This 5-year-old video has shown me how to actually fit all the 6 pans I wanna use inside my favorite little tin box (it has a cat on it) so I don't have to compromise with another boring one. Huge thanks for that one! Now watching the rest of the video so I can doubt my color choices :D
This is so helpful. I’m new to watercolor. It has been very overwhelming trying to pick out professional grade colors as I can only afford a very limited supplies.
Instead of painting the inside of my lids on boxes I've converted into palettes, I've discovered I can use white Gorilla Grip Peel and Stick Adhesive Removable Liner. I cut pieces to fit the inside of the lid (and up the sides) and change them out easily if they stain (I left my phthalos on the surface for a month and they all cleaned off with just a bit of Master's Brush Cleaner). I found a 4"x3"x1/2" vintage cigarette case (with the spring lid) and made a little palette from it (removing the little spring arm to hold cigarettes in place was the only challenge, but the spring open lid remains and is an added benefit). It holds 12 full and 4 half pans perfectly (or 9 full-sized and 3 half pans, a travel brush, and a pencil). I was determined to find a palette that fits under the band on my Rosemary & Co leather brush wallet and gave me the most # of pans! The 4"x3" mixing surface is a dream, too! BTW, you can easily add a stick-on loop to the bottom (the ones they sell for smartphones).
I put my smalls palette inside a regular Altoids tin along with a pencil stub, a kneaded eraser half, a piece of sponge and a sawed off brush (yes, I’m armed and dangerous! AND it’s not illegal! Lol!). You’ve chosen some interesting colors. I would like to see what you’ve painted with this.
Wow what an interesting palette. This is probably one of the first watercolor vlogs I follow that hasn't opted for the brightest colors they could fit in a tin.
I cant wait to throw this togeather. I'm a beginner with watercolor. And most artist grade sets just have to many colors that I dont find myself really mixing at all. And artist grade kits are a lil more money than I want to spend on bbn paints I dont know much about. But 6 tubes is doable, and I really like the warmth of these colors. And I'm taking your word that they will play well togeather mixing since you have way more experience than me. I might grab a few tubes of a more traditional primary colors as well. But for what I like to paint, urban landscape, I think these colors are perfect
I have a few mini-palettes of 3, 6 or 8 colour sets. I avoid tins with embossed lids so that I can use the inside of the lid for mixing and then clean it easily. Some souvenir soaps often come in small decorative tins that are ideal for this. My mini-palletes are as follows: Primary palette 1 (Karuteke paints): rose madder, lemon yellow & indigo. Primary palette 2 (QoR paints): manganese blue, hansa yellow medium & quinacridone magenta. Primary set 3 (St. Petersburg): ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow & cadmium red. X6 half-pan secondaries plus: Payne's grey, raw umber, turquoise blue, permanent orange, yellowish green, violet rose. X8 half-pan earth, neutral and orange/ yellows: burnt sienna, burnt umber, vandyke brown, Payne's grey, pyrrol orange, Naples yellow deep, new gamboge, Indian yellow X8 half-pan red tones: carmine, alizarin crimson, quinacridone rose, opera pink, madder lake deep, quinacridone purple blue, quinacridone purple red, permanent red violet. (Not a very balanced set, but it is what I had left over from various previous sets). X8 half-pan blues and greens: Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, French Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Dusk Yellow (it looks greenish to me!), Yellow Green, Hooker's Green, Deep Green. Depending on what I'm painting, I'll take one of the primary palettes and one or two of the others. I also have larger palettes of custom mix 23, 24 and 29 paints. You could say that I've gone a bit overboard, but that's what happens when one goes deep into the watercolour rabbit hole...
I have most if not all of these paints (except Moonglow) so I’m curious to try painting with this palette. The only issue is Moonglow is fugitive (Kimberly Crick Art has an excellent video on this) which is a shame as it’s such a beautiful mix, so this would probably be a sketchbook only palette. I have neutral tint so I’ll just use that. Thanks for sharing, Steve!
Moonglow is rated as lightfastness 1 or excellent. Their highest rating. Definitely NOT a sketchbook only color as far as I'm concerned. None of the three individual pigments are considered fugitive in the least, PG18, PB29, and PR177. That said, when framing and hanging paintings, all should be treated as fugitive even if none of the colors are rated as such. Never hang in direct sunlight and always us UV inhibiting glass.
@@mindofwatercolor you’re right, the pigments individually are lightfast, but for some reason they are fugitive in Moonglow. Kimberly Crick Art’s video goes more in depth about it, but I think even she doesn’t have an explanation as to why this is. It’s possible her tube is a bad batch, I’m not sure. It’s really strange. I highly recommend her video, it’s really interesting.
Ohh wow that’s awesome! I now have 4 more new colors besides Viridian & Moonglow to check out. Definitely did not think that would hold 6 half pans. Thanks for sharing this wonderful informational video with us.
good ol' PB60! :D fell in love with the 1st one i tried (da vinci), and how absolutely dark and rich this pigment can go, but recently got into m. graham paints again and picked one up. beautiful! (i always think of you as the m. graham guy. might not even be your top paint at this point, but noone talked about them as much as you. i love when artists have a preferred brand, or even colors, and articulate WHY. :) thanks for this channel. i always love coming back to it when i get on a watercolor kick, even rewatching older vids like this one. cheers!)
