Does Your Paint Bead Up Too Much?

   This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Sometimes when you get a brand new beautiful palette, the surface will be so slick that the paint beads up.

When it does this, it is hard to see what color you are mixing or if the consistency is what you want.

If this happens, what you need to do is roughen up that palette a bit.

Use a Scotch Brite sponge or some sandpaper and rub it over the surface to give it some texture.

 

Now the paint will catch in the grooves instead of beading up so much.

And you can see what color and consistency it is.

 

Have Palette That Can Travel

 This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2012

I have a couple of travel palettes.

My smallest one is made from an altoid box.

I love it because I can carry it in my purse and just about anywhere.

I even carried it on the airplane in my backpack so I can paint on my long journey over to Spain.

 

I created this palette by first finding some of those small empty pans.

Next, I filled them with the colors that I like to use and letting them dry out just a bit.

Then I stuck them to the bottom of the box with that blue tacky stuff.

The lid can be used as an area to mix your colors.

Now I have my palette.

 

A small pill box would also work well. 

Oh No! My Palette is Leaking!

 This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2012.

 

Now that I have recommended that you spray your palette to keep things fresh, every time you go out, it leaks. 

That is actually why I switched to a travel palette even when I am just going to the local art center to teach. 

But my palette still was leaking and getting all over my supplies. Then they get messy and sticky and it was such a nuisance.

Simple solution: put it in a zipper bag. 

No more messes.

So obvious yet I am surprised how often it is not thought of and how long it took me to think of it!

(My practical genius only appears once or twice a year)

You can do the same with your big palette. Keep it in a large bag separate from everything else and keep it flat if you can. 

Sunday Secrets

  This entry was originally posted on Sunday, January 22, 2012.

Sunday Secrets (and not so secret secrets)

Since starting this blog I have received a couple of emails with questions about some of my painting preferences and techniques.

So I have decided to dedicate Sundays to answering these questions.

One question that Elizabeth from Montana asked was

 What brand is your palette?

 

I actually have several palettes. All of them are plastic. I keep several palettes around my studio because I like to work on different paintings at the same time. I can keep the mixtures I have made for a painting in one palette while I move on to the next painting and its designated palette.
So my palettes are these.

I have a John Pike watercolor palette which looks like this:
(I actually have 2)

It is the most common and popular in the States.

 

I also have a round palette which is a Robbie Laird palette.

That is the one that you have seen before. It is wonderful because it has several pans that come out of it for different mixes of paint. It is my current favorite because of the pans.

 

Then I also have a travel palette. I am not sure the brand. I think it wore off from so much use. 

This is what it looks like:

 

This palette I take with me everywhere since it is so convenient to travel with (hence the name of travel palette)

Finally, I have all sorts of containers that litter my studio. I don't know why I have so many but I tend to lose them among my things and can never find the one that has the color I need in it. Crazy. But sometimes when that genius shows up, you don't want to waste time finding and washing out a container.

Label Your Palette

 This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.

 

Another helpful tip in trying to remember your colors is to label your palette.

Just a piece of masking tape and a pen does the trick.

Arranging Your Palette

 This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.

 

One question I get asked by beginning watercolorists is about how to arrange the colors on a palette.

When arranging your palette, it is best to put all your yellows together, then all your reds, and finally all your blues. I also like to keep my colors that I mix often close together (such as French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna)

I also always position my palette the same way when I paint. I now know where each one of my colors is and I don't have to think about which color is which while I am painting.

Limited Palette

 This entry was originally posted on Sunday, January 15, 2012.

Are you one of those people that has a BAZILLION colors and don't ever remember which of your colors you used to get that perfect color? That is usually because you have a bazillion colors.

I highly recommend starting with a limited palette and get to know those colors really, really well before you add anymore. You will also discover that you don't need to add too many more colors. You'll know how to mix just about anything from the colors that you have.

My basic palette consists of 8 colors.

A warm and cool of each primary and 2 earth colors.

All the secondaries can be mixed (imagine that!)

 You may choose your own but I find that having a warm and cool of each color works really well.

This is just my list of basic colors:

New Gamboge (warm yellow)

Winsor Yellow (cool yellow)

Cadmium Scarlet/Red (warm red)

Permanent Alizarin Crimson (cool red)

French Ultramarine Blue (warm blue)

Winsor Blue (green shade) (cool blue)

Raw Sienna (earth)

Burnt Sienna (earth)

Every now and again I do use other colors but I find that I keep coming back to these 8.