How to set up a watercolor palette....

My blog post today is for those of you who have purchased a vintage watercolor palette from my shop and are wondering how to select pigments which order to place them in the palette.  Here we go....photo heavy but I try to keep the chat concise and easy to follow along. 

This is a sampling of what one of my vintage watercolor palettes look like.  I use vintage tin cigarette/cigar tins, laxative tins, old watercolor palettes, pencil cases and more. I have lots of options here.

 I glue in unfilled full or half size pans.  These are to be filled with professional grade (the best bang for your buck) watercolors that you can purchase in tubes.  I like Daniel Smith brands but experiment often with others too.

So here's my tried and true method for setting up a successful watercolor palette each and every time. My process takes out all the guess work as to whether you added the right colors in the right pans.  Start by cutting 1" square (or use a square punch) pieces of watercolor paper.  Using water and a 1/4" flat watercolor brush (Rosemary brushes are great), paint a color swatch for each color of watercolor that you have.  Label the back of the swatch with the paint color and manufacture.  You will keep these forever so don't throw them away. 

Once you have made 1" color swatches for each of your paint colors, count how many pans you need to fill in your paint palette.  I selected the colors below to fit in the palette I showed above.  You can set your other paint tubes and swatches aside. 

For storage I keep my 1" swatches in a Ziploc baggy.  I keep another baggy full of blank 1" papers because I know I'll always purchase more colors in the future.  Trust me, you'll get hooked too.  

Next I arrange and rearrange my color swatches until I reach a good layout that I want to use for my palette. Take your time with this step, it will save you so much time if you get it right the first time  you fill your empty paint pans.  Some of the pans will have two colors in one pan because less is not always more for me and I'm indecisive as heck.  Just squeeze two colors side by side.  It's okay.  Don't freak out. 

Next I trim (or tear on the table edge or use a metal ruler) a piece of watercolor paper to fit inside the palette lid.  I don't measure anything. I simply trace the lid onto the watercolor paper then tear the paper a bit smaller.  I then eyeball it and draw on the approximate divisions of the pans.  Again, I don't measure but just make tick marks with a pencil and then a straight piece of scrap paper to make the straight lines. If this makes you cringe and you need to measure and be perfect, then by all means please take the time to do that.  I'd rather get to the painting part.  

Now it's time to paint the color swatch chart that will fit inside the lid of the palette with closed (and your paints are dry).  I start by using a very fine tip waterproof fountain pen to write the color names at the bottom of each color swatch space.  This way you don't forget to leave space for the labels.  Then I paint my color swatches in the order that I laid out the 1" color swatches.  

 You can now put your 1" color swatches in your storage baggy and store away.

Next it's time to fill your palette with professional tube watercolor paints.  I usually purchase my paints online because I live in the middle of nowhere.  I like Blick Art Materials but please research your favorite local and online shops.  Daniel Smith brand fills about 99% of my palettes.  You can go to their site and see all of their pigments to make decisions on colors.

To squeeze the paints into the pans, unscrew the lid and gently squeeze the paint into the pan. You can fill the pan entirely but I have learned from experience that I like to fill the pan about 1/2 full and leave a little area unfilled.  This gives a little wiggle room for wetting down the paints and mixing your paints up.  If you decide to fill the pans all the way full let them set several hours.  You can then take a clean jar of water, dip your pinky finger in and make a small indentation into the paint.  This makes a concave well and helps the water to puddle a bit in the middle of the paint.

Allow your palette to sit open and dry for 24-48 hours.  It all depends on your climate, the brand of paints and how much paint is added.  The paint will dry pretty solid and to rewet your palette when you are ready to paint you just use a small spray bottle filled with clean water.  This reactivates the paint and you're then ready to create.  Use the palette lid for mixing colors.  Refill the paint pans as needed.  Sometimes I decide I want another shade of a blue so I just squire in whatever color I want.  I've learned that paint names don't really matter, it's what looks best for what you like to paint.

