My Little Palette

The post describes a tiny stainless steel travel palette that fits into a very small bag with brushes, a sketchbook, pens, gouache, and a metal mixing palette. The author lists the 18 paint colors in the palette and says the compact setup is now the core of the Doodlewash studio.

It also connects the preference for small, organized objects to childhood habits, tackle boxes, and fishing trips with the author’s grandparents. The story ends by saying the author now keeps that same outdoors connection while choosing colors and drawing animals instead of gutting fish.

Reading notes

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• The small stainless steel box became one of the author’s favorite things and earned a place in the author’s “Cabinet of Curiosities”.
• The palette is part of a travel watercolor set and now holds brushes, a sketchbook, pens, white gouache, and a metal mixing palette.
• The whole set fits in a 6 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ x 2″ bag.
• The paints used are all from M. Graham, and the modified palette holds 18 colors.
• The text lists the colors in three rows, from yellow to brown and maroon.
• There is a white sponge, but the author says paper towels are preferred.
• The author also says that water is the main ingredient for making a doodlewash.
• On some occasions, the author takes the Permanent Green Pale from Philippe’s palette.
• The taste for small and compact objects comes from childhood, when the author collected small things in bags and boxes.
• The strongest memories include fishing trips with the grandparents and a greater interest in the tackle box than in fishing itself.
• In bait shops, the author wanted to choose the pieces by color and appearance inside the box.
• The grandfather insisted on lures that looked like flies because trout prefer flies.
• The author did not manage to catch fish on that first day and thought the trout agreed with him.
• The grandmother tried to teach the author how to clean the fish, but the author almost fainted at seeing the eye being removed.
• The author concludes that he was not made to be a fisherman and prefers to use the new tackle box to paint.
• When using the new box, the author thinks of the grandparents and associates that memory with the pleasure of choosing colors and drawing animals.