In terms of tiny palettes, I have discovered eyeshadow palettes for that purpose. They come with built-in pans, many have mirrors in the lid (I have not attempted to paint those white). And most of them are quite flat. My smallest one is about 3 mm high and holds 6 flat pans. I either use my old used-up eyeshadow palettes or buy new cheap ones because I scrape out the crummy eyeshadow powders anyway. I look for good sized pans and for lids that fold all the way back to lie flat when open. Are the practical? Wellllll…… the small mixing area is a minus. But they are soooo cute!
Really loved your thoughtful color choices, Steve, they'll be so helpful to folks! I liked every single one, and you are so right about Viridian over phthalo green, and Moonglow (and Sodalite and a few other hue-biased neutrals) are my favorite DS colors. Plus the palette is just teeny-adorable, which makes it double awesome to me! I think if you ever get the time, you could lightly sand and then gesso and paint the cover (with permanent paints). I always tell myself I'll paint my palette lids and then never get around to it. :p--but I think one of your landscapes as mini art on the lid would make this palette just one of a kind.
You can take the lid off a 2nd tin and pressure fit it onto the bottom of the 1st tin (not my idea). Bulldog clip the edges together when in use if you want. Doubles your mixing area!
When I make my tins like that, I use poster blu-tack (the clay-like stuff) to hold down the pans. It raises them a bit higher inside the tin, and they're removable if I want to change out a pan. Now I have to pick up a couple of tubes to try this set of colors. :)
Whenever I think about these little palettes I always wonder about what brush and paper you plan on using it with that makes having such a small palette worth while? I did see one woman who made a tiny paper booklet to go with it, but I simply don't see the value in that. So, if you paper has to be at least, say, 4" x 4" (cut an Arches pad in thirds both length-wise and width-wise) why not just have a slightly bigger palette to match? This is all just me thinking out loud, but in the end, I really want to see you in the field, using this set up effectively. Maybe a good idea for another video? And what brush(es) would you use with it? I love your videos. Thanks for doing them! 😊
Four years after you posted this I watched it. Thank you for showing me how to get six half pans in a small altoids tin. Have you used this palette much?
Not much. Soon after that video, I ended up using adopting arttoolkit.com palettes as my micro palettes instead. But the Altoids worked fine when I used it. Still love the color choices too.
@@mindofwatercolor I fell into the same "trap". When I saw artists making small DIY palettes I have created a few myself, then I realized when I plan to paint I rather have at least 12 colors and enough space to mix anyway so I actually almost never use the altoid tin palettes. I also ordered and set up the art toolkit palettes but I haven't used them so far. Just adore their beauty. 😂
Perfect! I've not tried Quin Rust but Quin Burnt Orange is a favorite. M. Graham's Viridian is my favorite, not just because they make it just down I-205 from me, but because Viridian is normally horrible for rewetting. Every other brand I've tried leaves me with nasty crumbles but because of the honey, this one rewets beautifully and consistently! Seriously, you've picked some of my favorite odd colors! Anthraquinone/Indanthrone Blue amazed me when I discovered it! The thing I would have done differently was to glue magnet strips to the bottom of those pans just because you can change your mind - or when something spills in the palette, you can clean it out. All in all, I think you've got a winner!
I would have loved to see you use this palette en plein aire. ...also when i used to make little palettes, i always did an Alec Kudrow style color mixing guide to see what colors i was going to accomplish. The only problem i had was either beach or city colors as I am not as familiar with either.
So made the palette. Getting six pans in was tougher than it looks. But it fit. Now I am the envy of all the urban sketchers. Can’t wait to use it in the field or anywhere!
Thank you so much! I can't afford any moonglow but managed to replicate the colour thanks to you. Those colours are wonderful, you've encouraged me to use a different palette to the one with ocres that are making my watercolours muddy.I don't have some of those colours so I've substituted single pigment transparent colours that I did have and the painting I did tonight is fresh and not muddy at all!. Thank you so much xx
My problem with Maimeri Blu - which I discovered today! - was that after letting two tubes sit unused for a year, it was impossible to get the tops off. Never had this problem with any other brand of paint. Had to throw the tubes away. Also, I compared M Graham prices to Winsor Newton prices at Jerry’s Artarama only - same hues, same size tubes - and, yep, same prices. It may be I don’t have a problem with WN drying up because I literally use them every single day. At least on Jerry’s the prices for WN are not any higher than the other top brands. Just an FYI.
I made myself a tiny palette in a sucrets tin just last week, but instead of putting pans inside, I sprayed the whole thing with white enamel paint and put some dots of watercolor paints on the sides of the tin. That way have more mixing area and I can add more colors since I'm not too limited by the space. Maybe you could try that in your other altoid tin.
yuuuuz dadddd finally new colorsssss!!! the PR122 version of magenta is a better mixer. Its easier to mix much cleaner neutrals and stuff. Not sure if you have tried it already.
So, just as I think I have my color choices for my new travel pallet locked down, I just HAD to watch this...looks like a trip to my local Blick so I can play with the possibilities. Was already looking at Veridian...Quin Rose is my go to cool “red”...love Moonglow...but the Quin Gold is intriguing me...as is the blue...and the rust...choices, choices... Also, another option for a mini-pallet in a tin that allows you to remove the pans? A magnet sheet - easily found in craft stores- cut and glue to the bottom of the 1/2 pans and they will stick to the tin. Or, ya know, if you’re too impatient to wait for the 1/2 pans to come in the mail like I was...work well on the bottle cap “pans” I have set up. For the larger tin...the extra space can be filled nicely with one of those sponges that come flat and plump with water. Becomes a great wipe/water adjust in the pallet.
