Absolutely! I have no clue where my colors are but that’s also a factor of how I paint… I choose a palette based on my mood or the vibe of my painting and then select pigments as I work from memory. It’s a very type B kind of process that I realize probably baffles some! Keep doing what makes you feel good!!
I am wondering if you put beautiful colors together because you have put in so much time and training in art school and can run joyfully free in your colors.
I keep a dedicated watercolor journal for swatches so all the color options are in one place. I divide the the page into squares, rectangle, "kite" shapes etc with washi tape and swatch away. When dry, I make each section a mini painting or sketch...flowers, sunsets, ships, skies, kites, balloons.
That’s a great idea, I’ve been looking for a good journal for swatches. The funnest palette I have so far is the Daniel Smith Ultimate Mixing Set. 15 colors & a e-free book with the color mixing tables & gorgeous combos. I want to make my own & your technique sounds like it would be much more fun than painting a million squares.
My whole abstract art career began because I didn’t feel like I had a mastery of mixing water colors. I got tired of basic swatches so I started making 4in x 4in abstract paintings using a limited pallet and the rest is history.
While I appreciate your video, I square swatch with pigment info to keep from buying 2 -3 tubes of the same pigment. I don't buy pastels because I make them with water or white. However, I think this is a good stand alone exercise.
I LOVE how you swatch your paints!! I have swatched all my palettes and found I love the Winsor & Newton Cotman colors. They play wonderfully together and I splurged and got a 48 color pan set. I can’t wait to play!! Thank you Kristy for rekindling my love of painting!
Even for the basic set, the only thing you might need is a better cool red (Alizarin Crimson Hie is both weak, as Alizarin Crimsons usually (but in even less pigmented version than professional one), and a bit too warm for great purples and violets. Professional Permanent Rose is a great replacement or addition, though it is a bit brighter. I also added one dark muted green (which gives worse mixes than Veridian, it's just a convenience color) and Brilliant Purple from Schmincke that gives amazing saturated mixes (unlike the paint on its own which loses plenty of its intensity on drying, huge drying shift). Also I have the set with Intense Blue instras of Cerulean.
My preferred swatching method is the mixing grid: first row and column are individual colors, and the remaining cells are a mix of the corresponding row and column. It's the best method to get to know what my colors can do. I never use more than 24 in a single palette, and I stick to single-pigment colors (with the exception of Payne's gray). While your loose swatching method looks very relaxing, it would not be very useful to me, since only adjacent colors mix together and I want to see the entire range of my mixes. Yes it's super time-consuming, but I rarely buy new colors so I don't have to do it often.
I love your swatches, it's like a finished painting. I've always stuck to the squares, because I don't know if I could figure out what color was what later on. 😂 Maybe I'll do both. Do a page of boring squares in my swatch book, and then a page in my sketchbook like this (or other shapes) for fun. Those are some beautiful colors.
Yeah both for sure! I’ll be honest. I do not know the names of each color color in all of my palettes. I’m an incredibly instinctual painter so never work in a way that requires me to search for a particular color in my palette. My method is for many a bit mad, lol!! But yes a quick Kristy method searching session after your traditional swatching would be amazing!
@@KristyRice I wish I could channel your intuition. I have spent WAY too much time on things like comparing my red swatches to my alizarin crimson because “it’s fugitive,” some watercolorists say don’t use it, use “that” instead, and I don’t have “that” color. I’m way too high strung lol.
I was thinking the same thing. I want to be able to look at the watches and find the color I like again, so the traditional one is helpful to me. But this way is great way to see how the colors move and interact and see which ones will give an effect I’m looking for.
@@annamortimer Yes! I’m still new to watercolours, so I like having the regular swatches, but I think I will enjoy this. It will also help me getting started before attempting other projects.
I love the way you swatch your colors and feel so inspired every time I watch your videos! Normally, I do the traditional squares but have been trying your techniques and find they really spark my creativity! You are my favorite art tutor! 😊🌷
i LOOOVE your "swatch painting!!!" So much vibrance and movement!!!! That being said I don't know how to feel about the pastel watercolor concept -- I'm a big fan of "why buy one paint when mixing two you already have will do?" so those really low chroma low vibrance colors to me are more fun to come up with on my own palette, playing with my own curated selection of essential primaries.
My swatches are cards…about 2.5x3.75 (I have a way of taping off a page so it leaves a blank spot for writing.). I have most of the card covered with a gradient of the color, then I write the name, the pigment color numbers, the opacity and lightfastness. It’s less complicated than it seems and it’s so zen creating cards for my new colors. This way, I have a deck of colors and I can pick out a pallette and just toss the colors I’m going to use aside for reference later! Or if I’m trying to match a color, I can hold the swatch card to my picture and find the right shade. It’s been such a big help!
This method allows for a conversation with the colors to happen. It’s the difference between an art flick and a documentary. Definitely asks for trust and intuition, to be willingly pliable, curious…able to discover. I just found you & cannot wait to explore more❣️
I do the squares for the information but, I enjoy this type of swatching much more. I have a little journal I put together with different papers in it including non-watercolor paper and will swatch to see how the paint not only plays with each other but how it plays on different papers. I do mixed media but I am currently focused on learning watercolor. I love it and I can't believe it took me so long to rediscover it. lol One of my granddaughters is coming up this weekend and we are planning on playing with watercolor. So far I have gotten three of them interested in this medium. I will be showing this channel to her. Thank you. 💖
I”m loving this! I’m new to watercolors, just getting to know my paints, am having trouble getting a painting started, and this seems like a perfect solution! Can’t wait to try it!
