottom of them. Keep the colours in the ( flexible) order you like on a metal ruler alongside the tile. (Another ruler can make a lid)
You can then easily pop your magnetised pans in and out of any tin for painting outside.
(A few layers of acrylic enamel inside the lid for a good mixing surface...) a pencil tin will give a big enough mixing space and can also transport your pens or brushes...
I never tire of art options and supplies. 😃
I snuck a older plate out of my wife’s pantry. I like it - especially when I need to remix a color to match. She finally realized what I was using. She wasn’t terribly upset.
Again thank you for this content and helpful insights
So many great ideas here! I have "saved" this video so I can find it again later for reference. Thank you!
🤩Thanks! You have made me so happy.. In this video I found the Mijello Air Tight Palette that you used in a Tutorial that I wanted so badly... Ordered it, getting it tomorrow 10-8-24 , you are my hero!!! I love your tutorials and tips for beginners.. that's me... I will keep tuning in, wishing you all the best in 2024, Hugs, K
Thanks so much!
Wow, pulled this up at a perfect time. Great and comprehensive coverage!! Thanks so much, Steve.
I use an old Ironstone platter from a thrift store....LOVE it!!!
I hope you feel better Steve! Thanks for showing us around your palettes!
The best mixing palettes are the white bathroom tiles. They are better than plates because they are completely flat, they don't stain and you can cut them in whatever size you want and have always one with you. For storing my colours I've ordered a custom made wooden box from a S. Korean guy that I found on Etsy and that is the box that I mostly use for outdoor sketching and indoor smaller paintings.
I don't particularly like metal boxes because they are heavier and most of the times they are clinging inside my bag ( along with the other painting stuff) and their paint stains even though I have some in my studio for larger paintings.
But if I make something really big then I squeeze colour directly from the tubes into plates or bowls depending the amount of paint that I need because there is no point to scrub paint from pans if you want to cover large surfaces.
Excellent palette extenders. I have used plastic corks from milk bottles and metal corks from soda bottles fastended with glue dots or blue tack in the same way. I also have regular pans with magnetic tape or vanadium magnets on.
Having a card for each colour is awesome… that way when you’re looking for say mars black, you can check out your cards and know right away what brand you have it in and where to look.
At our age, Steve, "flexibility" is not a word that comes up too often! Ouch! lol! This is such an important discussion, mostly for anyone new to watercolor, but especially for those of us who are familiar as both a reminder and a refresher. Thank you for the great info and visuals, and I hope at this point you are feeling better. Stay well, my friend! ~ Mark
Bahahah! I pulled a muscle one day tripping over a door threshold. Whaaa..? I limped for 3 days. So yeah, not so flexible these days! Thanks friend for the support and encouraging comment as always!
I just ordered Cloverleaf Paintbox from Etsy (Guernsey, UK). I remember being in a squall in Guernsey, town shut down, no electricity. We stood in a little museum. Lovely scenery & people. You are costing me a lot of money as, my favorite TH-cam instructor. I have ordered many things that you have suggested.
Stay healthy in the pandemic. Jeanne ( retired RN)
Haha! Well not really my intention which is rather to help you make good choices. Not everything I suggest is for everybody. But, hope you enjoy the palette. 😄
You were my first artist that I watched when I got interested in watercolor. I choose MGraham paints and Silver Black Velvet brushes
Just watching this again. Great idea to take swatch cards to the art supply store. Up to now I have to make 2 visits each time I go: once to buy the wrong color and once to exchange it. Also, combining palettes for different purposes -- good idea. I've been combining only to extend colors, not to, say, separate granulating from staining. You have so many good ideas. Thanks.
Thanks Marcie!
We travel internationally in gites & AirBnBs. On the 1st day stop for groceries, I buy a white glass salad plate to use as a palette for my small travel half pan set and bring home paintings and the plate as souvenirs. Small for travel, nice collection of similar size yet different plates from all over and easy to pack
The palette extenders are a FABULOUS idea!
Visit your local thrift store and you will likely find some porcelain-type plates etc. at very reasonable prices. Really enjoyed this video Steve. Thank you.
That’s right. I visited my thrift store this year and they were giving away roomy white porcelain saucers. I said yes please.
@@Fray4all Glad to hear you had success. We need to keep re-using/re-purposing as much as possible and, the bonus is you save some money.
Great tip and makes sense . I am going to do that once this lockdown is lifted and the shops open! I wanted to buy it from amazon but no , Value Village it is!