Yes. I actually now have a magnetic micro (or at least a mini) that may take the place of this. Though I rarely want to change out colors. I figured the Altoids box version I could just repeat if I wanted a different selection and didn't think the magnets would fit anyway. Yes, nice tip on the sponge.
This is great! Super informative and I love that you found a way to fit in that 6th pan. I wish you had filmed the part where you fill them though, it's always so satisfying to watch!
Hi Steve, I love this video and seeing how and why you made your six non-traditional colour selections. I'm a newly-converted fan of Moonglow, it's so versatile. Now we all want to see a video of you using your new micro palette to do a painting. Pretty please?!
I have made a palette using the regular Altoids tin using water bottle caps to hold the paint and I am excited to try the tiny tin. Thanks for the advice on colors.
I actually made one of these years ago, didn't use pans divided using thin plastic and got 23 colors in it. Also glued on a wrist sweat band so I could keep on my wrist not have to hold it. also works as a towel to wipe my brushed. wish I could post the picture
I have several micro palettes. I use them to separate my split primary palettes. I'm still a beginner so trying to learn color thoery!! Thank you so much your channel is fantastic and I'm learning so much ❤❤
Subscribed, this is great content, thank you. I've had a couple of the bigger tins stashed to make small pin hole cameras, but now one will become a travel palette! I have a couple of the Winsor & Newton travel kits but have been dreaming of a smaller stripped down bug out commando palette. Thanks for the inspiration. I agree that it would be great to see the field tests of this invention, and to see some colour wheels and how you overcome some blending challenges with these colours in the great outdoors!
love your vids... you picked a lovely pallet! only 1 tip? I use some magnetic strip on the bottom of the pans so I can remove and clean. I love your style and have watched you for a very long time! you have taught me so much. I couldn't have come so far along in my art without you. God bless and I hope you keep sharing your love for watercolor!
NowTHAT is the best tiny tin EVER! Of course I have put my own tin together after many many many hours of testing and feeling I MUST have this or that and now you have this. I LOVE all the colours! I am not sad that I am about to travel without your ideas, but the beauty of the little pans is they COME OUT! Guess I am going to go eat some altoids! And set this tin up for my next trip. Or maybe go back to the studio and change out what I have... hmmm. You are the BEST! Love watching you and filling my iPhone notes with your thoughts and ideas. Viridian... thank you! Moon Glow! As a neutral? Now that dang tube isn’t going to go to waste! Three cheers and may the force be with you, Always!
I love mini palettes they are great for sure I use mine everyday I don't need no 12 color palette I enjoy using 6 I just skipped the lid painting and I mix my colors on my hand
This micro palette idea is awesome! Love it. Going to make them with my high school students in a few weeks. Just added packs of small Altoids to my Amazon cart. I really enjoy your videos.
I loved this video. I would love to see a video of all the things you can do with it or using out in plein air. I’m in the process of making my own limited pallet like this and I have a hard time picking colors so this was very helpful!
Hi Steve, great video. I saw your recent IG story about the watercolor paper samples; if you ask Strathmore to send you some of their paper samples they'll send it in a really nice sketchbook. One of the nicest I've seen.
Steve , I'm what people call a 'palette junkie'. Itoo have the altoid tins . Regular, small, smaller. Black metal tins of all sizes, i love that. It's great to put your own choice of pigments. Triads, primary, split primary, so thanks for sharing your ideas.
very fun video. Now I want to give those colors a try. I have always loved transparent quin colors. but never tried those ones/brands you have on this palette. I love those colors!!
Almost 20 years ago I made my smallest palette from a business card holder and the metal tins I popped out of a dollar store make up palette. Now you can buy them....mine holds 10 colors and it is just fine to use a size 6 isabey pocket brush...used to use a da Vinci brush but lost it in the woods.
Wonderfully inspiring, I guessed 4 out of 6, didn't get moonglow, or the magenta, the latter's range I only became aware of a couple of weeks ago, it's beautiful. Now have to track down similarly sized tins in the UK, 'oh no', she cried, 'I'll have to eat a lot of sweets, all for the sake of my art.' Such sacrifices we make. Thanks for another exciting challenge. :)
That's my favorite blue. Good to know about the veridian paint. I tend to mix my greens, but that looks like a good one to buy. Looking forward to seeing what you paint from this palette.
I'm going to make one of these, so tiny, it'll be perfect for traveling this summer. Can't wait to see your colors in action. I like to use Repositionable Glue Dots, holds pans securely yet they can be removed easily. Another interesting video, Steve.
Beautiful choice of colors. Now I'll have to try that anthraquinone, I'm intrigued! I hope you show us this little palette in action, or rather, YOU in action, using it! Hehe! Thank you for sharing.
This is such a helpful video. Thank you. I am very new to water colour and do it primarily for art therapy. That said, I want to learn to do it better; this has really helped with this selection of colour and the like. I have a Windsor Newton small pallet with about 12 different colours. My next job is to make a sheet with the different colours so I know how what they look like in their fullness and in their washes. A learning curve. Finding difficult to get 300lb watercolour paper from the shop in the UK. No art stores near me. Online job - anyone have any good suggestions where you doing get ripped off, that would be great.
I love Daniel Smith's Moonglow, and Lunar Blue for neutrals. Lunar blue makes an instant shadow or night sky. Moonglow on the other hand calls for adventurous inventive uses.