I love how you swatch colors! To me it is very therapeutic to swatch in the squares, but I can appreciate what you are doing and see how it is better to figure out how the colors will actually react. I will definitely try this! As for the pastels, yes I love them! I have a gouache pastel set that I love . So happy I found your channel 😊
I very recentl just started having the colors touch and see what I get. Absolutely LOVE your method. I have learned so much from you and it is great fun at the same time relaxing
I haven’t mastered this idea yet but... it really bugs me that I waste a LOT of expensive paint by rinsing it off into my rinse water when I rinse my brushes and when my palette needs cleaning 🤨🤔😏 so I’ve been trying to keep an extra piece of watercolor paper next to my projects to use as a ‘blotter’ of sorts... and what better way to practice brush strokes and get a pretty design, when the paper is full, all in one fell swoop 😁🤩🥳😂 Your circle paper was inspiring and just what I needed to see 👁👁 Thank You for sharing 💖✨💞💫💝
You have a delightful personality and I just enjoy listening to you talking..painting out swatches is a bonus. great idea of using it creatively rather than boring straight lines. thanks for the helpful inspiring info.
I always swatched the regular way & like to keep that with the palette so I can tell what the colors look like. BUT I love the way you swatch & I remember watching your video on your fav Amazon palettes & watching you swatch those, I was like girl I love your thought process on painting!! I get it! I love to play & totally believe it’s the way to feel comfortable with watercolor. ❤️So glad I found your YT channel!
What an amazing way to swatch your colours, you have really inspired me to re-swatch all my colours - and sketching on it blew my mind, thank you for a fresh approach to watercolour :)
I absolutely love your way of swatching! It makes so much sense to me. I've always resisted the "little squares" method. So boring!!! I'm definitely going your route. Thank you!
SO EXCITED-The Brushes arrived today! I kept talking myself out of ordering your brushes because I have a couple similar (size/shapes). Finally I just had to have them. First, they are so darn pretty! And the short handle length is perfect. The zip pouch is very nice quality and beautiful. Cant wait to start using them. Congratulations Kristi….keep it up! 💖
Boop! Yes I love the pastels and convenience colours, I love all the colours, it’s so fascinating and fun! I love your swatching. My birthday is coming soon and I know my daughter bought your swatching kit.. it’s driving me nuts that it’s in the house but I have to wait until bday! 😂
I love your energy and your idea of swatching. When you started swatching, I thought you were creating a field of tulips/flowers. Then when you started drawing on top of them. The picture changed to leaves, to stones and pebbles. And my mind had placed them in water. (I know, strange jump in my mind.) Thank you for taking me on your creative journey.
oh this is very interesting! magnetized pans in tins is already something i did, but the way you swatch is very much inspiring to me! i dont think ill honestly ever stop doing my little neat sqare swatches bc i have a whole binder where i keep them all and that makes me feel all nice, BUT i really wanna try your swatch style as a bonus! especially drawing over the dry swatches sounds so fun, maybe putting little faces there or small objects or something...if it wasnt 12:30 am is try that right now! maybe tomorrow, haha!
Love it… “makes me feel all nice…” and there is the gold…you know what makes you feel good on this journey and that is so awesome!! But heck ya try it!!!! Do it do it!! Who knows what could happen!!
Thank you for sharing your very artistic method to swatch colours. It is a funny way to swatch if you want to get to know the palette. If there are many colours probably it would not be helpful in finding a particular colour. So, to me both methods to swatch are great but they have different purpose. Love ❤️
I love mixing colors. I buy three primary colors of different brands, then mix and swatch them into secondary and tertiary colors. I love your 'swatch painting' idea! Will definitely do that from now on.
I'll tell you what inspired me the most: I never thought of cutting my paper in a circular shape! I love it! I will say I really must do the little rectangles so when I want to make a particular color that I see on the swatch page I can find the paint in my palette. That said, I may also try your technique to get comfortable with using all the colors, not just my go-to's. I think it will make me feel very painterly! Love ya!
i wish i had the words for how refreshing your videos are!! i am trying to unlearn all of the rules and just paint for ME and you are helping with that SO MUCH!!
I’m a scrapbooker who just loves art supplies. I do swatch my colored pencils in squares so that I can see what I have, but I have never swatched my markers, gel pens, alcohol inks, distress inks, distress oxides. Having said that, I probably will do squares for my new watercolors but I like your way to just practice as I am new to watercolors. I’ve used watercolor pencils, inktense pencils but never watercolors. But I love the dance of colors like you do because when I work with alcohol inks, pearls and alloys, blending solutions, alcohol and yupo paper it’s so different and so new every time. It’s exciting as you don’t know what you are going to get.
I’ve tried a bunch of traditional swatching methods… you method of playing is the best for sure!! I LOVE setting up the square ones and spending time making them perfect but invariably they aren’t PERFECT and frustrate me. Do a sort of painting-ish thing is a great way to get past the awkwardness of using them for the first time!! I have old tins, too, and love them
I can be super nerdy about colours so usually swatch out in squares with all the info I need with brand and pigment numbers and lots of other tedious exercises etc. I love to have all that info yet I do find them time consuming and they seem to suck the joy out of using my paints. I love how liberating your style of swatching is and can definitely see myself using this as a fun way to create a colour palette and also warm ups. As a bonus, your swatching style look like finished paintings. ❤️
It’s def a bonus, you leave the experience feeling super accomplished. Little tip… sketch numbers 1-however many pigments in your palette, all over a page… then swatch like me over those numbers. It’s the best of both worlds this way. You have your fun and your data!
After teaching myself watercolor painting (thanks to youtube), I’ve swatched a few palettes in squares, circles, flowers, and was running out of fun ways to learn about my paints. This is a great idea, but I confess I will do this in addition to the traditional way. I am loosening up, but still have a way to go. And I need more palettes!
I finally took the plunge and invested in a new water colour palette. I can’t wait for it to arrive so I can do some swatching with new convenience colours!
This was so fun to look at, and I like the idea of getting to know a palette better this way, but I also have an awful memory, so I like to search new paints in the order they are in the palette so I can remember which is which. Maybe I won’t be so careful about keeping them separate in the future, though.
This looks amazing. Love your style. I love watercolour and I just love colour - complete beginner! I'd love to do this but I need to know what the colours look like individually and try to learn their names. Then I could move on to this loveliness!
