New 3D Printed Watercolor Travel Palette Insert

Thanks to the help of Steve Wilson, a retired engineer who has a 3D printer, I was able to put together this nifty new watercolor travel palette. Steve designed this insert with 15 roomy compartments. He has listed his inserts on FB Marketplace here. A 1.76 oz Altoid tin will barely hold 15 half pans, if you fit them in snugly. This insert fits easily into the tin and will lift out just as easily with the two “handles” at the center of the insert. He designed the compartments in this insert extra deep (twice the depth of a half pan), per my request, and I think each generous compartment holds close to the volume of paint that would fit in a whole pan. This means I can take my new travel palette on trips and paint away without running out of paint.

The insert is light and durable. I was curious to see how much it would stain from the pigments, but as I used a damp Q-tip to clean up the top edges of the containers as I filled them with paint, there was no apparent staining. Even if it does end up staining to some degree, that is not an issue in my mind. The purpose of the container is to hold paint. Any stain left behind by a previously used pigment will not effect the replacement pigment. The mixing area is where staining becomes an issue.

I filled this insert with landscape painting in mind, using some pigments similar to those used by British landscape painter, Martin Goode, plus some favorites of my own.

• Winsor Yellow
• Raw Sienna
• Quinacridone Coral
• Quinacridone Burnt Orange
• Red Iron Oxide
• Alizarine Crimson
• Green Apatite
• Sap Green
• Olive Green
• Indigo
• Payne’s Gray
• Quinacridone Violet
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cobalt Blue
• Cerulean Blue

Besides spraying the inside of the tin and lids with enamel paint to make the mixing area white, I sprayed the outside of the tin black. I like the look, but am not sure how well the black paint will wear with use. Time will tell, but it looks nice for now.

You can see in the photo that there is an extra lid taken from a second Altoid tin attached to the bottom of this tin. It is also painted white inside and fits snugly on the tin while carrying, but can be removed and used for extra mixing space. I use tiny clips to hold the extra lid onto the tin.

I am thinking of filling another insert with a palette of colors for painting flowers. If you would like to try one of these inserts, PM Steve Wilson  through his FB page or check out the listing for the inserts on FB Marketplace.

Happy sketching!