Friday, June 25, 2010

Travel Art Supplies with M. Graham Watercolor Palette

Our sketch group is hosting a group of women artists from Costa Rica this next week and we made them travel art supply kits with a M. Graham watercolor palette. The kit includes a sketchbook with 15 pages of watercolor paper, a glue stick, a water brush, a pen, tissue paper and a palette.
I learned how to make these palettes from Cynthia Mooney. I used 150 grit sandpaper to give tooth to the Altoids tin surfaces.
Then I conditioned some Sculpey clay, put some Sobo glue on the bottom of the tin and then pushed in the clay. The Sculpey clay is heavy. Cynthia says she prefers to make these palettes with paper clay which is much lighter in weight when dried.
I formed wells in the clay with the end of a marker and baked them in my clay dedicated convection oven at 275°F for 20 minutes.
I covered the bottoms of the tins with red suede paper and the tops with garden sketches using the adhesive from my Xyron machine.
Then, I added the M. Graham watercolor paints. These are my favorite travel paints because they do not dry out and go onto paper smooth, with great color. Make yourself a travel art supply kit and enjoy using it on your vacation this summer. You'll remember your travel art as much or more than your photos.

9 comments:

lilylovekin said...

I love this idea what a wonderful gift and it is SO cute!!!

stephanie brockway said...

Too cute, reminds me of the little metal tins we had of paints as kids. but pretier!
Steph

cynthia said...

So great, Paula. These are cuter than anything I would have come up with!

Judy Wise said...

Oh my gosh, this is the sweetest thing ever. You guys are awesome over there. You've become my "go-to" blog for inspiration!! (((big hug)))

Robin Olsen said...

It's wonderful how personalized you made these. You really went all out!

Tory Brokenshire said...

What wonderful presents, your guests will feel very special.

Unknown said...

thank you for sharing.

EWian

Jan Harris Smith said...

Thanks for sharing, Paula - can't wait to make one for myself - there is a new polymer clay for sale that is much lighter in weight - think I will see how it works for this.

Dreamcicle Journeys said...

Cynthia uses paper clay for a lighter palette. What is the new, lighter clay called?