Yes! I have often made note of the huge number of amazing porcelain plates & uniquely shaped potential paint storage items available for VERY low prices at thrift stores. What a great way by which one can reuse and repurpose previous kitchen-type material!!🥰🥰
Thanks Steve. I have to store my pallets with M Graham flat, not like a book or they creep over the well like a slow lava flow LOL. Dollar tree has white porcelain plates as well. Such a deal. Love them!
😀
I found some plates with wells on one side in a thrift shop. Originally for dips?
@@mariatony40 Sweet! I'm always keeping an eye out at our thrift store. I've read some people have found pallets with nice paint in them. Though I've never seen any artsy stuff in ours.
Ohh wow 😯. I began watercolor painting with a Sakura Koi 30 colors Pocket Field Set because it was recommended by the teacher I was taking a Nature Journal Drawing class. After the class, watching various watercolor painting videos on U-Tube I got overwhelmed with what to do until I saw one of your videos where you said that there’s no set standard for a specific basic palette of colors. I decided to try to make my own palette set. I bought some empty half pans and full pans, a roll of magnetic tape to cut to size for the pans. I had a rectangular Christmas cookie tin that I was able to put 28 each of the half pans & full pans, 48 total. I added my own colors that I liked and I loved the fact that it is just the right size for me to use for my studio set or small enough to take as my Plein Air set because the metal tin can easily attached to the magnetic strip on my portable sketch board. I am thrilled to see your process of palettes, colors, and the vast variety of palette options. Thanks for sharing this knowledge and process with us.
Excellent. Your years of experience really helps me as I’m at about my first anniversary of painting a lot. I’ve tried lots of mixing surfaces and storage. I even picked up an antique, clear glass deviled egg plate that will probably work great. Thank you!
I've got a collection of white porcelain devilled egg plates which I use too 🤭
@@alisonmcdonald1429, great idea, devilled egg plates, thanks!
You always answer my questions even when I don't know the question is there!!! Thanks
Wow!, Lots of great ideas! Love the cards.
I have a Pike palette but instead of filling the wells directly I just use the large plastic inserts that ones uses in paint tins. They would rattle around so I hold them in place using small cut lengths of soft silicone piping to slip in and fill the gap. Doing that allows me to rearrange or swap out the colours without throwing any paint away.
You could probably alternatively use a 'blue tack' material to stick the pans in each well.
Hi! I just love all of your watercolor wisdom!! Since I seem to be a collector, I gather too much paint. I started with M. Graham because you like it so much. I did something that I haven't seen anyone else do yet, but I thought I would share because it has worked out well for me. I purchased the really large ceramic rectangular palette by American Journey. It has two huge mixing spaces, 22 extra large spots for paint, and 8 smaller corner spots. I purchased velcro and empty half pans. Two half pans fit into each of the 22 large spots. Only one half pan each for the smaller corner spots. This makes a total of 52 half pans! I definitely use some paints more than others, but I have all of my M. Graham paint here in one place. And I have written the paint names on the half pans, which is so helpful. I also put velcro in a smaller palette, so I can now pull out the half pans temporarily if I want to use a smaller palette. I can also easily switch around the locations or remove a color and add a different one. I'm extra tidy with the pans, but really messy in the big mixing spaces, so I don't get the velcro dirty.
Loved all the ideas you present here!!! Stacking those palettes. on a book shelf is my favorite "wow" idea! I have so many small palettes stuck in drawers! I use the bulletproof glass 36 palette for my studio palette and add colors in half pans or squeeze in corners - it does have big empty spaces! I think about changing but I LOVE the way the water reacts in the mixing area AND how nicely it cleans. One of those "aesthetic" things. I wonder if the ceramic plates would "feel" the same? OH and for travel this year I used 2 of the mini metal palettes - took out the pan holders and made 3 rows. I could use full pans for some of the most used colors. Thanks again for being out there!!
I use the Mijello with 18 wells. I put my color swatch chart under the clear plastic piece that's in the cover. That's why you like the clear tray - you just haven't thought of using it that way. And you can still mix colors on it. :)
Hope you feel better soon. I find watching this palette collection is very therapeutic in itself! Thank you for taking the time to make this video, very enjoyable!!