I think you are going to really like this color set up. Quin. Rust, Quin Gold, and Moonglow are some of my most used colors. I like how much more transparent and vibrant of an undertone Quin. rust and Quin. gold are compared to Burnt Sienna and yellow.
I once made an eight color mini palette to take on a journey. A different philosophy than yours, I wanted to be able to mix as wide range of colors as possible. I wasn't happy with it during the journey. It didn't work as well as I had hoped. The main problem was that some of the paints I had chosen weren't strong enough to work well in deep mixes. Like Quinacridone Red (that was the biggest mistake, if you take only one red - and no browns - , make it a strong one), Lemon Benzimidazolone and Manganese Blue (hue), very nice subtractive primary colors, both of them, but not strong enough. If I tried that again, I think I would bring Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue GS, Yellow Benzimidazolone, Pyrrole Red, Quinacridone Rose and finally Quinacridone Magenta or Violet. About Viridian: PG18. The pigment itself is troublesome in watercolors. M Graham's version is the best (I guess it's the honey).
Ooooo, really liked the choices. I’d love to see a painting using this itty-bitty pallet. By the way, what paint spray did you use on the inside lid to make it a better mixing tray? Does that give it a porcelain feel? Thank you again! Love your videos so much!
Very nice palette. PB60 is great choice, it is basically the same hue as PB29 and give nice dark mixes. I have to try PO48 one day but neither Schmincke nor Lukas have it. My travel palette is very different: PY155, PR176, PG7, PB29 and PBr7 (raw and burnt), all from Lukas.
thnx.I have 2 tins.One is size of your smallest one and my other is size of a pak of sigarettes cause I used a cigarette tin where it has clamps to hold sigarettes.In one side I put small cut wc papers and othet half holds 3 rows of 6 half pand.I took blue tack put it on the back of the pans to keep them to stick to the other half of that tin.
I love the DS Moonglow. It's gorgeous!! I love this palette. I won a mini travel palette that I just love! I am ready to start making my own now!! I love your out of the box thinking on this!!
Steve, I loved this! I hate to throw away those tins, and what great little palettes they make! Daniel Smith's Moonglow is one of my favorites. I am excited to learn about the other colors you put in this palette. I think your choices are amazing!
I absolutely love the idea of a jewel toned palette! I recently tried moonglow myself and really love incorporating it into my work. Now to find one of those mini Altoid tins....lol
Would so love to see how you fill the pans. When I was filling them the other night I don't think I did it right. Do you have a video showing how to do it or can you direct me or tell me how to do so. Thank you. I got some paints for my birthday, 7/14, some Daniel Smith, QoR, Golden, and Schminke. so excited to use them. Thank you for your videos I love them.
Micro Palette is of interest because I am always looking for something very light for backpacking and/or travel. It isn't a difficult decision to take or not take art supplies with me when I can make it a very light package that fits in my backpack easily and doesn't add a lot of weight.
I like it a lot,! Viridian is my favorite green. Just about the only one I don't turn into mud mixing or layering. Though I've been told it isn't a natural green found in nature. With my limited experience it is easiest to work with and mix. Maybe one day I'll figure out how not to make mud with sap green. Lol.
Anthraquinone blue is my favorite- especially from M Graham. I was happy to see thats the one you chose, it's a beautiful color and actually really versatile!
Hi Steve, I really like your colours combination. It's pretty unusual, at least for me but it looks like they mix great together. Also a tiny palette gives you the opportunity to try colours you don't use often. Thanks for sharing :)
This 5-year-old video has shown me how to actually fit all the 6 pans I wanna use inside my favorite little tin box (it has a cat on it) so I don't have to compromise with another boring one.
Huge thanks for that one!
Now watching the rest of the video so I can doubt my color choices :D
This is so helpful. I’m new to watercolor. It has been very overwhelming trying to pick out professional grade colors as I can only afford a very limited supplies.
6 colours really is enough!
Instead of painting the inside of my lids on boxes I've converted into palettes, I've discovered I can use white Gorilla Grip Peel and Stick Adhesive Removable Liner. I cut pieces to fit the inside of the lid (and up the sides) and change them out easily if they stain (I left my phthalos on the surface for a month and they all cleaned off with just a bit of Master's Brush Cleaner). I found a 4"x3"x1/2" vintage cigarette case (with the spring lid) and made a little palette from it (removing the little spring arm to hold cigarettes in place was the only challenge, but the spring open lid remains and is an added benefit). It holds 12 full and 4 half pans perfectly (or 9 full-sized and 3 half pans, a travel brush, and a pencil). I was determined to find a palette that fits under the band on my Rosemary & Co leather brush wallet and gave me the most # of pans! The 4"x3" mixing surface is a dream, too! BTW, you can easily add a stick-on loop to the bottom (the ones they sell for smartphones).
I put my smalls palette inside a regular Altoids tin along with a pencil stub, a kneaded eraser half, a piece of sponge and a sawed off brush (yes, I’m armed and dangerous! AND it’s not illegal! Lol!). You’ve chosen some interesting colors. I would like to see what you’ve painted with this.
Wow what an interesting palette. This is probably one of the first watercolor vlogs I follow that hasn't opted for the brightest colors they could fit in a tin.
