Sat in the greenhouse today. It was actually too hot to stay in too long. So this was a short sketching session to try out my new homemade mini palette, lapboard, and travel kit.
Last time I sketched outside I had trouble balancing everything in my lap. This setup works great. The little lapboard is made of 1/8 inch craft plywood and is 6 x 7 inches. I can clip my mini palette to it with a small piece of paper for color and pen tests and it stabilizes my other items as well. No more balancing act. The lapboard travels nicely on top of the Moleskine watercolor notebook tucked under its elastic band. I clip the two binder clips to the board for travel.
I made the mini palette out of a small plastic hinged saffron container that I modified with some InstaMorph to create the divisions. The lid makes a small mixing area. I squeezed some Lucas watercolor tube paints into the palette divisions and let it dry overnight. I add a drop or two of water to the colors to bring them back to life just before painting. Works great. The six colors I used are Payne’s Gray, Burnt Sienna, Colbalt Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Light Yellow, and Viridian.
I found an old black velvet zippered bag that holds a few pens, pencil, waterbrush, and eyedropper bottle filled with water. The pencil is a Pentel mechanical 0.5 HB with a retractable white eraser. The pens are all waterproof. They include a Pigma Micron 02 for fine lines, a Pentel Hybrid Technica 03 for very fine lines, and a Super Fine Zebra disposable brush pen for making variable width lines. The waterbrush is a Petit Kuretaki Waterbrush Pen. I may add a small sponge, a white crayon or piece of candle wax (for masking), a little bristle brush for lifting and splattering, and perhaps a piece of waxpaper for making textures.
I like this kit. It only takes about 30 seconds to set it up or put it away. It’s extremely lightweight and portable. It’s easy to grab when I’m going out and I know I’ll have everything I need to do a sketch on location.
Jim