I am now needing to make my own pastel watercolors, some nice, neutral pastel-y colors.... Have the tubes, have the pans..... Only thing left is to figure out what colors to make...... Luxury problem... 😁🤗🤗
Those paints were shocking I would have sent them back, I couldn't copexwith those swatches, I like clear and consice swatches so I can see exactly what colours are in my palette and where
You're new to me and I love this! Gonna try it for sure. You have a really cute personality. Very sweet. I'm gonna move on to other videos. I just wanted to say hello. Vicki
I get so bored with th traditional way, so I started doing something similar too, but Kristy your idea is so brilliant with adding the drawing and doodling etc ...definitely a great way to end up feeling with a sense of achievement......thank you so much, you just acquired a new subscriber!
I do both :)) I make a dedicated square swatch that I write info down on so I can check it out if I need to know something about a color, and then I do a looser one on a separate sheet. Leaves, waves, random shapes, cloud-y-like puffs-I’m about to make another swatch rn and was thinking crystals! Best of both worlds and it gives me an excuse to just play around some more without needing to think about composition and etc 😂😂💚
I love the way you do your swatching. My question is how do you know which color goes with which paint? I have many darker colors in my palettes, that I can't tell what colors they are, without looking at my swatches first.
Hey Kristy! So I decided I NEEDED that dagger brush, went to your site, and ended up buying a “bouquet” pack. I chose the Holbein palette b/c I recently ordered the entire 108 set 😬. I only have one 5 ml tube of Holbein Shell Pink & it was pretty expensive. But there’s something special about it. It has a huge range of opacity depending on how much water is used & painting feels like spreading creamy butter over warm toast…it melts on my paper. I have A LOT of Winsor & Newton + Daniel Smith, but there’s something special about Holbein. The 108 set is VERY expensive…unless you order it from Japan. It might take a month to get here but until then I can’t wait to play with the set I ordered from you. Love your videos, your positivity is absolutely infectious ❤️
Ohhh yes Holbein is very much in a class by itself in so many ways. Adore the way you describe it!! I don’t think I have all 108 colors; need to fix that!
@@KristyRice seems like Holbein’s popularity has exploded recently. I’ve heard a couple “traditionalists” decry their many convenience colors & opacity 🙄. Learning watercolors takes time & it’s HARD especially for me (I’m a civil engineer). I bought a book recently that’s full of watercolor mix recipes. While it was fun & informative, it was also time consuming. I don’t want to do that every time…sometimes I just want to paint. Also, I can’t wait to buy your palette :).
Your magnet-in-the-bottom-of-the-pan-before-filling-with-tube-paint trick has changed the way I paint. Not hyperbole. My latest tin is a metal box that a set of 35 DMC embroidery floss skeins came in. It is huge! 7x14 inches. I did have to add adhesive magnets to my white nights pans, but I love that I can rearrange them however I want whenever I want and I don't have to mess around with those sharp little metal tabs to hold the pan in place. Once the pans are all bone-dry (or as bone-dryish as they are going to get, lol) I can put the deluxe sized pan away. Hahaha, I say that like I ever don't have it sitting on my desk. :D It's easy to grab a handful of colors to throw in a little (Altoids style) tin my bag. I'm not a fan of water brushes, but I do keep a water brush for painting on the go. An old stained terry washcloth (to wipe the bristles of the water brush on to keep them cleanish), a small stack of index card sized watercolor paper or a little sketchbook. I almost always have a water bottle with me. Yes, most of the doodles I make while waiting in clinic lobbies or waiting rooms are beautiful messes (or hot garbage, lol), but it helps to have something to focus on and it makes waiting easier. I think the first time I was self conscious about painting "in public" but not after that. Literally, I don't think people knitting, reading, doing crosswords, playing games on their phone, etc is weird. So I just got over myself. :) One thing I still do with any of my tins is keep those little packets of silica beads in the tin, even after I think it's dried out enough to close it up. In my long metal tin that holds 2 rows of 6 full pans, there wasn't room for the whole silica bead packet, so I took a drinking straw and taped up the end, poked a million little holes in it with a push pin, and filled it with the silica beads. Tape up the end and now my desiccant packet is long and skinny and will fit into the little space at the edge of the tin. Be well friends. Sending out good vibes to you all.
Altoids tin! Yep, got one. Love your plein air set up too! During the height of the pandemic I was sewing masks and bought XXL cotton briefs for the elastics (made 3 masks from each) , the cotton material left over, I use for my watercolor rags! Smooth, cotton, and washable! 😉
I'm pretty new to watercolor and when I first started, I did the boring swatches. After watching you, I do both! I feel like I need the little squares in the order they're in the palette for reference. I love letting the colors touch and bleed into one another. I don't have any pastels, and honestly, this palette you're showing here doesn't really excite me. That's probably a GOOD thing so I won't be buying more supplies. :p
not a fan of pastels because alot of times they come out chalky almost. but when done right and as a highlight color and a greatttt mixture of pigment/binder- yes please.
Im in the process of swathing my new Schmincke palette, doing the grid thing (booooring) and thinking to myself that the last grid I did has been sitting in my board being pretty for way to long. So, UA-cam. And find this, which makes perfect sense because I was thinking exactly that with the previous grid I had no idea of how colors interact! So doing a Kristy style one right now!
I love pastel colors and I mix my colors with opaque white by Rembrandt but also have convinience pastel colors. 🤗 Oh and I find your swatching Style absolutely inspiring💜
book marks, my swatches are book marks of extra watercolor paper in little strips i can compare with the picture or painting. don't have alot of paints but i would like them in spectrum when i get enough to rearrange them. maybe the "genuine" slightly sparkly ones by ds by themselves.
I love this and your other tutorials. You helped me ease back into watercolors after years of not painting. I have just bought a new WN 1/2 pans. Wanted to start with primary colors then add some favorites and wannabies. I have them separated into warms, left side of palette cool the other side and now looking to do the swatches. I removed the green, white and ivory black, believe I can make my own like a true artist! Added Opera. To be honest, I am a bit overwhelmed just to start this part. Helpful thoughts?