I cant wait to throw this togeather. I'm a beginner with watercolor. And most artist grade sets just have to many colors that I dont find myself really mixing at all. And artist grade kits are a lil more money than I want to spend on bbn paints I dont know much about. But 6 tubes is doable, and I really like the warmth of these colors. And I'm taking your word that they will play well togeather mixing since you have way more experience than me. I might grab a few tubes of a more traditional primary colors as well. But for what I like to paint, urban landscape, I think these colors are perfect
I have a few mini-palettes of 3, 6 or 8 colour sets. I avoid tins with embossed lids so that I can use the inside of the lid for mixing and then clean it easily. Some souvenir soaps often come in small decorative tins that are ideal for this.
My mini-palletes are as follows:
Primary palette 1 (Karuteke paints): rose madder, lemon yellow & indigo.
Primary palette 2 (QoR paints): manganese blue, hansa yellow medium & quinacridone magenta.
Primary set 3 (St. Petersburg): ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow & cadmium red.
X6 half-pan secondaries plus: Payne's grey, raw umber, turquoise blue, permanent orange, yellowish green, violet rose.
X8 half-pan earth, neutral and orange/ yellows: burnt sienna, burnt umber, vandyke brown, Payne's grey, pyrrol orange, Naples yellow deep, new gamboge, Indian yellow
X8 half-pan red tones: carmine, alizarin crimson, quinacridone rose, opera pink, madder lake deep, quinacridone purple blue, quinacridone purple red, permanent red violet. (Not a very balanced set, but it is what I had left over from various previous sets).
X8 half-pan blues and greens:
Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, French Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Dusk Yellow (it looks greenish to me!), Yellow Green, Hooker's Green, Deep Green.
Depending on what I'm painting, I'll take one of the primary palettes and one or two of the others. I also have larger palettes of custom mix 23, 24 and 29 paints.
You could say that I've gone a bit overboard, but that's what happens when one goes deep into the watercolour rabbit hole...
I have most if not all of these paints (except Moonglow) so I’m curious to try painting with this palette. The only issue is Moonglow is fugitive (Kimberly Crick Art has an excellent video on this) which is a shame as it’s such a beautiful mix, so this would probably be a sketchbook only palette. I have neutral tint so I’ll just use that. Thanks for sharing, Steve!
Moonglow is rated as lightfastness 1 or excellent. Their highest rating. Definitely NOT a sketchbook only color as far as I'm concerned. None of the three individual pigments are considered fugitive in the least, PG18, PB29, and PR177. That said, when framing and hanging paintings, all should be treated as fugitive even if none of the colors are rated as such. Never hang in direct sunlight and always us UV inhibiting glass.
@@mindofwatercolor you’re right, the pigments individually are lightfast, but for some reason they are fugitive in Moonglow. Kimberly Crick Art’s video goes more in depth about it, but I think even she doesn’t have an explanation as to why this is. It’s possible her tube is a bad batch, I’m not sure. It’s really strange. I highly recommend her video, it’s really interesting.
I love the teeny tiny Altoids tin for a palette. That is just great!
I'd be interested in seeing some examples of what you paint with this palette. Great vlog.
yesss it's like he described all the characters in the book, but didn't tell the story!!!
Would love to see some mixes from those colours
Same - want to know how the palette/colors worked out. I'm using Art Toolkit's pocket and Demi palettes.
Ohh wow that’s awesome! I now have 4 more new colors besides Viridian & Moonglow to check out. Definitely did not think that would hold 6 half pans. Thanks for sharing this wonderful informational video with us.
Great lil kit. I am going to do one for myself
good ol' PB60! :D fell in love with the 1st one i tried (da vinci), and how absolutely dark and rich this pigment can go, but recently got into m. graham paints again and picked one up. beautiful! (i always think of you as the m. graham guy. might not even be your top paint at this point, but noone talked about them as much as you. i love when artists have a preferred brand, or even colors, and articulate WHY. :) thanks for this channel. i always love coming back to it when i get on a watercolor kick, even rewatching older vids like this one. cheers!)
Reminds me of my 40 year old teeny tiny cotman palette. Still carry it around filled with winsor newton paints of course.
Love the colors! I would really like to see you paint with the new micro-palette!
Thank you for sharing your time and talent!
In terms of tiny palettes, I have discovered eyeshadow palettes for that purpose. They come with built-in pans, many have mirrors in the lid (I have not attempted to paint those white). And most of them are quite flat. My smallest one is about 3 mm high and holds 6 flat pans.
I either use my old used-up eyeshadow palettes or buy new cheap ones because I scrape out the crummy eyeshadow powders anyway. I look for good sized pans and for lids that fold all the way back to lie flat when open.
Are the practical? Wellllll…… the small mixing area is a minus. But they are soooo cute!
Really loved your thoughtful color choices, Steve, they'll be so helpful to folks! I liked every single one, and you are so right about Viridian over phthalo green, and Moonglow (and Sodalite and a few other hue-biased neutrals) are my favorite DS colors. Plus the palette is just teeny-adorable, which makes it double awesome to me! I think if you ever get the time, you could lightly sand and then gesso and paint the cover (with permanent paints). I always tell myself I'll paint my palette lids and then never get around to it. :p--but I think one of your landscapes as mini art on the lid would make this palette just one of a kind.
Hah, cool idea! thanks for dropping by my watercolor sis!
The Mind of Watercolor Viridian ain’t stopping me
You can take the lid off a 2nd tin and pressure fit it onto the bottom of the 1st tin (not my idea). Bulldog clip the edges together when in use if you want. Doubles your mixing area!
When I make my tins like that, I use poster blu-tack (the clay-like stuff) to hold down the pans. It raises them a bit higher inside the tin, and they're removable if I want to change out a pan. Now I have to pick up a couple of tubes to try this set of colors. :)
I glue thin magnet tape on the back of the half-pans. Then you can move them round, but they don’t tip out.
