November 28, 2024

Folio Layouts Inspired by Sketcher Fest Palettes

We asked you how you filled your Folio Palettes, and you answered!

By The Art Toolkit Team

A collection of colorful pens arranged at the top, with a grid of various paint swatches beneath. The swatches showcase a mix of vibrant colors, including blues, greens, browns, and reds. A watercolor brush sits at the bottom.

This summer we brought a selection of Art Toolkits, palettes, and other supplies across the water to share with attendees of the second annual Sketcher Fest in Edmonds, Washington. For fun, we co-created an event-special emerald green Folio Palette Without Pans with artist Che Lopez, which encouraged folks to fill theirs with the pans of their choice, so no two palettes are the same!

A group photo of three people, smiling wearing lanyards.
Brenda Swenson, Suhita Shirodkar, and Maria Coryell-Martin.
A tray of little metal pans with display cases blurry in the foreground
Build-your-own-palette station at our table at the Sketchbook Fair & Art Market.

Our artist friends Suhita Shirodkar, Brenda Swenson, and Lisa Spangler all shared their palettes and paint lists with us as well as some folks from the greater Art Toolkit Community, in response to a “call for palettes” in a summer newsletter. Read on for inspiration!

Brenda

Brenda Swenson is an artist, author, instructor, and juror of all things watercolor. It was a delight to see her at Sketcher Fest and, when we reached back out to her this autumn, Brenda was happy to share how she has filled and customized her Folio Palette to suit her needs.

I just returned from sketching in Italy. We visited the beautiful seaport town of Portovenere. I use juicy washes of paint, and it’s the reason I added the additional Mixing Pans on the Folio Palette lid. I use a magnetic sheet to hold the [pans] (cut to 3 1/8" x 5 1/8"). It sits snugly in place! When finished painting, I remove the magnetic sheet with [Mixing Pans] and close the lid. Easy!
—Brenda Swenson
A watercolor painting of a coastal scene depicting colorful buildings along the waterfront, with boats in the water. A sketchbook and a watercolor palette with vibrant colors are positioned on a stone ledge, overlooking the same scenic view.
Brenda’s Folio Palette on location beside her finished Portovenere sketch.

Row 1: Hansa Yellow Medium, Permanent Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre, Green Gold, Olive Green Row 2: Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Imperial Purple, Phthalo Blue (BS)  Row 3: Quinacridone Coral, Quinacridone Rose, Perylene Maroon, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Lunar Black.

Additional paint colors on the lid are samples or special for a region, in this case for Italy: Naples Yellow, Nickel Azo Yellow, Cobalt Turquoise, Phthalo Bree (BS).

A color palette featuring various watercolor paint swatches organized in rows, including shades like Hansa Yellow, Olive Green, and Quinacridone Rose, alongside a small selection of brushes and a vibrant, filled watercolor tin with a range of colors.
Swatches of Brenda’s (15) Double Pans and a peek at her customized palette lid filled with Mixing Pans.

To recreate Brenda’s palette, you will need: (3) packs of Double Pans!

Suhita

Suhita Shirodkar takes her sketching practice all over the world and has led Art Toolkit workshops, like Mixed Media on Location, which is available via Recorded Access here. In fact, the Times Square sketch on the right is from her workshop and painted using her Sketcher Fest Folio Palette!

A watercolor palette with various colors arranged in squares, alongside a vibrant painting of a city scene featuring buildings, people, and a large clock tower. The palette includes names of colors and brands for reference.
Suhita’s Folio Palette (at 90º) freshly filled, labeled with paint names, and in use during her workshop Mixed Media on Location. Suhita plans to bring this palette with her on her annual trip to India next month!

Row 1: Transparent Pyrrol Orange, Monte Amiata Natural Sienna, Hansa Yellow Medium Row 2: Quinacridone Magenta, Quinacridone Red Row 3: Transparent Red Oxide, French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue Row 4: Naples Yellow, Transparent Orange, Indanthrone Blue, Sap Green Row 5: Cobalt Teal Blue, Steel Blue Row 6: Iridescent Gold, Cerulean Blue Chromium, Lavender, Deep Sap Green, Imperial Purple, Lunar Black.