Oh my I need to get that tape gun. My Schmincke are just gliding around the inside of the palette and I'm not happy, especially with how much you pay for those you'd think they could at least supply a palette that holds in the half pans lol. As always, such an entertaining video to watch!
Wow, this is blowing my mind only because I can’t imagine having that many colors and knowing what they all do…. I’m a restricted-pallet type… I have a dozen or so favorite tube colors and I know them intimately…
I feel like you NEED to have a grid of traditional swatches in your pallet, so you know what the color is. What you’re doing is wonderful, but can’t replace the point of the grid, which isn’t to see how the paint behaves, just which color is that.
If you love the grid keep doing the grid💪🏻I’ve never swatches my palettes. I don’t hunt for colors or think too much about the exact color I’ll use, but I’m not a realistic painter so it makes sense for me. If I were a realist or portrait artist, being very specific about my exact color choice would make sense.
With your swatching method, how do you know which colors belonged to which pans? Also curious to see the pros and cons of pastel colors in the comments. It's still unclear to me why pastel colors are worth buying.
As I work with my palettes I develop a memory of which colors are where, and also if I forget I have a scrap sheet to make a mini swatch in the moment or even on a white mixing tray… Many pastel pigments have unique personalities, subtle granulation and mingle curiously with other paint… so some formulations are unique and could be recreated easily
How do you keep track of which color matches which pan when you swatch this way? I love the idea, but I want to be able to know what’s what when I sit down to use a set.
You continue to inspire me to paint so, thank you. My question is what you do with your wet pallet when you are through painting with it and putting it away?
In the past I have loved just watching Jane Blundell swatch. BUT now I am a convert to the Kristy Method. I have had a stroke and this is going to be my therapy I believe because of the freedom to play that you have given me during a scary time.
Phyllis I’m so honored that my videos are becoming part of your therapy and pray you continue to find joy in your creative journey, no matter who you watch XO
I started learning to paint after a medical disaster. It's focusing and calming. It's so scary, but you came out the other side! And for that, congrats.
Hey Phyllis, I'm recovering from a TBI ( traumatic brain injury from horse accident) and painting without pressure and playing with color has been extremely helpful. Wishing you lots of happy painting as you navigate this challenging time!
I can appreciate the way you swatch but I prefer the traditional squares because it tells me what colors are where on my pallet :)
Absolutely! I have no clue where my colors are but that’s also a factor of how I paint… I choose a palette based on my mood or the vibe of my painting and then select pigments as I work from memory. It’s a very type B kind of process that I realize probably baffles some! Keep doing what makes you feel good!!
I am wondering if you put beautiful colors together because you have put in so much time and training in art school and can run joyfully free in your colors.
@@KristyRice what's type B, how many types are there, what are they?
@@ditookdantype b usually thought as less structured more go with the flow - often good messy while type a is like ocd super organized
I think there is value in doing it both ways - swatching in various ways helps you learn the colors
I keep a dedicated watercolor journal for swatches so all the color options are in one place. I divide the the page into squares, rectangle, "kite" shapes etc with washi tape and swatch away. When dry, I make each section a mini painting or sketch...flowers, sunsets, ships, skies, kites, balloons.
Oooh I want to see this, sounds incredible!!!
That’s a great idea, I’ve been looking for a good journal for swatches. The funnest palette I have so far is the Daniel Smith Ultimate Mixing Set. 15 colors & a e-free book with the color mixing tables & gorgeous combos. I want to make my own & your technique sounds like it would be much more fun than painting a million squares.
I just bought a watercolor journal for this exact same purpose! I am so excited to start swatching!
Ooh! That sounds fun!
Cool idea!!!
My whole abstract art career began because I didn’t feel like I had a mastery of mixing water colors. I got tired of basic swatches so I started making 4in x 4in abstract paintings using a limited pallet and the rest is history.
Fantastic!!
While I appreciate your video, I square swatch with pigment info to keep from buying 2 -3 tubes of the same pigment. I don't buy pastels because I make them with water or white. However, I think this is a good stand alone exercise.
Absolutely I get that!! Mixing just isn’t my jam, I think I’m too easily distracted? Lol!!
I LOVE how you swatch your paints!! I have swatched all my palettes and found I love the Winsor & Newton Cotman colors. They play wonderfully together and I splurged and got a 48 color pan set. I can’t wait to play!! Thank you Kristy for rekindling my love of painting!
My absolute pleasure!!
Even for the basic set, the only thing you might need is a better cool red (Alizarin Crimson Hie is both weak, as Alizarin Crimsons usually (but in even less pigmented version than professional one), and a bit too warm for great purples and violets. Professional Permanent Rose is a great replacement or addition, though it is a bit brighter.
I also added one dark muted green (which gives worse mixes than Veridian, it's just a convenience color) and Brilliant Purple from Schmincke that gives amazing saturated mixes (unlike the paint on its own which loses plenty of its intensity on drying, huge drying shift). Also I have the set with Intense Blue instras of Cerulean.
My preferred swatching method is the mixing grid: first row and column are individual colors, and the remaining cells are a mix of the corresponding row and column. It's the best method to get to know what my colors can do. I never use more than 24 in a single palette, and I stick to single-pigment colors (with the exception of Payne's gray). While your loose swatching method looks very relaxing, it would not be very useful to me, since only adjacent colors mix together and I want to see the entire range of my mixes. Yes it's super time-consuming, but I rarely buy new colors so I don't have to do it often.
I love your swatches, it's like a finished painting. I've always stuck to the squares, because I don't know if I could figure out what color was what later on. 😂 Maybe I'll do both. Do a page of boring squares in my swatch book, and then a page in my sketchbook like this (or other shapes) for fun. Those are some beautiful colors.
Yeah both for sure! I’ll be honest. I do not know the names of each color color in all of my palettes. I’m an incredibly instinctual painter so never work in a way that requires me to search for a particular color in my palette. My method is for many a bit mad, lol!!