Because I switch back and forth between Western watercolors and Chinese brush painting with occasional use of Chinese watercolors (they mix well with the soot ink), I tend to use old Corel saucers and small plates we had. I do have palettes for both types of paint set up, using the well-type palettes. I also have a couple of the round "flower" 6-well porcelain palettes that are perfect for when I do Chinese watercolors. My experience is limited, as I came to painting pretty late and have only been active for about a year and a half. At the end of the day, I know what is working for me, and am always looking for better or different ways to do things. You've just showed me several ways to make my wallet get thinner.
Call me crazy, I found a great watercolor deep well container with a lid at Hobby Lobby, 24 holes. Love it & then I use a large porcelain plate to mix. Works for me. Great info too today.
I like the way you like to experiment in order to get the best possible result.
I have also seen people have good luck with white ceramic devilled egg trays. They can often be found at Goodwill type stores. Good size, clean to white, no stains.
Get well soon! I loved the idea of the colour swatch cards!
Please keep on sharing your wisdom. I need a workable watercolor palette, with wide wells. I live in Iceland, far away from art supplies shops. Thank you, my friend :)
Also with that fusion pallette. You can fit full size brushes, pencil or pen, eraser, right on top of the bottom part and the lid closes just fine. It doesn't leak so I find it makes a great travel pallette. I can cut down one of those thin sponge type wipe/cloths to fit one of the smaller mixing spaces. I use this most of the time, on the go or at home.
I love it when you go through things like this. Very helpful. I paint for cards and journal pages, not big pieces, so it helps me to figure out the scale of the supplies that would work for me. thanks as always for sharing.
What a great episode! Such a lot of variety, things to think of and new ideas! Thanks for sharing!!
I have quite a few supplementary palettes: one for just cadmium paints (to keep the toxic ones away from the kids I sometimes paint with); Primatek palette; Jane blundell mixing set palette; a palette with landscape pigments for a holiday destination I frequently go to (which has a more tropical feel); a palette of paints that have white as part of the mix (so I don’t contaminate the transparent pigments with them). I’m currently making a palette for my daughter, for a ‘whimsical’ painting style. Also wanted to add that I collect little hors d’oevres plates and deviled egg dishes from thrift/charity shops. Small, cheap, ceramic. It helps if I’m trying a looser style where fresh little blobs of pigment in washes work best. Fab!
I've heard of people using ceramic egg dishes.
Thank you for this! This is one of the most useful and instructive watercolor videos I`ve seen. Palettes have been an issue for me starting out.
Wow, I will never feel guilty again for buying additional palettes or any art supplies! 😅 This was actually very helpful.....you always spark new ideas. Thanks!
you probably dont care at all but does anyone know of a trick to log back into an Instagram account?
I stupidly lost the password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me
@Troy Rayan instablaster ;)
@Josue Felix i really appreciate your reply. I found the site on google and im in the hacking process atm.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Josue Felix it worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thank you so much, you saved my ass!
@Troy Rayan Happy to help :)
So many options, good directions--will adopt them.
Wow! Excellent!! instructional and deep analysis! thanks a lot.
Hope better soon! I am going to use your idea of getting a 36 or better portable palette to store half pans in allowing switching out pan in your regular portable palette. Never even occurred to me--great idea! Thanks for sharing
That was awesome. Thanks for taking the time to expand my mind once again! 👍 💚🤗
You have given us a wonderful rundown on the different styles of pallets! It may sound silly, but it was really fun to watch this video! I made myself a pallet out of an empty metal Aqua Blend, Spectrum noir pencil box. It holds 49 full pans and is working well for me! I am not an accomplished artist by any means, but just love watercolor! Thanks for all of your helpful hints and instructions.
Hopefully you will feel better soon!
Thank you Steve for your channel. Is such a blessing for me that just begun painting in watercolor and can't do "regular" courses as I'm in day 68 of quarantine of a 100 days (Peru is going crazy). Even getting supplies is hard, so here I can see kinda of what I need and really search for it. I hope you're doing amazing ! Taake care
This came at the perfect time! I finally got my gouache and watercolor collection where I want and now I'm trying to decide how to build my palettes. Thanks!
Love the Mijello palette-I cut a piece of white copy paper and stick it to the back of the clear pull out tray with double stick tape. Then I have a good white mixing surface that I can pull out.
Nice. I, like you, have a few different pallets each depending on what & where I'm painting.
Question; do you have a separate video explaining what each detail on your individual pallet cards mean i.e. the triangle or square with a line through it... If not will you consider doing a short one explain it & how you go about completing the cards. Thanks
Check the review link I provided in the description.