So here I have a my filled palette ready to go.  As you can see I've about used up a lot of my paint tubes.  To get the most out of the tube you can purchase paint tube wringers which squeeze out every last bit of paint.  

For storing my paint tubes, I keep them in an old metal tool box in my studio.  You don't need to keep them with your sketch kit unless you have some extra tubes you want to try. 

Here are some of my vintage watercolor palettes that I've created for different uses.  Why so many palettes?  Well I love them for one and secondly each palette was created for a specific use.  I have one for value studies, one for gouache, one for quick studies of landscapes and underpinnings, one that is a brighter color palette, etc.  Once you get into your painting, you'll know more about what colors you might like to add or what different palettes you might want.  

Beautiful right?  My hopes are that you get your palettes fill and take them from the shiny new stage to the used and abused stage like mine below.  The idea is to get creating right?  Don't be an art supply hoarder.  If you're going to buy supplies, use them! Make yourself that promise.  

You might be asking why I didn't clean up my palettes for this photo.  Don't be so quick to clean your palettes.  All those beautiful dried, swirly mixes can be rewet and might just have the perfect mix you're looking for.  I don't clean my palettes very often, I just start right where I left off.  As you can see I also have a variety of sizes and shapes of palettes.  I love collecting the old tins so check my shop often, you' never know what you'll find. 

I'll leave you with some photos of my palettes in action.  

Look at that beautiful purply pink.

So easy to transport and take outside.  Haven't tried plein air painting?  Oh you should.

Painting in my little vintage diary.

Making underpinnings on pastel paper for pastel paintings.

Using lots of sketchbooks outside.

A tiny sketchbook for quick landscape sketches.

Brighter colors for the beautiful flowers in my gardens.

Here is how one of my smaller palettes fit into my handmade travel sketch rolls.  I add these to my shop from time to time but they sell quickly.  

All of my supplies for sketching outside fit into the sketch roll and then I roll it up and secure with the attached ribbon. 

Okay, whew.  I hope this helps you get started with your beautiful art.  Please let me know if you have any other questions or if there's any subjects you'd like me to cover.  Like how to take your supplies outside to paint, how to pack them up, etc. I don't do blog posts too often but I post almost daily on Instagram.  My username is MishWooderson over there.  You can follow my Facebook page also.  Thank you so much for stopping by today and if you've purchased one of my vintage palettes from my shop, I also thank you.  Happy painting everyone! 

I've also done a previous blog post about setting up a palette.  You can check that out here.  

Seasons Change Mixed Media Artist Journal Page..

Hello friends.  If you haven't visited in a while, I'm hosting two classes with Jeanne Oliver.  One is an online class called Close To Home: A Watercolor Landscape Journey.  The other is a class at Jeanne's  beautiful home and studio in scenic Colorado, coming up in September.  It's called Field Guide: A Nature Inspired Sketchbook. We'll be learning more about sketching and watercolor and will be taking our supplies outside to sketch scenes from  Jeanne's beautiful land. Both classes are going to be jam packed with tips to jump start your art.  We'll learn about sketching, watercolors, setting up a palette, supplies, and taking it all outside.  You can learn more about each class by checking out the blog post links I've provided above.  I'd love to have you join me in this creative journey.  

In this post I'm sharing a project that will be similar to lesson in the Close To Home class.  You can get an idea of what the class has to offer, however all of the lessons in class will be in video format.  I can't wait for it to begin on August 22nd.  

Experimenting with mixed media and watercolor can give some fun results.  To get my creative juices flowing I like to sometimes get out my Dylusions journals and just have some fun.  In this journal, I've prepared each page ahead of time with a piece of vintage paper, some gesso, etc.  So every time I turn to a new page, I'm given a new challenge. 

I collect vintage postcards and have noticed they offer some of the prettiest landscape scenes.  So I've been incorporating them into my art lately.

I started by adding a simple pencil sketch to my journal.

I don't plan anything ahead, I just let the art flow onto the pages as I dig through my supplies. Here I added some borders and some squares in ink.

I switched my art page to reflect a summer scene instead of a winter scene as the postcard illustrates. So on my pages, I painted winter colors and summer colors.

