No matter the weather, I love to travel – especially so I can sketch and paint outdoors. Here are a few thoughts on how I prepare my palette for traveling.

Above you can see how I lay out my paint color choices. When you create a little palette diagram, make sure the colors are arranged in whatever order makes the most sense to you. In addition to writing in the color names, I also recommend listing the pigment numbers used to make the paint. This comes in handy when you want to create new mixes. Here are my favorite travel colors:

Nickel Azo Yellow
Hansa Yellow Medium
Quinacridone Gold
Permanent Yellow Deep
Anthraquinoid Scarlet
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Quinacridone Rose
Ultramarine Violet
Phthalo Blue Green Shade
French Ultramarine
Cobalt Blue
Manganese Blue Hue
Phthalo Turquoise
Cobalt Teal Blue
Phthalo Green Blue Shade
Quinacridone Sienna
Italian Burnt Sienna
Transparent Red Oxide
Lunar Black

Use a plastic pallet with folding lid. First I give it a light scrubbing with a mild abrasive, such as baking soda. This takes the slick surface off the mixing area and removes any residues from the manufacturing. Be sure to thoroughly rinse and dry. Here you can see how nicely the paint mixes and mingles because of this prep.

I fill each well with paint from my selection of tubes. Don’t put tiny dabs of paint in there – really FILL the wells! Small amounts of paint can eventually fall out. Hold the tube over the deep end of the well, then come back towards the shallow end while squeezing the tube.

Let the palette sit open for a day or two (longer in damp climates). When the paint has set up and is no longer sticky, I wet my thumb and push down in the center of each well, as shown above. This creates a small indentation for the water. When I get ready to paint, I just lightly spray the wells with a fine water mister.

I travel frequently to teach and paint. I never want to arrive and find my art supplies have gone elsewhere without me, so I always take my palette (not the tubes) in my carry-on luggage, along with my brushes. I haven’t had a problem with airport security…yet.

Be sure to add fresh paint as needed to your palette a few days before you leave and let it air dry, so the paint becomes more solid. As soon as I arrive at my destination, I mist the paint wells with fresh water, put a small sponge inside and close the palette overnight. The next day, the paints are fresh and juicy again.

Now…get out there and paint!