But yes a quick Kristy method searching session after your traditional swatching would be amazing!
@@KristyRice I wish I could channel your intuition. I have spent WAY too much time on things like comparing my red swatches to my alizarin crimson because “it’s fugitive,” some watercolorists say don’t use it, use “that” instead, and I don’t have “that” color. I’m way too high strung lol.
I was thinking the same thing. I want to be able to look at the watches and find the color I like again, so the traditional one is helpful to me. But this way is great way to see how the colors move and interact and see which ones will give an effect I’m looking for.
@@annamortimer Yes! I’m still new to watercolours, so I like having the regular swatches, but I think I will enjoy this. It will also help me getting started before attempting other projects.
I love the way you swatch your colors and feel so inspired every time I watch your videos! Normally, I do the traditional squares but have been trying your techniques and find they really spark my creativity! You are my favorite art tutor! 😊🌷
Thank you!!!
I have my watercolors in a similar 3 tier cart - I love it soooo much it has everything I need and can just roll away when I need to
i LOOOVE your "swatch painting!!!" So much vibrance and movement!!!! That being said I don't know how to feel about the pastel watercolor concept -- I'm a big fan of "why buy one paint when mixing two you already have will do?" so those really low chroma low vibrance colors to me are more fun to come up with on my own palette, playing with my own curated selection of essential primaries.
My swatches are cards…about 2.5x3.75 (I have a way of taping off a page so it leaves a blank spot for writing.). I have most of the card covered with a gradient of the color, then I write the name, the pigment color numbers, the opacity and lightfastness. It’s less complicated than it seems and it’s so zen creating cards for my new colors. This way, I have a deck of colors and I can pick out a pallette and just toss the colors I’m going to use aside for reference later! Or if I’m trying to match a color, I can hold the swatch card to my picture and find the right shade. It’s been such a big help!
This sounds incredibly zen! Watercolor trading cards but just for you!! Love it!!
This method allows for a conversation with the colors to happen. It’s the difference between an art flick and a documentary. Definitely asks for trust and intuition, to be willingly pliable, curious…able to discover. I just found you & cannot wait to explore more❣️
So glad you’re here!!
I love your energy. Thank you for brightening my day!!!
I do the squares for the information but, I enjoy this type of swatching much more. I have a little journal I put together with different papers in it including non-watercolor paper and will swatch to see how the paint not only plays with each other but how it plays on different papers. I do mixed media but I am currently focused on learning watercolor. I love it and I can't believe it took me so long to rediscover it. lol One of my granddaughters is coming up this weekend and we are planning on playing with watercolor. So far I have gotten three of them interested in this medium. I will be showing this channel to her. Thank you. 💖
Oh many swatching on diff papers, I need to do this!!! Wahoo!!
@@KristyRice some of the results are really fun.
I”m loving this! I’m new to watercolors, just getting to know my paints, am having trouble getting a painting started, and this seems like a perfect solution! Can’t wait to try it!
I love this idea! Swatching is so satisfying and now it can be FUN too
Yup yup!!!
I love how you swatch colors! To me it is very therapeutic to swatch in the squares, but I can appreciate what you are doing and see how it is better to figure out how the colors will actually react. I will definitely try this! As for the pastels, yes I love them! I have a gouache pastel set that I love . So happy I found your channel 😊
So happy you are here!! Well if the squares are therapeutic then, oh my gosh don’t stop!! XO
This looks a heck of a lot more fun than the traditional swatching for sure. Great concept! Love your out-of-the-box thinking!
Haha thank!! XO
I very recentl just started having the colors touch and see what I get. Absolutely LOVE your method. I have learned so much from you and it is great fun at the same time relaxing
Is it so exciting!??? So glad you’re having fun and finding the JOY!!!
I haven’t mastered this idea yet but...
it really bugs me that I waste a LOT of expensive paint by rinsing it off into my rinse water when I rinse my brushes and when my palette needs cleaning 🤨🤔😏
so I’ve been trying to keep an extra piece of watercolor paper next to my projects to use as a ‘blotter’ of sorts... and what better way to practice brush strokes and get a pretty design, when the paper is full, all in one fell swoop 😁🤩🥳😂
Your circle paper was inspiring and just what I needed to see 👁👁
Thank You for sharing 💖✨💞💫💝
this is a genius idea!! thank you - it will definitely help me learn more about color combinations!
Awesome! Let me know how it goes when you try it!!!
I love pastels.. they are a mood 💖☺️😍 thank you for your passion and inspiration 🙏🏽😇
Wahoo!! Thanks so much for watching my passionate silliness, lol!!
I’m excited about this less structured and more relational method of swatching my paints! Going to try this tomorrow.
Relational! Ah perfect work!!
I am totally impressed by your creativity in doodling over your swatches.
You can do it too! Thank you:)
I have found my tribe and you are it's leader!🤣👸💜💙👩🎨
Hahaha omg❤️❤️❤️
You have a delightful personality and I just enjoy listening to you talking..painting out swatches is a bonus. great idea of using it creatively rather than boring straight lines. thanks for the helpful inspiring info.
Wow thanks so much!!
I always swatched the regular way & like to keep that with the palette so I can tell what the colors look like. BUT I love the way you swatch & I remember watching your video on your fav Amazon palettes & watching you swatch those, I was like girl I love your thought process on painting!! I get it! I love to play & totally believe it’s the way to feel comfortable with watercolor. ❤️So glad I found your YT channel!
So so glad you’re here!!
What an amazing way to swatch your colours, you have really inspired me to re-swatch all my colours - and sketching on it blew my mind, thank you for a fresh approach to watercolour :)
Have fun!
I absolutely love your way of swatching! It makes so much sense to me. I've always resisted the "little squares" method. So boring!!! I'm definitely going your route. Thank you!
Wahoo!!
Mind blown...what a brilliant and creative process! The pencil sketching at the end was such a personal touch. Thank you for sharing YOU with us.
You are so welcome!