Here's a shot of my well used watercolor palette. We'll talk about supplies in both of my classes.  The online class goes into more depth about supplies needed and how to set up a palette.

Next up I just start adding watercolor.  It's fun to experiment with watercolor to see how it goes down over other painted surfaces.  Here, it's applied over gesso and has a bit of resist to it.

I just kept adding paint, looking for a few values, splattering, adding white paint, etc.

I experimented with acrylic ink and a dip pen.

Here is my final result.  I love the thicknesses, the layers created by the vintage papers, the black ink and watercolors.

Just a fun experiment and as these pages add up in my journal, they're sure fun to look at.

Watercolors have captured my heart.  There's just so much to learn.

Getting back into my art has been so rewarding and satisfying.

I hope you'll get creative with me and join in on a class.  If you've wanted to start, my classes will be great starting points.  If you've abandoned your art because you didn't think you were good enough or life got in the way, my classes are just for you.  I want you to experience the joy of art and Jeanne's network of classes are just the ticket.  So much sharing and a great community of artists.  I hope you'll join me.

New art items in the shop...

Hey guys, I've just listed some new items to use with your art in my shop.  LINK IS HERE.  There are lots of fun little dishes that are perfect for mixing washes or for when you work with mixed media like Gesso.  Most items are in the shop, a few will be added soon.  

Close To Home: A Watercolor Landscape Journey......palette & color wheel

Hi guys! I'm back today to share more about my class over at the Jeanne Oliver Creative Network called Close To Home: A Watercolor Landscape Journey.  I've been sharing on Instagram and Facebook a few more sneak peeks and will share more here on the blog as well.  

 I will take you through the basics of setting up a watercolor travel palette, discussing which watercolors are best, what half pans are and will show you several types of watercolor palettes that I own and like to use.  At the registration page on Jeanne's site, I also have my supply list available which includes my current 24 colors of watercolor paints that are in my palettes. Just follow through the link above and click on my class within the blog post.  From there you may have to register on Jeanne's site, then will be able to access the class sign up.  You can see the supply list without signing up though.  That way you can tell what supplies you might need if you're interested in the class.  
I'll also be revisiting/introducing the color wheel theory and we'll create a beautiful color wheel that will be like a piece of artwork in your studio.  You can reference it time and again and I'll give you some tips on how to easily reproduce your color wheel to keep with you at all times.

There's been lots of excitement and many of you signing up for the early $28 registration price.  Thank you!  I hope you'll join me as there is LOTS to learn.  Whether you are an experienced painter or just a beginner, this will class will be perfect for you.  Can't draw?  That's okay because the landscapes that we'll be using as references are simple enough that just a few lines are all that are needed.  We will build upon the lessons we learn as we get through the 4+ hours of videos.  You can access the videos and watch them at your leisure, again and again.

I'll be back with more fun details of the class soon.  If you have Instagram I am MishWooderson and my Facebook page is HERE if you want to follow along with more frequent posts of mine.  Thanks as always for stopping by and I hope to see you in class!

Close To Home: A Watercolor Landscape Journey

Hi everyone.  I'm so excited to finally share that I'm back to teaching some classes.  This time it's in the form of watercolor painting!  Please join me and check out my class called Close To Home: A Watercolor Landscape Journey.  You can view all the details and sign up for class over at the Jeanne Oliver Network.  Link is here.  

 If you're new to Jeanne's site, she hosts wonderful classes given my herself and other talented artists. I've taken many and they are fabulous with a great amount of informative content.  It's my favorite place to learn something new about art.  Jeanne has such a way of sharing and I'm honored to be asked to join her creative network.

 We'll learn all about gathering up supplies for a travel art kit, refresh some art principles and review the color wheel.....and so much more......then put it all together to create simple and beautiful landscape watercolors in a journal.

If you've had that yearning to get back into your art....or to start new.....this class is for you.  We'll combine what we learn about painting with connecting our art to the beautiful surroundings right around us.  Come with me on a beautiful journey, you deserve it.