Forced out of a pigment rut

On the drive back from North Carolina, I sketched from the passenger seat as my husband drove.  Since i usually travel alone, this was a rare treat for me.  I had forgotten how challenging it can be to sketch and paint in a moving car.  It's more difficult than painting in trains, buses and airplanes.  It's much easier than painting while paragliding.

When I posted my sketches and my painting set up on Facebook, it created far more discussion than I had expected, mostly because I hadn't stated that I was a passenger rather than the driver.  People have become used to me painting while doing all sorts of other things. 

In addition to the comments on proper driving behavior, I received fabulous suggestions on alternative paint kits.  Though I'm perfectly happy with my current set ups, I'm always happy to try something new.  Within two days I had a new travel palette and two little OXO water containers in my mailbox.

I thought I'd be able to pop some of my half pans of pigments right into the Portable Painter palette.  I was wrong.  My half pans are just a bit larger than the wells.  That meant that I had to squeeze all new paint into the half pans in order to try out the palette.  I was a bit annoyed when I discovered I'm totally out of tubes of ultramarine blue, though I have plenty squeezed out into the half pans and full pans I normally use in my travel palettes. 

Hah! Perfect opportunity to change out my standard palette and use up some of the pigments that have been sitting around forever because I've become so stuck on my limited palette of Aureolin, Gamboge, Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Joe's Blue (phthalo) and occasionally cobalt violet light and cobalt teal (turquoise).

I decided to use all twelve wells and add a few more pigments.  When I head to the West Coast and then on to Bali next month, I'll be bringing my little business card travel palette with my regular limited palette, my teensy tiny mini altoid palette with jAureolin, Cad. Red Light, Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue, as well as this new Portable Painter palette with the following pigments:

Aureolin, Gamboge, Cadmium Yellow Orange, Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Wild Fuchsia, Red Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt Blue Deep, Joe's Blue, Cobalt Teal and Viridian.