Mini watercolor palette :)
Oct. 1st, 2024 10:23 pm...better late than never, right? XD So, this is the Art Toolkit Pocket Palette.
I received this cute little traveling watercolor palette as a gift from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
yhlee ages a few months ago and... uh... was at first unsure what to do with it. Not that there's anything wrong with it - it's a great concept, little magnetic pans that can be filled with paints, very practical - except, of course, I already have this super awesome handmade watercolor box (also from yhlee) in use and (obviously) don't plan on replacing it.
So, I couldn't use this little thing the way it's intended, for a basic color selection... Instead, it had to become something that adds to my basic color selection (which is, essentially, a selection of very bright pigments - the finest of organic chemistry - because I need those for botanical art) so I have more paints available on the go. (You can never have enough watercolors... Right?!? RIGHT.) The problem was... There were so many possibilities to choose from. Do I turn this thing into a glitter paint palette? Am I going to be boring and add more bright organic pigments for the fun of it? So many possibilities!
In the end, I decided to make this essentially an earth tone palette. I almost never use ochre and granulating colors and stuff (which is why those are not in my basic set), but occasionally I find myself missing them. Having small amounts in my bag at any time seemed like a good idea.
These are the paints I decided on:
Large pans on the left: these are the two ochres I find myself missing most often.
Phoenix Yellow Ochre (PY42): Ironically, my favorite yellow ochre is a super cheap one. These paints are sold as student grade (!) and, indeed, most of that series suck, but.. The ochre doesn't. It's (somewhat surprisingly) an awesome product.
Renesans Orange Ochre (PY42): Oh, this one is invaluable for skin tones! The only reason it's not in my basic set is that I don't draw people very often. Diluted, it becomes a light flesh tint, and in thicker layers it's also good for painting medium-brown skin. Very useful.
Second row from the left: Nila Colori earth tones.
These are awesome earth tones but I don't really like filling them in pans because they don't re-wet very well... It always takes a bit of time to dissolve them again. Still: if I do an earth tone set, I want the nicest earth tones, and, well, these are it. From top to bottom: Ocra Dorata Armena, Terra di Siena Bruciata del Monte Amiata, Terra d'Ombra Naturale, Ocra Violetta Armena.
Right half of the palette: Daniel Smith PrimaTek.
I'm still somewhat sceptical because of the obviously incorrect pigment labeling, but I have not experienced any lightfastness issues with these colors, which is what matters in the end... And, I mean, they granulate (and unmix) very nicely. I've wanted to use them more often, except whenever I found myself wanting one of these, I didn't have it available... Heh. Which is why they ended up in the tiny pans. These are really small amounts (dots, basically), but for rarely-used paints, that's prefect. From left to right, top to bottom: Bronzite Genuine, Serpentine Genuine, Green Apatite Genuine, Garnet Genuine, Diopside Genuine, Jadeite Genuine, Purpurite Genuine, Amazonite Genuine, Zoisite Genuine, Amethyst Genuine, Sodalite Genuine, Black Tourmaline Genuine.
I received this cute little traveling watercolor palette as a gift from
yhlee yhlee) in use and (obviously) don't plan on replacing it. So, I couldn't use this little thing the way it's intended, for a basic color selection... Instead, it had to become something that adds to my basic color selection (which is, essentially, a selection of very bright pigments - the finest of organic chemistry - because I need those for botanical art) so I have more paints available on the go. (You can never have enough watercolors... Right?!? RIGHT.) The problem was... There were so many possibilities to choose from. Do I turn this thing into a glitter paint palette? Am I going to be boring and add more bright organic pigments for the fun of it? So many possibilities!
In the end, I decided to make this essentially an earth tone palette. I almost never use ochre and granulating colors and stuff (which is why those are not in my basic set), but occasionally I find myself missing them. Having small amounts in my bag at any time seemed like a good idea.
These are the paints I decided on:
Large pans on the left: these are the two ochres I find myself missing most often.
Phoenix Yellow Ochre (PY42): Ironically, my favorite yellow ochre is a super cheap one. These paints are sold as student grade (!) and, indeed, most of that series suck, but.. The ochre doesn't. It's (somewhat surprisingly) an awesome product.
Renesans Orange Ochre (PY42): Oh, this one is invaluable for skin tones! The only reason it's not in my basic set is that I don't draw people very often. Diluted, it becomes a light flesh tint, and in thicker layers it's also good for painting medium-brown skin. Very useful.
Second row from the left: Nila Colori earth tones.
These are awesome earth tones but I don't really like filling them in pans because they don't re-wet very well... It always takes a bit of time to dissolve them again. Still: if I do an earth tone set, I want the nicest earth tones, and, well, these are it. From top to bottom: Ocra Dorata Armena, Terra di Siena Bruciata del Monte Amiata, Terra d'Ombra Naturale, Ocra Violetta Armena.
Right half of the palette: Daniel Smith PrimaTek.
I'm still somewhat sceptical because of the obviously incorrect pigment labeling, but I have not experienced any lightfastness issues with these colors, which is what matters in the end... And, I mean, they granulate (and unmix) very nicely. I've wanted to use them more often, except whenever I found myself wanting one of these, I didn't have it available... Heh. Which is why they ended up in the tiny pans. These are really small amounts (dots, basically), but for rarely-used paints, that's prefect. From left to right, top to bottom: Bronzite Genuine, Serpentine Genuine, Green Apatite Genuine, Garnet Genuine, Diopside Genuine, Jadeite Genuine, Purpurite Genuine, Amazonite Genuine, Zoisite Genuine, Amethyst Genuine, Sodalite Genuine, Black Tourmaline Genuine.
