What is the Portable Painter?
The Portable Painter is known as “a hands-free watercolor palette” that is marketed towards plein air painters. When assembled, the water containers act as the “legs” of the whole setup. It folds down to about the size of a smart phone. It comes with 12 empty half pans to fill with your favorite colors, as well as a small double-ended watercolor brush.
The genius design means you can place the whole unit on top of your leg while painting, and it is secured by the two side parts (the black water containers).
It has various sized mixing areas, but I found that I only really use the three larger ones (shown in the image above).
Pros of the Portable Painter
- Very lightweight
- Very compact when folded
- Hands-free design when assembled
- Feels very sturdy (not like thin cheap plastic)
- Water containers are built into the unit
- Amazing customer service and pride in their product
Cons of the Portable Painter
- If you need a lot of mixing space, you might struggle with this
- The water containers slide on, and when I received mine, one of them was very loose. However I contacted the company and they offered a free replacement. So it’s hard to classify this as a con, it’s mainly because of the inconvenience. I very much appreciate their customer service though.
- I think they should completely remove the included brush and brush slot in favor of more mixing space.
When choosing watercolors for painting outside, I typically try to select an equal amount of cool colors and warm colors. I lean towards earthy colors.
What’s in my palette?
- Sennelier Neutral Tint
- M. Graham Anthraquinone Blue
- Schmincke Ultramarine Finest
- Schmincke Helio Turquoise
- Schmincke Perylene Green
- Daniel Smith Primatek Serpentine Genuine
- Schmincke Perylene Violet
- Winsor and Newton Quinacridone Magenta
- Schmincke English Venetian Red
- Daniel Smith Quinacridone Burnt Orange
- Schmincke Yellow Ochre
- M. Graham Hansa Yellow
See more of my favorite art supplies.
Watch my videos to see the Portable Painter in action!
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