SO EXCITED-The Brushes arrived today! I kept talking myself out of ordering your brushes because I have a couple similar (size/shapes). Finally I just had to have them. First, they are so darn pretty! And the short handle length is perfect. The zip pouch is very nice quality and beautiful. Cant wait to start using them. Congratulations Kristi….keep it up! 💖
Thank you sooo much for the support!!
Boop! Yes I love the pastels and convenience colours, I love all the colours, it’s so fascinating and fun! I love your swatching. My birthday is coming soon and I know my daughter bought your swatching kit.. it’s driving me nuts that it’s in the house but I have to wait until bday! 😂
I’m overwhelmed thinking about doing this 😅 it’s been lovely watching you and super calming. But too chaotic for me haha
I love your energy and your idea of swatching. When you started swatching, I thought you were creating a field of tulips/flowers. Then when you started drawing on top of them. The picture changed to leaves, to stones and pebbles. And my mind had placed them in water. (I know, strange jump in my mind.) Thank you for taking me on your creative journey.
Omg not a strange jump at all!!
oh this is very interesting! magnetized pans in tins is already something i did, but the way you swatch is very much inspiring to me! i dont think ill honestly ever stop doing my little neat sqare swatches bc i have a whole binder where i keep them all and that makes me feel all nice, BUT i really wanna try your swatch style as a bonus! especially drawing over the dry swatches sounds so fun, maybe putting little faces there or small objects or something...if it wasnt 12:30 am is try that right now! maybe tomorrow, haha!
Love it… “makes me feel all nice…” and there is the gold…you know what makes you feel good on this journey and that is so awesome!!
But heck ya try it!!!! Do it do it!! Who knows what could happen!!
I love pastels but not at the sacrifice of permanency… I just somehow feel immortal by using lightfast colors 😂🙌
Immortal, ha love it!!
Immortal! Now there's a great adjective! 👍
Thank you for sharing your very artistic method to swatch colours. It is a funny way to swatch if you want to get to know the palette. If there are many colours probably it would not be helpful in finding a particular colour. So, to me both methods to swatch are great but they have different purpose. Love ❤️
I love mixing colors. I buy three primary colors of different brands, then mix and swatch them into secondary and tertiary colors. I love your 'swatch painting' idea! Will definitely do that from now on.
Thanks!!
Great idea, your swatching craziness!
Oh thank you!
I'll tell you what inspired me the most: I never thought of cutting my paper in a circular shape! I love it! I will say I really must do the little rectangles so when I want to make a particular color that I see on the swatch page I can find the paint in my palette. That said, I may also try your technique to get comfortable with using all the colors, not just my go-to's. I think it will make me feel very painterly! Love ya!
I love this method of swatching!
i wish i had the words for how refreshing your videos are!! i am trying to unlearn all of the rules and just paint for ME and you are helping with that SO MUCH!!
I'm so glad!
I use my little squares as an inventory sheet. I keep a photo on my phone, list of potential colors, etc.
I found several Etsy sellers who sell these tiny pans. I got the cutest set of supervision colors and I’m in love with the colors!
Perfect!!!
I’m a scrapbooker who just loves art supplies. I do swatch my colored pencils in squares so that I can see what I have, but I have never swatched my markers, gel pens, alcohol inks, distress inks, distress oxides. Having said that, I probably will do squares for my new watercolors but I like your way to just practice as I am new to watercolors. I’ve used watercolor pencils, inktense pencils but never watercolors. But I love the dance of colors like you do because when I work with alcohol inks, pearls and alloys, blending solutions, alcohol and yupo paper it’s so different and so new every time. It’s exciting as you don’t know what you are going to get.
It is def a great practice approach! Love hearing about all your supplies!!
Fully dig your approach to the watercolor experience! Bring it it Kristy!!
Yay, thank you!
I’ve tried a bunch of traditional swatching methods… you method of playing is the best for sure!! I LOVE setting up the square ones and spending time making them perfect but invariably they aren’t PERFECT and frustrate me. Do a sort of painting-ish thing is a great way to get past the awkwardness of using them for the first time!! I have old tins, too, and love them
Yes yes yes, this is why I swatch this way… those squares are stressful!
I can be super nerdy about colours so usually swatch out in squares with all the info I need with brand and pigment numbers and lots of other tedious exercises etc. I love to have all that info yet I do find them time consuming and they seem to suck the joy out of using my paints.
I love how liberating your style of swatching is and can definitely see myself using this as a fun way to create a colour palette and also warm ups. As a bonus, your swatching style look like finished paintings. ❤️
It’s def a bonus, you leave the experience feeling super accomplished. Little tip… sketch numbers 1-however many pigments in your palette, all over a page… then swatch like me over those numbers. It’s the best of both worlds this way. You have your fun and your data!
@@KristyRice Thanks - that’s super helpful 🙂❤️
After teaching myself watercolor painting (thanks to youtube), I’ve swatched a few palettes in squares, circles, flowers, and was running out of fun ways to learn about my paints. This is a great idea, but I confess I will do this in addition to the traditional way. I am loosening up, but still have a way to go. And I need more palettes!
No confession needed! Enjoy all of it!!
I finally took the plunge and invested in a new water colour palette. I can’t wait for it to arrive so I can do some swatching with new convenience colours!
Oooh fun!! Tell me which one you chose!
I do love to lose myself creating a page of neat squares of colour, but I'll definitely try this too when I want to be inspired to create. 😊
Have to admit, I did a few traditional mixing charts last week and it was oddly meditative!
This was so fun to look at, and I like the idea of getting to know a palette better this way, but I also have an awful memory, so I like to search new paints in the order they are in the palette so I can remember which is which. Maybe I won’t be so careful about keeping them separate in the future, though.
It’s just another way to explore! XO
Brilliant! And beautiful. 💗
Thank you!!
Love the video! Also love the great hint Swatching her style!
XO
This looks amazing. Love your style. I love watercolour and I just love colour - complete beginner! I'd love to do this but I need to know what the colours look like individually and try to learn their names. Then I could move on to this loveliness!