Wow! Fantastic ideas. Thanks so much, Steve!
Great video. As a beginner it was reassuring that I haven’t been too far off in my palette development. I used my daughters discarded butter dish for a palette and mixing dish. It’s one of my favorites right now. You also changed my thinking about making and using color cards. Thanks!
Nice video - thanks for helping us explore palettes
This was well done! I really can use these ideas. I have a lot of paints. Lots of palettes. And I bought a Robex for my main one. I love it because I have a large quantity to choose from and I just remove the colors I want to use. Works for me and I keep the "special" colors in the smaller palettes.
Great video! Wonderful variety of palette selections. I did everything myself, except that nifty 4-folding square ones. Recently, I just placed 1mm thick magnets to all of my full pans, got rid of all those metal brackets because of rust, and just separate the pigments I need for that day. I store them in a 24- full pan metal palette than can fit up to 36 full pans.
I have also just upgraded my labeling my pans with a digital labeler to avoid confusion.
With the way I paint a pocket palette is all I'll ever need
What a wonderfully informative video. Thanks, Steve. Really enjoyed it.
I like to take pics of my swatch binder so I always have those when I’m at an art store. Hope you get to feeling better
I love my meeden 36 well folding palette! I added more pans in the center totaling 46half pans and 2 full pans with room still for 1 water brush. It’s perfect! I keep it in my French easel. My main palette came as a Jerry Q Art 24 color set with 2 mixing stations that attach to either side which means i can leave unused paint in the mixing areas for next time no worries where the meeden one i feel i must wipe down...before storing... i love both!
Great video, you can never have to many options in my mind.That was very helpful. Thank you.
thanks steve, as always, love all the info you give us. it really helps us newbies decide which pallet or paints to try before we spend a ton of money on stuff we thought we might like. your the best.
Always love to hear you tell us about things watercolor. I appreciate all the links in the "more" section. I know that's a lot of work getting them in. My question: Do you have a link for a painter's smock?
Hi Steve, The small, blue, lidded, palette, at 11:03 is my palette. Good for studio and travel! FYI, I created a reference colour chart that I keep under the clear, pull-out, tray. This works brilliantly as a quick reference for the colours as well as the paint names when I want refill the wells or give reference to a colour in a painting, such as for a FB post or for a friend that also paints. No more rooting around in the box of DS tubes for the names of paints. :)
Love my Paint Box. Even if I miss two weeks, the paints don't dry out. Compact to take on the road and no spills. Had to wait about 8 months though, but worth the wait. Best palette I have.
That Etchr Lab mini round tin palette is pretty cool, but whoa, sticker shock!!
Yes I know!
The disc binding system is awesome but you can do without a punch; just make two holes and cut a slit in the hole through the edge of the paper; but the discbound system I use for storing diy wc sketchbook. That way I can add the paper of my choise in the size I want. The rings dont need to match the punch; i have the memory keepers punch. You have them in different brands.
Of course I went crazy buying tons of colors when I started and truth be told I still find new colors to try out.. Angela Fehr recommended a huge rotating palette by Robax Engineering with removable wells that I eventually bought and has worked quite well since I do have the space for it. What I like is that when I start a new painting I simply remove the wells that I want to use and use another surface for mixing. My colors are stored by color groups with the paint info written on the outside of each removable well. Also I can put the wells in so that they are tilted and I can read the info on the outside.I do like the rotating capabilities since I can reach any color that way easily. Of course now that it’s full I am trying out painting with paint fresh from the tube! Do you think that is a waste of paint? Thank you for all of your suggestions!
Donna Carraway Thanks I’m going to look for that. I especially like the idea of the removable wells and being able to mark on them, and then tilt them so you can read what the colors are. I’m new at this and that’s been one of my biggest problems is trying to figure out which paint is which once I get it onto the pallet. I tried marking on masking tape, but it just gets smeared and bent down, doesn’t do much good. The certain shades of colors like browns, blues, greens, it’s hard for me to tell which is which once I squeeze them out. So thanks again, I’ll give this a try!
Wow! I'm fairly new to wc painting so I think it odd to have so many palettes. lol I have a large palette that I received when I bought my first paints; Daniel Smith, but I used them all up (and a few dried up) so I recently bought 30 colors of the M Graham paints. I did purchase a very small travel palette to take to the Art group I attend as it takes up less space on the table. I think, since I saw this video, that I need to get some of the ones you have listed. Sounds like one can not have enough palettes! Thanks! I really enjoy all the knowledge you share. I'm learning a lot.
