A few months ago I went to an estate sale of a Watercolor Society of Oregon member named Carol Winchester. At the sale I picked up 50 sheets of watercolor paper (such a steal of a deal) and a used palette.

Palettes are a tool I love and have (too) many of. I don’t have one in this exact configuration, though, so I figured that even if I washed out all the paint, for $1.00 it was a good deal.

Last week I decided to put it to use to start a paint of the Brooks Falls bears I have been watching on a webcam. I was caught by a small series of images of a bear in the morning and thought the contract of its warm fur against the dark background might be just the thing.

My palette doesn’t have just the color blue I wanted to use, and while I could have made do, I decided to use my “new” palette and experiment a little.

Many established watercolor artists establish a range of colors in particular brands and just keep adding those colors to the palette. They permanently mark the colors on the outside of the well to keep themselves organized.

I moistened the colors and began.

I’m loving the Windsor blue, and having the cobalt turquoise right there is proving to be fun. I’m very envious of Carol’s palette and I want to experiment with some of the other colors before I finish. I’m even thinking that maybe it’s time to expand my own palette a little.