This is a tiny portable watercolor palette I made using a mint tin. All you do is press in some Sculpey oven-bake clay and carve out the color wells. I used a cheap clay carving tool to remove the clay for the wells. Then bake it in your kitchen oven following the instructions.
You can be as picky as you like with molding the clay. But I found that it worked fine without being to worrisome about it. After all, it’s for using in the field, not a design competition.
Once baked, you can spray paint the clay with enamel, or use Sculpey air dry glaze for a shiny finish.
I had enough room in this little box for 7 color wells. A bigger tin would allow more colors if you need them. The bigger Altoids boxes work well in that case. I found this particular tin at Borders Books in their coffee bar. It’s the smallest one I’ve seen. I did find a supplier online as well. Just Google “sliding top tins”. There is quite a selection available.
The color wells go all the way to the bottom of the tin. They are about 5/16” x 5/16” x 5/16”. They hold enough paint for a surprising number of sketches. Since I squeeze in tube watercolors and let them harden, the color strength is greater than with watercolor pans. So the colors are surprisingly long lasting. Just make sure you buy “Artist’s Quality” paints. I happen to use Holbein.
Fill the wells in three layers allowing each layer to dry. They will dry faster that way without cracking like a sun-baked desert. As you use up your paint, simply squeeze in some more and let dry for the next use.
All of my sketches are done in small sketchbooks about 5” x 6–1/4”. So the mixing area is sufficient for the small amounts of color I mix. I even keep a couple of colors on there at the same time occasionally.
Sometimes I use it at home or the office so I stuck some tiny, clear, cabinet door bumpers on the bottom. That makes it less likely to slide around my desk while mixing and poking in the paint wells with the brush.
Sculpey is the key. You can use whatever container you like and mold your own palette. Keep in mind though that this concept is for small, portable palettes. The clay is too heavy if you make full size palettes with it. Unless of course you want a really heavy desk palette.
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