Well I wouldn’t have that many except for the reviews and testing I do,
I’m a fan of the Robert Woods covered pallet.
What a great and informative video! I always felt weird having all the different palettes and now I know it is normal. It is a constant learning curve and experimenting. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Thanks for doing this video. Very helpful..but now I have pallet envy! I’m new at watercolor and have just one pallet like your Fusion one. It’s worked really well for me and travels well to class each week. I also have a butcher tray that I use for experimenting with new colors. I’ve been feeling the urge to go a little bigger to make room for a few more colors. But now you’ve convinced me that a supplemental pallet might be the way to go.
Thanks so much, as always. So at 10:37 you show Premiere palette. I have a couple and like them, alas, I, for plein air, use magnets as well. That is why I use a metal palette. So, knowing how inventive you are, could you suggest a way to use the Premiere, plastic palette with magnets? Would you put magnets in the mixing areas of the palette? Magnetic strips? I use magnets to anchor my water vessels, previous life were Marie's Blue Cheese salad dressing. Seems to work. Cheers and thanks so much for you wonderful teaching style. Oops, Blessings as well.
Oops 15:31 gives an option, but let us know what you think about magnets in the mixing area of the plastic palettes.
Personal choice entirely.
So happy I found you. Thank you for explaining the different types of palettes. I am a total beginner but need some help. Thank you for shedding some light on this subject. Sooo 😁 happy 😊
I bought the John Pike pallet but haven’t used it yet. I started using a butcher tray for now
Wow! Almost information overload for this beginner, LOL!!! As I'm probably only going to be painting at home, with minimal space, it's nice to see the various options! I'm definitely leaning towards the porcelain plates, for now. Thanks again for another great video Steve!
The best thing about palettes is there are no right or wrong answers. Your preference entirely.
great video! i was thinking about a lot of these issues!
I went ahead and purchased some M. Graham paints. Now I'm looking to buy a 'starter' palette and I'll go with square ceramic plates.
Hehee. You are my inspiration! I have collected 80% of the palettes that you showed. My ceramic plates look just as dirty :) Your filing system is awesome - I wish I have the patience to do it. I typed all my watercolors, gouache and oil color in Excel spreadsheets. So far for watercolor, I have 202 different colored artist tubes, 334 artist pans, and 166 student colors. Excel file helps me to see what I have by color name, brand, pigments but doesn't show how each color looks like. I still have to go through my palettes/tubes to find them...
I am notorious for buying tons of palettes. Im still fairly new to watercolors but finding the "perfect" palette is difficult. I am also struggling with keeping my tube paints from cracking when i put them in pans or wells.
Loved all the info on so many different pallets! All with the flexibility in keeping options open.
I’ve discovered most mixing space like a regular plate or meat tray isn’t as good on my slanted table. The colors run to the lowest edge at odd moments. I bought white fondue plates at goodwill. Any type of white or cream divided plate works great as a mixing space to keep the paint puddles from running together.
You are a great teacher and Artest. What can one do to stop beading up paint on my plastic pallet.
He has an older video that mentions using a very high grit sandpaper on the mixing areas.
thanks for the information, the evolution you went through made me feel better about the purchases that I have made over the years. It seems hard to get the right size, weight with nice size mixing areas, so the supplemental to palettes looks great to me. Thanks for the ideas and reference information. Get well soon!
This is another very helpful video. I have been wanting a new table top palette. With bigger slanted wells. I went to amazon through your link and found the less $5 plastic palette. I then got to looking around amazon as I always do ALL THE TIME, 😍 and found a Meeden air tight pallet like the mijello. For under $15. It comes in pink and black. The whole tray comes out(3 large mixing areas) and you can add magnets and half pans and whole pans fit in it. The wells are slanted a pretty big.
Aww, palette heaven! Thanks, Steve. I have so many, some the same as you. Have bought high dollar and at thrift stores, including deviled egg porcelain plates. One thing I don't like is the foldup ones with paint on each side. (Addenda: The ones I have I usually just keep open.) Common sense you have to wait for the paint to dry before closing them, but even if you do that, the dry paint can fall out. Seems like the designers may have missed that potential flaw. Just my experience.
Never knew about the palette extenders on Etsy nor the rubber stamps for swatches--good ideas. Thank you for all you do!
Thanks for doing this, even being sick. How caring of us you are! Loving the swatch card idea. What do you make your watercolor cards out of and what size?