Or you could start with this and then do individuals? 😘😘
I am now needing to make my own pastel watercolors, some nice, neutral pastel-y colors.... Have the tubes, have the pans..... Only thing left is to figure out what colors to make...... Luxury problem... 😁🤗🤗
Lovely
I like how you swatch that pallet! It’s interesting and I’m going to try it. I just received my Kristy brushes Finally! I enjoy your videos.
Oh yay!! Let me know how it goes!!
I square swatch but the do leaves etc. for fun.
Thanks Kristy for your inspiration!
Love it!!!
Those paints were shocking I would have sent them back, I couldn't copexwith those swatches, I like clear and consice swatches so I can see exactly what colours are in my palette and where
Absolutely, it’s so powerful to know what works for you, yes! I’m here to give just another path/possibility XO
You're new to me and I love this! Gonna try it for sure. You have a really cute personality. Very sweet. I'm gonna move on to other videos. I just wanted to say hello. Vicki
Hi!!!!! So glad you’re here!! Let me know what you watch next!
I get so bored with th traditional way, so I started doing something similar too, but Kristy your idea is so brilliant with adding the drawing and doodling etc ...definitely a great way to end up feeling with a sense of achievement......thank you so much, you just acquired a new subscriber!
Thanks so much! 😊
I do both :)) I make a dedicated square swatch that I write info down on so I can check it out if I need to know something about a color, and then I do a looser one on a separate sheet. Leaves, waves, random shapes, cloud-y-like puffs-I’m about to make another swatch rn and was thinking crystals! Best of both worlds and it gives me an excuse to just play around some more without needing to think about composition and etc 😂😂💚
Love it!
Love this idea
So glad!
This is amazing life changing I love it 💜
Ooh my gosh thank you!!
I love the way you do your swatching. My question is how do you know which color goes with which paint? I have many darker colors in my palettes, that I can't tell what colors they are, without looking at my swatches first.
You can always write numbers or names haphazardly around the page, then paint the intersecting shapes over top to keep track of which is which :)
A wonderful excuse to wet the brushes and get doing something without worry! Thank you!
Amen!
Just re-swatched my Paul Rubens pallete. Oh so fun to do leaves. I love it. I wish I could figure out how to insert a photo.
I wish we could share photos here too!!
Holy cow, there's ROUND watercolor paper?! How did I not find this before?
Yes, so fun!
Being a noob I havent done much swatching, but I definitely find your method much more interesting to sit and watch!
Hahah thanks!! Swatching isn’t for everyone and def isn’t a requirement to be successful at this watercolor thing!
I like the vintage feel you can get with pastel watercolors
Hey Kristy! So I decided I NEEDED that dagger brush, went to your site, and ended up buying a “bouquet” pack. I chose the Holbein palette b/c I recently ordered the entire 108 set 😬. I only have one 5 ml tube of Holbein Shell Pink & it was pretty expensive. But there’s something special about it. It has a huge range of opacity depending on how much water is used & painting feels like spreading creamy butter over warm toast…it melts on my paper. I have A LOT of Winsor & Newton + Daniel Smith, but there’s something special about Holbein. The 108 set is VERY expensive…unless you order it from Japan. It might take a month to get here but until then I can’t wait to play with the set I ordered from you. Love your videos, your positivity is absolutely infectious ❤️
Ohhh yes Holbein is very much in a class by itself in so many ways. Adore the way you describe it!! I don’t think I have all 108 colors; need to fix that!
@@KristyRice seems like Holbein’s popularity has exploded recently. I’ve heard a couple “traditionalists” decry their many convenience colors & opacity 🙄. Learning watercolors takes time & it’s HARD especially for me (I’m a civil engineer). I bought a book recently that’s full of watercolor mix recipes. While it was fun & informative, it was also time consuming. I don’t want to do that every time…sometimes I just want to paint.
Also, I can’t wait to buy your palette :).
I'm ordering the Holbein set from Allegro Japan. They are so wonderful and like a lot of colors.
Your magnet-in-the-bottom-of-the-pan-before-filling-with-tube-paint trick has changed the way I paint. Not hyperbole.
My latest tin is a metal box that a set of 35 DMC embroidery floss skeins came in. It is huge! 7x14 inches. I did have to add adhesive magnets to my white nights pans, but I love that I can rearrange them however I want whenever I want and I don't have to mess around with those sharp little metal tabs to hold the pan in place. Once the pans are all bone-dry (or as bone-dryish as they are going to get, lol) I can put the deluxe sized pan away. Hahaha, I say that like I ever don't have it sitting on my desk. :D
It's easy to grab a handful of colors to throw in a little (Altoids style) tin my bag. I'm not a fan of water brushes, but I do keep a water brush for painting on the go. An old stained terry washcloth (to wipe the bristles of the water brush on to keep them cleanish), a small stack of index card sized watercolor paper or a little sketchbook. I almost always have a water bottle with me. Yes, most of the doodles I make while waiting in clinic lobbies or waiting rooms are beautiful messes (or hot garbage, lol), but it helps to have something to focus on and it makes waiting easier. I think the first time I was self conscious about painting "in public" but not after that. Literally, I don't think people knitting, reading, doing crosswords, playing games on their phone, etc is weird. So I just got over myself. :)
One thing I still do with any of my tins is keep those little packets of silica beads in the tin, even after I think it's dried out enough to close it up.
In my long metal tin that holds 2 rows of 6 full pans, there wasn't room for the whole silica bead packet, so I took a drinking straw and taped up the end, poked a million little holes in it with a push pin, and filled it with the silica beads. Tape up the end and now my desiccant packet is long and skinny and will fit into the little space at the edge of the tin.
Be well friends. Sending out good vibes to you all.
Oh my heavens I love this all!! I would love to see a photo of your palette! Send me a dm on insta @kristythepainter!!