To recreate Suhita’s palette, you will need: (1) pack of Mini Pans, (2) packs of Standard Pans, (2) packs of Double Pans, and (1) Large Mixing Pan.

Lisa

Lisa Spangler is an avid watercolor artist, documenting her travels by van and finding joy in color everyday. She is an Ambassador for Art Toolkit and has shared numerous stories and live demo sketch-alongs over the years, which you can find on the Art Toolkit Blog.

Lisa’s Folio Palette features lots of our littlest pans surrounding our biggest mixing pans!

Top row: Azo Yellow (PY151), Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97), Permanent Yellow Deep (PY110), Quinacridone Coral (PR209), Quinacridone Rose (PV19), Quinacridone Magenta (PR122, WN), Potter’s Pink (PR233), Organic Vermillion (PR188), Pyrrol Red (PR254), Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet Right side: Deep Scarlet (PR175), Venetian Red (PR101), Transparent Red Oxide (PR101), Piemontite Genuine, Indigo (PB60, PBk6) Bottom row: Bloodstone Genuine, Vivianite (Blue Ochre, LS), Van Dyck Brown (PBr7), French Ultramarine Blue (PB29, WN), Smalt (PB15, WN), Phthalo Blue (Green Shade, PG7), Chromium Oxide Green (PG17), Peacock Blue (PB15 + PG7, H), Cobalt Turquoise Light (PG50, WN) Left side: Chinese white (PW4), Yellow Ochre (PY42, H), Raw Umber (PBr7, WN), Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150)

To recreate Lisa’s palette, you will need: (3) packs of Mini Pans, and (2) XL Mixing Pans.

Our Community

We hope you’ll be inspired to customize your own Folio Palettes with these variable examples from our community of artists! Pan pack quick links are at the bottom of the page.

“I had such a great time at Sketcher Fest! I ordered my Sketcher Fest Palette when they were announced by email, so I had time before the festival to set it up and start using it.” – Flory Nye-Clement

To recreate Flory’s palette, you will need: (1) pack of Mini Pans, and (4) pack of Standard Pans.

Flory’s color chart and sketching tools.
Kristin Johnsen made a diagram, clearly showing pans outlines!

To recreate Kristin’s palette, you will need: (2) packs of Mini Pans, (1) pack of Standard Pans, (1) pack of Small Mixing Pans, and (1) XL Mixing Pan.

Kate Cardinalli shared a palette layout with mixing space down the center and across the right bottom: “I love the flexibility!”
“I am still tinkering with the layout but I think I'm going to switch out the duo-chromes into a pocket palette.” – Kate Cardinalli

Kate filled her Folio up, but has plans to expand iridescent paints into a Pocket Palette. To recreate Kate’s palette, you will need: (4) packs of Mini Pans, (1) pack of Standard Pans, (1) pack of Small Mixing Pans, and (2) Large Mixing Pans.

Folio Palettes

Once you choose between a black and silver Folio Palette, it’s time to pick out pans! If you want a variety of pans, we offer a Folio Palette with Assorted Pans or you can build your own, pan by pan.

Quick Links: Pan Packs

Stainless steel pans for paint and mixing!

Mini Pans: 13mm square watercolor pans (10 ct)
Standard Pans: 26mm x 13mm rectangular watercolor pans (8 ct)
Double Pans: 26mm square watercolor pans (5 ct)
Large Pans: 52mm x 26mm watercolor pans (3 ct)
Small Mixing Pans: 26mm x 26mm pans with a watercolor mixing surface (2 ct)
Large Mixing Pan: 52mm x 26mm pan with a watercolor mixing surface.
XL Mixing Pan: 52mm x 52mm pan with a watercolor mixing surface.

Email a photo of your Folio Palette filled with pans and paint to hello@arttoolkit.com; we would love to see how you have customized yours!
An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

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