Do you ever wonder how much difference the right watercolor supplies can make in the outcome of your paintings?

Take if from the guy who used his kid's paints to paint a not-so-bad watercolor landscape: supplies aren't the end all be all. I wouldn't want to overstate the impact of any one watercolor brush, brand of paint, or type of paper.

But you will find that there some supplies make it easier to achieve the results you want than others.

One upgrade I've made that has improved my painting process is replacing my metal Holbein palette with a John Pike Palette. Let me tell you why this change has helped me achieve the results I want. 

Achieve Vibrancy with the Right Watercolor Palette

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My Old Palette vs. My New Palette - And Why I Switched

There's nothing "wrong" with my old palette. It may be the perfect  product to support another artist's process.

For me, though, it didn't provide what I needed. Specifically, I needed more mixing space. 

So, instead, I switched to this John Pike's palette with a large, wide open mixing space. 

And at first - if you're used to a palette with different sections - you might be thinking, why would I want to mix all my colors together?

But actually, if you're lay this on a flat surface, your colors will stay in separate little pools, and you have this large mixing area to work with. Moving over to this larger palette and giving myself more room made a big difference in my painting approach.

Finding a Palette that Supports My Painting Process

A big turning point for me in my painting is when I started to look at a scene and really start to identify its large shapes. When I began to do this, I started to paint in a more connected way. I began to look for what connects and unifies a watercolor scene versus all the little parts around the scene.

Here is an example of a reference photo marked up to show the connection of shapes:

As another example, here is a value study that shows my connected shape and the different value assignments. Even when you're painting in one color and you're seeing that as one large shape, your brain can fill in a lot of the details.

That's one of the big keys to good painting. Suggesting detail and letting the viewer’s eye fill in the gaps. 

When I learned to paint in this way, I needed more space on my palette to accommodate this new philosophy, this new, 3-step painting process (outlined below).

3-Step Painting Process  

Moving over to this larger palette, giving myself more room made a big difference in my painting approach.

Let's talk about why that was important. I paint scenes in three steps light values, middle values and darks.

When I'm painting that light value wash, I'm painting wet into wet on the paper and I don't have to worry about getting hard edges. Mixing is not as crucial and as time-sensitive in this stage of my painting.

But once that wash dries, I'm into painting my middle values, and timing is everything. This is where a larger palette really comes in handy. Having this extra mixing space allows me to plan and pre-mix colors that I'm going to need for this middle portion of my painting. This a head start on one of the more difficult parts of the painting is crucial.

How My John Pike Watercolor Palette Has Helped Me Improve My Paintings

Also, having a large mixing area, I'm really able to get bold, strong washes. When I first started out, a lot of my paintings were really high key.

There was a lot of really light washes, and I wasn't getting a really bold, strong mixture when I've pre wet my paints and I have a lot of room on my palette.

Now, I'm more able to get really rich mixtures, which opens the door to painting really deep, rich blues and really strong mixtures that you need for those large dark areas of your painting. It allows me to paint things like nocturne scene because I have the room and the space to work with fresh paint on the palette.

So if you're working from a small palette and you aren't getting that strength, that vibrancy that you need, or if you're slowing down during a key part of your painting because you don't have the right mixing space, move to something a little bit bigger. Hopefully that will help you take that next step forward. It's surprising when you have the right materials, how much of a difference it can make.

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