Dec 26

Dec 26 I Love My Pocket Palette from Expeditionary Arts!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I ordered the business card size Pocket Palette from Expeditionary Arts after seeing it at a workshop in Richmond, VA. But I didn’t just get the Pocket Palette, I ordered it as part of owner Maria Cornell-Martin’s Art Toolkit. The Toolkit is a great little (6 1/2” x 10”) bag made from weatherproof Cordura material that comes with the Palette and 14 magnetic paint pans, an 8 1/4” x 5” landscape Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, a water brush, waterproof fine liner pen, pencil, 2 very small binder clips, refill syringe (for water brush), a pocket mister (to activate paints), and a 6” flexible ruler. I also ordered some additional pans as I knew I intended to fill the Pocket Palette with the fourteen Daniel Smith paints recommended by Jane Blundell for her “Ultimate Color Mixing Palette” but I knew I also wanted a mixing tray in addition to the mixing area on the Palette lid. So I got a large mixing pan, some half pans and double pans.

I am impressed with the Moleskine pad’s paper. So much so, in fact, I immediately ordered another one on Amazon. Going forward, I plan to only sketch in my Moleskine so that if a sketch/painting turns out, it will be on quality paper (200 gsm, cold pressed). I have started taking my Art Toolkit bag with me everywhere though I’m afraid I haven’t used it’s contents much yet. That’s a New Year’s resolution for sure.

Two Pocket Palettes: one for paint and other for more mixing space.

I have added some other gear to the bag and that is making it difficult to close. I like to carry a kneaded eraser but even the flat container in which it came adds enough thickness to the bag to make zippering it difficult. In addition, I’ve added three DaVinci travel brushes, one of which (size 10) is big! I also have a collapsible silicone cup and, naturally, paper towels. I’ve added my own Micron pens and a mechanical pencil too. In an extravagant move when Maria offered discounts at the end of November, I ordered another Pocket Palette and some more large and double pans. Though I can use this as yet another palette, my plan is to set this second Palette up as a mixing palette. I have sprayed several with white Appliance Epoxy to make them work better as mixing areas.

Dr. Ion Case with two compartments. Lots of space! (Click to enlarge image!)

I’m planning ahead to when I will want to have my sketching and painting gear with me on a trip in a carry-on bag along with some essential camera gear. This Art Toolkit bag is such a size, however, that it will be difficult to put inside another bag. Some months ago I bought a small but versatile art gear bag, the Kutsuwa Dr. Ion Super Mega Pencil Case, and, though thicker than the Art Toolkit it is smaller in overall dimensions (5.3” x 8.5” and 2.8” deep with two separate compartments - see image). I’ve removed everything from the Art Toolkit and it all fits with room to spare in the Dr. Ion bag! Unfortunately, the Moleskine watercolor pad fits in the Art Toolkit but it doesn’t fit in the Dr. Ion bag. A 4”x6” or 5”x7” watercolor block will fit though!

2nd Pocket Palette with trays before painting with Appliance Epoxy.

More importantly, the fully loaded Dr. Ion bag fits in my Tenba Cooper Slim 13 camera bag and I have room for two cameras and some additional photography gear. What camera gear I think I need on a trip has changed drastically since I started sketching and painting so I doubt I’ll ever take two cameras. It is, however, nice to know I can pack what I like to take in a carry-on in a reasonably sized camera bag and don’t need the huge, fully packed bags I used to carry. And that’s really the point of this post. That is, small is good and when it comes to a fully set up palette, you can’t get much smaller than Expeditionary Arts Pocket Palette!