Altoids tin! Yep, got one. Love your plein air set up too! During the height of the pandemic I was sewing masks and bought XXL cotton briefs for the elastics (made 3 masks from each) , the cotton material left over, I use for my watercolor rags! Smooth, cotton, and washable! 😉
@@maureencepiel959 oooh that's clever Maureen! That's some "outside-of-the-boxerbriefs" thinking there. :D
Such beautiful blends and bleeds at 0:16
Ahhh I thought so too!!
I'm pretty new to watercolor and when I first started, I did the boring swatches. After watching you, I do both! I feel like I need the little squares in the order they're in the palette for reference. I love letting the colors touch and bleed into one another. I don't have any pastels, and honestly, this palette you're showing here doesn't really excite me. That's probably a GOOD thing so I won't be buying more supplies. :p
Yes yes love BOTH!! XO
not a fan of pastels because alot of times they come out chalky almost. but when done right and as a highlight color and a greatttt mixture of pigment/binder- yes please.
Super fun!!!
Im in the process of swathing my new Schmincke palette, doing the grid thing (booooring) and thinking to myself that the last grid I did has been sitting in my board being pretty for way to long. So, UA-cam. And find this, which makes perfect sense because I was thinking exactly that with the previous grid I had no idea of how colors interact! So doing a Kristy style one right now!
I love pastel colors and I mix my colors with opaque white by Rembrandt but also have convinience pastel colors. 🤗 Oh and I find your swatching Style absolutely inspiring💜
Oh I'm curious about the opaque white by Rembrandt! Thank you for watching!
At 6:10, when that ivory hit that purple and it just exploded....*chef's kiss*
Ahhh yes!!!
book marks, my swatches are book marks of extra watercolor paper in little strips i can compare with the picture or painting. don't have alot of paints but i would like them in spectrum when i get enough to rearrange them. maybe the "genuine" slightly sparkly ones by ds by themselves.
Love!!!
Love your technique
Thank you!
I love this and your other tutorials. You helped me ease back into watercolors after years of not painting. I have just bought a new WN 1/2 pans. Wanted to start with primary colors then add some favorites and wannabies. I have them separated into warms, left side of palette cool the other side and now looking to do the swatches. I removed the green, white and ivory black, believe I can make my own like a true artist! Added Opera. To be honest, I am a bit overwhelmed just to start this part. Helpful thoughts?
Love the swatch painting. I would hang it on my wall!
Oh my gosh thanks!!
Oh my I need to get that tape gun. My Schmincke are just gliding around the inside of the palette and I'm not happy, especially with how much you pay for those you'd think they could at least supply a palette that holds in the half pans lol. As always, such an entertaining video to watch!
The super hefty(thick) glue gots work too, really water resistant…
@@KristyRice that's good to know. I'll look into those too
Wow, this is blowing my mind only because I can’t imagine having that many colors and knowing what they all do…. I’m a restricted-pallet type… I have a dozen or so favorite tube colors and I know them intimately…
And that is a good thing❤️
I feel like you NEED to have a grid of traditional swatches in your pallet, so you know what the color is.
What you’re doing is wonderful, but can’t replace the point of the grid, which isn’t to see how the paint behaves, just which color is that.
If you love the grid keep doing the grid💪🏻I’ve never swatches my palettes. I don’t hunt for colors or think too much about the exact color I’ll use, but I’m not a realistic painter so it makes sense for me. If I were a realist or portrait artist, being very specific about my exact color choice would make sense.
New to your channel! Tend to swatch both ways. One to know where things are at. But I'm not as free with "unboxed" swatches.
Both is awesome!!!
With your swatching method, how do you know which colors belonged to which pans? Also curious to see the pros and cons of pastel colors in the comments. It's still unclear to me why pastel colors are worth buying.
As I work with my palettes I develop a memory of which colors are where, and also if I forget I have a scrap sheet to make a mini swatch in the moment or even on a white mixing tray…
Many pastel pigments have unique personalities, subtle granulation and mingle curiously with other paint… so some formulations are unique and could be recreated easily
I would love your brushes, so maybe there is a possibility that I can buy them somewhere that ships to Denmark? 🙏🏼
Yes you can purchase from Kristyrice.com for international shipping :)
How do you keep track of which color matches which pan when you swatch this way? I love the idea, but I want to be able to know what’s what when I sit down to use a set.
Honestly you don’t… so you can always do a second, traditional swatch card :)
Yes I love any color! But you can turn anything into pastel my adding white. So I don’t usually buy them anymore
I’m such a lazy color mixer! Lol!
Hello Kristy! Is it possible to buy the cat's tongue brush separate or do I have to purchase the bundle of brushes to get it?
Your swatching looks like a little piece of art in itself. A lovely fun idea. What are you using as your surface?
I just adore you
You continue to inspire me to paint so, thank you. My question is what you do with your wet pallet when you are through painting with it and putting it away?
Unless the lid of my vintage tin touches the half pans (only true for full pans newly filled), I just close the lid and store
It looks beautiful and fun to do, but how can you identify later on, which was which?!
Great question… you can add pigment numbers sporadically around the page first and paint the bumping shapes over the numbers :)
!Creative!
Thanks!!
You make me very irresponsible, Kristy! I want to put all my responsibilities aside and go swatch now!
Hehehe!!!
In the past I have loved just watching Jane Blundell swatch. BUT now I am a convert to the Kristy Method. I have had a stroke and this is going to be my therapy I believe because of the freedom to play that you have given me during a scary time.
Phyllis I’m so honored that my videos are becoming part of your therapy and pray you continue to find joy in your creative journey, no matter who you watch XO
@@KristyRice you are such a blessing. Oh, and FUN to boot.
I started learning to paint after a medical disaster. It's focusing and calming. It's so scary, but you came out the other side! And for that, congrats.
Hey Phyllis, I'm recovering from a TBI ( traumatic brain injury from horse accident) and painting without pressure and playing with color has been extremely helpful. Wishing you lots of happy painting as you navigate this challenging time!
@@glowycloey It is wonderful that we have discovered this together❣️
My swatches where balloon type it did mix up , but your is much cooler.
Ohhhh balloons!