Whenever I think about these little palettes I always wonder about what brush and paper you plan on using it with that makes having such a small palette worth while? I did see one woman who made a tiny paper booklet to go with it, but I simply don't see the value in that. So, if you paper has to be at least, say, 4" x 4" (cut an Arches pad in thirds both length-wise and width-wise) why not just have a slightly bigger palette to match? This is all just me thinking out loud, but in the end, I really want to see you in the field, using this set up effectively. Maybe a good idea for another video? And what brush(es) would you use with it? I love your videos. Thanks for doing them! 😊
Four years after you posted this I watched it. Thank you for showing me how to get six half pans in a small altoids tin. Have you used this palette much?
Not much. Soon after that video, I ended up using adopting arttoolkit.com palettes as my micro palettes instead. But the Altoids worked fine when I used it. Still love the color choices too.
@@mindofwatercolor I fell into the same "trap". When I saw artists making small DIY palettes I have created a few myself, then I realized when I plan to paint I rather have at least 12 colors and enough space to mix anyway so I actually almost never use the altoid tin palettes. I also ordered and set up the art toolkit palettes but I haven't used them so far. Just adore their beauty. 😂
Perfect! I've not tried Quin Rust but Quin Burnt Orange is a favorite. M. Graham's Viridian is my favorite, not just because they make it just down I-205 from me, but because Viridian is normally horrible for rewetting. Every other brand I've tried leaves me with nasty crumbles but because of the honey, this one rewets beautifully and consistently! Seriously, you've picked some of my favorite odd colors! Anthraquinone/Indanthrone Blue amazed me when I discovered it! The thing I would have done differently was to glue magnet strips to the bottom of those pans just because you can change your mind - or when something spills in the palette, you can clean it out. All in all, I think you've got a winner!
These are all gorgeous colors, and spot-on for jewel tones. I love that you picked moonglow - it's one of my favorite colors.
I would have loved to see you use this palette en plein aire. ...also when i used to make little palettes, i always did an Alec Kudrow style color mixing guide to see what colors i was going to accomplish. The only problem i had
was either beach or city colors as I am not as familiar with either.
So made the palette. Getting six pans in was tougher than it looks. But it fit. Now I am the envy of all the urban sketchers. Can’t wait to use it in the field or anywhere!
Awesome!
I really love your channel. I have learned so much and love your sense of humour.
Thank you so much! I can't afford any moonglow but managed to replicate the colour thanks to you. Those colours are wonderful, you've encouraged me to use a different palette to the one with ocres that are making my watercolours muddy.I don't have some of those colours so I've substituted single pigment transparent colours that I did have and the painting I did tonight is fresh and not muddy at all!. Thank you so much xx
Very anxious to see you using the new micro palette, hope you make a video. Love your color choices!
I love the intense and thorough consideration you gave each color. Can't wait to see the paintings created from this palette!
My problem with Maimeri Blu - which I discovered today! - was that after letting two tubes sit unused for a year, it was impossible to get the tops off. Never had this problem with any other brand of paint. Had to throw the tubes away. Also, I compared M Graham prices to Winsor Newton prices at Jerry’s Artarama only - same hues, same size tubes - and, yep, same prices. It may be I don’t have a problem with WN drying up because I literally use them every single day. At least on Jerry’s the prices for WN are not any higher than the other top brands. Just an FYI.
You could have cut the tubes open and saved the paint.
I made myself a tiny palette in a sucrets tin just last week, but instead of putting pans inside, I sprayed the whole thing with white enamel paint and put some dots of watercolor paints on the sides of the tin. That way have more mixing area and I can add more colors since I'm not too limited by the space. Maybe you could try that in your other altoid tin.
The white enamel is a great idea
Steve, your materials lists and amazon links in the comments of your videos are very helpful. Thanks for being so thorough.
My pleasure Vaughn.
yuuuuz dadddd finally new colorsssss!!! the PR122 version of magenta is a better mixer. Its easier to mix much cleaner neutrals and stuff. Not sure if you have tried it already.
I have a couple of very small WN Cotman travel palettes - as I use up the student grade paint in sketchbooks, I refill with professional grade.
So, just as I think I have my color choices for my new travel pallet locked down, I just HAD to watch this...looks like a trip to my local Blick so I can play with the possibilities. Was already looking at Veridian...Quin Rose is my go to cool “red”...love Moonglow...but the Quin Gold is intriguing me...as is the blue...and the rust...choices, choices...
Also, another option for a mini-pallet in a tin that allows you to remove the pans? A magnet sheet - easily found in craft stores- cut and glue to the bottom of the 1/2 pans and they will stick to the tin. Or, ya know, if you’re too impatient to wait for the 1/2 pans to come in the mail like I was...work well on the bottle cap “pans” I have set up. For the larger tin...the extra space can be filled nicely with one of those sponges that come flat and plump with water. Becomes a great wipe/water adjust in the pallet.
Yes. I actually now have a magnetic micro (or at least a mini) that may take the place of this. Though I rarely want to change out colors. I figured the Altoids box version I could just repeat if I wanted a different selection and didn't think the magnets would fit anyway. Yes, nice tip on the sponge.
Agree on the Moonglow!!! Oh my gosh I just love it!!
This is great! Super informative and I love that you found a way to fit in that 6th pan. I wish you had filmed the part where you fill them though, it's always so satisfying to watch!
