Awhile ago I received a mint green Bijou Box from Case for Making, filled with my 8 favourite Ultra-Blend watercolours: algae, monarch, hibiscus, lupine, lagoon, tidepool, topax, and mermaid (my fave!). I had the opportunity to use 12 colours in the Art Toolkit Demi palette (1/2 the size of a business card) in England in Feb/Mar and loved the colour palette. The paint reactivates well when I wet them and dries quickly so that I can sketch on the go and pack up easily. They probably don’t act like a traditional watercolour, but I love it as I tend to use a sketchbook rather than a watercolour book in a soft ivory colour, so the colour and marks left on the page suit me very well. Having a nice selection of colour means that I don’t need to do much colour mixing, so that isn’t an issue for me either, and also hastens my travel sketching time. I may add some sponge or a piece of Swedish dishcloth in the center well where I store the paintbrush to make painting on the go a bit simpler and, though I will probably stick to the demi palette when travelling, I will be able to use this palette when I’m out and about in my community.
