How to Set-Up a Watercolor Travel Palette

The warmer days of Summer are here! We are heading outside to travel,  sketch and paint. 

Not a lot of information is available on how to

set up a watercolor palette... so I figured I'd share my thoughts, technique and paint choices. 


The palette shown goes by many names: Heritage, Alvin, Mijello. It is one of the nicest travel palettes and a great price. The lid has a soft plastic seal, which keeps the palette from leaking and keeps your colors from drying out quickly. It comes with a removable clear plastic tray. I don't use the tray since the palette has an ample mixing area. 

(1) Before I use a palette I give it a light scrubbing with a mild abrasive such as baking soda or soft scrub. This takes the slick surface off the mixing area and removes any residues from the manufacturing. Be sure to thoroughly rinse off the palette…you don’t want this in your paint.

(3) Thumb indentation

(2) I fill the 18 wells with my favorite selection of paint. Don’t put tiny dabs of paint in the wells. FILL the wells! Tiny dabs of paint will eventually just fall out. Hold the tube over the deep end of the well then come back towards the shallow end while squeezing the tube.

(3) Let the palette sit open for a day or two (longer in damp climates). When the paint had set up and is no longer sticky I wet my thumb and push down in the center of each well. What this does is create an indentation for the water. When I get ready to paint I lightly mist the paint wells and I am ready to go.

Paint mixes and mingles on palette

Here you can see how nicely the paint mixes and mingles because the palette was prepared with a mild abrasive.

Air Travel 

I travel a lot to teach and paint. I never want to arrive and find my art supplies have gone else where without me! I ALWAYS take my palette in my carry on luggage along with my brushes. I don't bring paint tubes but instead fill my palette with fresh paint a few days before and let air dry so the paint becomes more solid. When I arrive at my destination I mist the paint with fresh water, put a small sponge inside and close overnight. The next day the paint are fresh and juicy again.  I haven't had a problem with airport security, yet.

Paint Color Choices

Here you can see how I lay out my paint. Majority of my paints are Daniel Smith Artist Watercolors - BUT I frequently try new colors and swap out others. 

Next to the paint name you'll notice numbers beginning with "P", P=pigment and numbers refer to the Index Code Name. Example: Nickel Azo Yellow PY150. The number refers to the pigment used to make the paint, not the order reference number.

Now...get out and sketch!

Brenda