Bee 100% cotton paper. Trading card size.
@@mindofwatercolor thank you
Great review of palettes! That little Etsy magnetic ones are cool. Thanks Steve, hope you feel better...
The Meeden 36 half pan palette is unavailable currently. Fortunately for me, I also bought one about a year and a half ago. It's the only palette I've been able to find with the 2 extra fold out mixing areas. Very cool palette, glad you have one as well. I actually filled it with more half pans and now have 56 + the small ceramic mixing dish also fit and holds the color I use most.
interestingly, while some artists look for bigger and bigger palettes, i find myself trying to find smaller and more compact ones. I love carrying my art suplies out with me and i dont really have a fixed location in the house i paint from, so portable options are my favourites. I also find large set ups just a bit cumbersome to my art flow, having to move my arm around too much to get to my paint water rag and mixing space. I just recently just my own art toolkit palette, im also playing around with the fraser price palette box.
Thanks, Steve, for the helpful insights. BTW to anyone who cares, those cheapy "supplemental" palettes are available at Hobby Lobby for like $3.49...and that's without coupon, so don't buy at Amazon without checking HL. Strangely, the Mijello palettes aren't a bargain at all at HL.
Oh thank you! I've been looking for a few and hadn't been able to find them in the right size. Like the low ramps also. Have put two of the Reeves palettes in my cart.
Thank you for the palette 🎨 history and education! It was very helpful. It’s good to know how to keep things separated. I need to do the color swatching on trading card size like you have, as a great quick reference. I too, have spent the week dealing with bronchitis! Hope your better soon!
WoW!!! Feel better soon.
And just as I was looking for some palette storage options for both storage and creating various color options, I find this video. Steve, I love your videos...but I always seem to find myself buying new supplies after watching them! Hobby Lobby has a version of those folding plastic palettes. I think they are either $2.99 or $3.99. I’ve been using them to test out new paints as I add to my collection before they go into a “permanent” palette. I stopped just using a plate to put out a small dot after the 2nd paint in a row kind of exploded out of the tube when I opened it. Either pigment expansion or someone mangled the tube, but using the plastic palette allows me to try and use all the paint rather than possibly watching it wash down the drain.
I really like the Mijello palettes as well. They are small and, like you said, you can stack them on a shelf.
Great recommendations. I have a lots of paint and palettes. I love Fusion and give them filled with professional tube paint to family/friends starting WC.
I’m a beginner (and lol, I think I’ll be a beginner for all my life!), I’ve begun with half pans, then I tried whole pans, and I’m continuing with ‘em, even if I now buy tubes and squeeze the paint in the pans and let dry. The whole pan is a measure I really feel comfortable with: I can pick up lots of paint if I want to, using big brushes it’s easier than with half pans. I don’t really mind about very large mixing areas as I tend to let the colors mix on the paper. But after having seen all of your palettes, 🤣 well now I want them all!
Hope you feel better soon!
Hope you are feeling a bit better by now, Steve!
I have been pondering about a pallette as well, so this came just in time. I have one made of porcelain, but it is quite small, and it has no small individual wells for paints. I ended up putting dollops of paint on the edges, so guess who keeps having paint on her sleeves and hands all the time? Also, it has no top and the paints with honey base attract little flies, and what about dust? Do you all keep your pallette open plates with paints in a drawer or cupboard, when not in use?
I have been looking for a pallette with a cover, and preferably with wells on one side. There are so many different ones of them around on line. And over here in the Netherlands empty pallets are still rare and expensive. A picture on line does not tell you everything. I found one of those cheap ones (the Reeves?)just this week, so I'll see how that will work out. But it is good to be flexible, as Steve says, and showing all those pallettes was a great help to me. Thank you, Steve, just in time.
Just one question, though, I read in the Complete Watercolorist's Ess. Notebook from G MacKenzie ( Great recommendation, btw!) that slanted wells influences the cleanliness of your colours. Those wells would allow dirty pigment ( going from one colour to the other, I guess) to flow back and contaminate the original colour in the well. Do you find that a problem at all in those slanted wells? I try not to go from one well to the other, but it happens. :)
I just got an order from Adventurous Art of their mini palette extenders and oh my god it's changing my life. I love micro palettes and they're PERFECT.
Video request: Will you make an updated video painting with the 3/4" Black Silver Oval Brush? Thank you for all you do!
The Robax palette has pretty big brush wells.
You’re one of the best!