Hi Steve, I love this video and seeing how and why you made your six non-traditional colour selections. I'm a newly-converted fan of Moonglow, it's so versatile. Now we all want to see a video of you using your new micro palette to do a painting. Pretty please?!
Will do.
What great fun!!! I so want to do this -- YAY!!!!! 😀
I have made a palette using the regular Altoids tin using water bottle caps to hold the paint and I am excited to try the tiny tin. Thanks for the advice on colors.
Kat Boyd Great idea on the caps!😀
I actually made one of these years ago, didn't use pans divided using thin plastic and got 23 colors in it. Also glued on a wrist sweat band so I could keep on my wrist not have to hold it. also works as a towel to wipe my brushed. wish I could post the picture
Thank you. I love that micro palette, too cute. I can't wait to see you use it and create one of your stunning en plein air paintings.
I have several micro palettes. I use them to separate my split primary palettes. I'm still a beginner so trying to learn color thoery!! Thank you so much your channel is fantastic and I'm learning so much ❤❤
Subscribed, this is great content, thank you. I've had a couple of the bigger tins stashed to make small pin hole cameras, but now one will become a travel palette! I have a couple of the Winsor & Newton travel kits but have been dreaming of a smaller stripped down bug out commando palette. Thanks for the inspiration. I agree that it would be great to see the field tests of this invention, and to see some colour wheels and how you overcome some blending challenges with these colours in the great outdoors!
Really enjoyed ur explanations and observations in this video
love your vids... you picked a lovely pallet! only 1 tip? I use some magnetic strip on the bottom of the pans so I can remove and clean. I love your style and have watched you for a very long time! you have taught me so much. I couldn't have come so far along in my art without you. God bless and I hope you keep sharing your love for watercolor!
NowTHAT is the best tiny tin EVER! Of course I have put my own tin together after many many many hours of testing and feeling I MUST have this or that and now you have this. I LOVE all the colours! I am not sad that I am about to travel without your ideas, but the beauty of the little pans is they COME OUT! Guess I am going to go eat some altoids! And set this tin up for my next trip. Or maybe go back to the studio and change out what I have... hmmm. You are the BEST! Love watching you and filling my iPhone notes with your thoughts and ideas. Viridian... thank you! Moon Glow! As a neutral? Now that dang tube isn’t going to go to waste! Three cheers and may the force be with you, Always!
Thanks for the kind comments Alison!
I love mini palettes they are great for sure I use mine everyday I don't need no 12 color palette I enjoy using 6 I just skipped the lid painting and I mix my colors on my hand
The m grahm rust is a favorite of mine
Look forward to seeing your first outing with this little palette!
Loved the color selection ... would it be great to see a color chart made with them 😊🎨
This micro palette idea is awesome! Love it. Going to make them with my high school students in a few weeks. Just added packs of small Altoids to my Amazon cart. I really enjoy your videos.
I loved this video. I would love to see a video of all the things you can do with it or using out in plein air. I’m in the process of making my own limited pallet like this and I have a hard time picking colors so this was very helpful!
I just got quin rust from Turner watercolors - it's a much more orange than the one you use here, and a beautiful color. Good for autum-y things.
Mar-vel-ous!!!! Thanks Steve, hope you have a great time trying this....out, outside that is.
Oooooh, super interesting selection of colors! I loved hearing your thoughts behind each choice and I can't wait to see these in action!!! :D
Thanks Eve! Can't wait to put them into action. Stay tuned! 😊
Loves me some Steve Mitchell and the mind of watercolor! Another great video. Thank you sir!
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I never would have thought to spray paint the tin to have a white mixing surface
Hi Steve, great video. I saw your recent IG story about the watercolor paper samples; if you ask Strathmore to send you some of their paper samples they'll send it in a really nice sketchbook. One of the nicest I've seen.
The pocket palette and bijou box I prefer.
A lot of good info. Thank-you. I have made quite a few mini palettes that I bring with me to coffeehouses etc.
Brilliant, I couldn't see a configuration that worked!
Steve , I'm what people call a 'palette junkie'. Itoo have the altoid tins . Regular, small, smaller. Black metal tins of all sizes, i love that. It's great to put your own choice of pigments. Triads, primary, split primary, so thanks for sharing your ideas.
I'm right there with you Barbara, or at least headed in that direction.
very fun video. Now I want to give those colors a try. I have always loved transparent quin colors. but never tried those ones/brands you have on this palette. I love those colors!!
Almost 20 years ago I made my smallest palette from a business card holder and the metal tins I popped out of a dollar store make up palette. Now you can buy them....mine holds 10 colors and it is just fine to use a size 6 isabey pocket brush...used to use a da Vinci brush but lost it in the woods.
Wonderfully inspiring, I guessed 4 out of 6, didn't get moonglow, or the magenta, the latter's range I only became aware of a couple of weeks ago, it's beautiful. Now have to track down similarly sized tins in the UK, 'oh no', she cried, 'I'll have to eat a lot of sweets, all for the sake of my art.' Such sacrifices we make. Thanks for another exciting challenge. :)
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Marks and Spencer do a mini tin of mints👍
Moonglow has become one of my favs! Great palette.
That's my favorite blue. Good to know about the veridian paint. I tend to mix my greens, but that looks like a good one to buy. Looking forward to seeing what you paint from this palette.
Wow Steve. Those colours are beautiful but not at all usual. Would you please do a painting with them for us? I think it will have lovely tones.
