With a lovely shift in the weather, I've been painting by the creek again. The palette I took to England is slowly dwindling, so I'm a little nervous as I love all of the Case for Making Ultra-Blend colours in it. But, once they're gone, I can begin mixing my own colours to fill the palette, which is very exciting. I currently have so much pigment and paint that I've decided to refrain from any more purchases for some time...at least to give myself time to go through what I already have. I've also been having fun making more of these mini-sketchbooks. It's been especially fun to try out different papers and not to have a specific direction for what I will include, allowing myself to paint whatever catches my eye each day. And having such a small surface (3 1/2 x 5 inches open) takes pressure off and makes the process fairly quick. Plus, these fit easily into my shoulder pack, which is a definite bonus as it ensures that I take it out with me daily. 

Over the past couple of years, I've been experimenting with a lot of watercolour brands and palettes and hae finally landed on 5 that work well for me. These are my 3 Art Toolkit palettes: the small Demi, the card sized Pocket, and, finally, the larger Folio palettes. Though I may adjust which colours I use, these are currently favourites as they can be utilized for any subject matter I focus on. The Case for Making Ultra-Blends palette (Demi) surprised me so much as they are a bit more muted, but I can't stop using them as they re-activate easily and dry quickly, so the palette works very well when I'm travelling or just out and about. The Letter Sparrow palette (Pocket) has the loveliest rich colours that re-wet beautifully, though they do take a bit longer to dry. In the Art of Soil palette (Folio) I have replaced some of the pans for colours that I'm drawn to by Holbein, Winsor & Newton, and Daniel Smith. The Demi stays in my every day bag along with a card-sized Travelers' Notebook and brass pen to sketch wherever and whenever I'm impelled and the Folio works well in my Guerilla Painter Pochade by Judson's Art Outfitters. Having larger pans allows me to use a larger brush as well. All of them are used almost daily since they contain a nice variety of colours. What I especially like about the Art of Soil, Case for Making, and Letter Sparrow paints is that they are all handmade with a focus on being kinder to the environment...plus, they're all women owned businesses. I can't beat that!