Completely concur on the DS Viridian. Worst of all my paints. Thanks, Steve!
I'm going to make one of these, so tiny, it'll be perfect for traveling this summer. Can't wait to see your colors in action. I like to use Repositionable Glue Dots, holds pans securely yet they can be removed easily. Another interesting video, Steve.
Beautiful choice of colors. Now I'll have to try that anthraquinone, I'm intrigued! I hope you show us this little palette in action, or rather, YOU in action, using it! Hehe! Thank you for sharing.
Will do! 😀
Excellent, I can't wait!
Very very different from what I would have expected, where can I go to see what you painted with this set?
What a gorgeous pallet
This is such a helpful video. Thank you. I am very new to water colour and do it primarily for art therapy. That said, I want to learn to do it better; this has really helped with this selection of colour and the like. I have a Windsor Newton small pallet with about 12 different colours. My next job is to make a sheet with the different colours so I know how what they look like in their fullness and in their washes. A learning curve. Finding difficult to get 300lb watercolour paper from the shop in the UK. No art stores near me. Online job - anyone have any good suggestions where you doing get ripped off, that would be great.
Nice to use the magnetic strips
I would love to see something painted with this palette.
Interesting selection. Cannot wait to see what you create with it :
I love Daniel Smith's Moonglow, and Lunar Blue for neutrals. Lunar blue makes an instant shadow or night sky. Moonglow on the other hand calls for adventurous inventive uses.
Beautiful selection... Not the typical ones! : )
Very informative explanation of your choices. I'm definitely going to check all of them out.
I think you are going to really like this color set up. Quin. Rust, Quin Gold, and Moonglow are some of my most used colors. I like how much more transparent and vibrant of an undertone Quin. rust and Quin. gold are compared to Burnt Sienna and yellow.
Loving it so far!
Love your color choices. Looking forward to seeing what you paint with them....maybe during the 30x30 challenge??
I once made an eight color mini palette to take on a journey. A different philosophy than yours, I wanted to be able to mix as wide range of colors as possible. I wasn't happy with it during the journey. It didn't work as well as I had hoped. The main problem was that some of the paints I had chosen weren't strong enough to work well in deep mixes. Like Quinacridone Red (that was the biggest mistake, if you take only one red - and no browns - , make it a strong one), Lemon Benzimidazolone and Manganese Blue (hue), very nice subtractive primary colors, both of them, but not strong enough.
If I tried that again, I think I would bring Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue GS, Yellow Benzimidazolone, Pyrrole Red, Quinacridone Rose and finally Quinacridone Magenta or Violet.
About Viridian: PG18. The pigment itself is troublesome in watercolors. M Graham's version is the best (I guess it's the honey).
Ooooo, really liked the choices. I’d love to see a painting using this itty-bitty pallet. By the way, what paint spray did you use on the inside lid to make it a better mixing tray? Does that give it a porcelain feel? Thank you again! Love your videos so much!
Beautiful colours. Would be interesting to see how they mix together.
Love these color choices! Thanks for the video!
Very nice palette. PB60 is great choice, it is basically the same hue as PB29 and give nice dark mixes. I have to try PO48 one day but neither Schmincke nor Lukas have it. My travel palette is very different: PY155, PR176, PG7, PB29 and PBr7 (raw and burnt), all from Lukas.
thnx.I have 2 tins.One is size of your smallest one and my other is size of a pak of sigarettes cause I used a cigarette tin where it has clamps to hold sigarettes.In one side I put small cut wc papers and othet half holds 3 rows of 6 half pand.I took blue tack put it on the back of the pans to keep them to stick to the other half of that tin.
Abby Stevens g
I love the DS Moonglow. It's gorgeous!! I love this palette. I won a mini travel palette that I just love! I am ready to start making my own now!! I love your out of the box thinking on this!!
Steve, I loved this! I hate to throw away those tins, and what great little palettes they make! Daniel Smith's Moonglow is one of my favorites. I am excited to learn about the other colors you put in this palette. I think your choices are amazing!
Thanks Maryan!
I absolutely love the idea of a jewel toned palette! I recently tried moonglow myself and really love incorporating it into my work. Now to find one of those mini Altoid tins....lol
Would so love to see how you fill the pans. When I was filling them the other night I don't think I did it right. Do you have a video showing how to do it or can you direct me or tell me how to do so. Thank you. I got some paints for my birthday, 7/14, some Daniel Smith, QoR, Golden, and Schminke. so excited to use them. Thank you for your videos I love them.
Micro Palette is of interest because I am always looking for something very light for backpacking and/or travel. It isn't a difficult decision to take or not take art supplies with me when I can make it a very light package that fits in my backpack easily and doesn't add a lot of weight.
I like it a lot,! Viridian is my favorite green. Just about the only one I don't turn into mud mixing or layering. Though I've been told it isn't a natural green found in nature. With my limited experience it is easiest to work with and mix. Maybe one day I'll figure out how not to make mud with sap green. Lol.
Anthraquinone blue is my favorite- especially from M Graham. I was happy to see thats the one you chose, it's a beautiful color and actually really versatile!
Hi Steve, I really like your colours combination. It's pretty unusual, at least for me but it looks like they mix great together. Also a tiny palette gives you the opportunity to try colours you don't use often. Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks Steve!...Happy Memorial Day!!
Right back at you Kevin!
ok, now you gotta paint something with these so we can see them in action. thanks Steve!
My favourite thing is create palettes...❤️