DIY Watercolor Travel Palette with LEGOS & Homemade paints from Chalk Pastels

I made my own custom colors for my sketchbook adventures travel kit by repurposing Legos & chalk pastels! I thought I'd share the process with all of you do-it-yourselfers :) hope you like it!!! #sketchbook #diyartsupplies #watercolortravelkit
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[@emoheneyeceeay]

this was so cool. love the idea, love the paint mixing, love the crackleage!

[@karenmichel]

thanks Monica! Next time I will make way more binder mix, lol!

[@ninabagley5861]

thank you, fairy godchild!!!!!! love ♥️

[@karenmichel]

you are most welcome!!! xoxoxo

[@evaromain3199]

I love your sketch books, and know i discover your color recipe. So beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing..it s brilliant❤

[@karenmichel]

Thank you so much 😀

[@mariakalogerasarch2170]

Beautiful colors!

[@karenmichel]

Thank you!

[@eprohoda]

Karen-Wow,cool !

[@karenmichel]

thanks!!!

[@teresaedwards4175]

Wow! This was Amazing! Loved that you used Lego! Ingenious! The colours turned out Amazing! Thank you so much….this looks like such a fun project. Just found you on UA-cam, loving your work, love the folksie elements, fun! ❤️

[@karenmichel]

Thank you so much! Mixing my own colors was so much fun!!

[@marlbboro8091]

Lego! Genius 😍😍😱 love how it turned out. Sorry to sound obvious but do these chalk pastels dry to a chalky finish ala budget student grade finish? I can see they are opaque but wasn’t sure how they dried on paper. They look so beautiful.yummy infact .

[@karenmichel]

Aren't they fun??? They dry to a gouache finish, I mixed in a lot of the pastel so it is more full bodied than the student grade watercolor sets. Although the kids watercolor set from Ikea is actually quite nice! I'm not sure how lightfast it is but the colors work really well.

[@nicholewade8233]

I really enjoyed this! I love that you get to name them as well. Do you find that these act like watercolors or guache or a bit of both?

[@karenmichel]

Thanks!! Yes, they do behave like gouache- the pastels have so much chalk mixed in that it give a really nice flat finish once dry.

[@francinetoni268]

Brilliant idea! Thank you for sharing. 😍

[@karenmichel]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@AliceDel]

i just watched part 2 of your 'year of sketching' and was going to comment on how much i love all the various shades of blue next to all the variations of neutrals. now i see where all these colors come from!! and the names you give them are a wonderful nod to your powers of observation. :)

[@karenmichel]

Thank you so much 😀 I'm also obsessed with Blick's matte acrylics and Lefranc Bourgeois Flash paints for fabulous blues!

[@AliceDel]

oh yes, i almost also mentioned that i love how 'matte' your paints are! :) so many of your pages, with those deep blues and greens, are simply glorious.

[@rosannazucchelli4229]

They are muddy

[@karenmichel]

I mixed complementary colors for a more neutral palette because I use this for my travel kit. The chalk in the pastels also mutes the colors as well. If you prefer a brighter palette you can use pure or vibrant pigments. This is just an inspiration video for folks, colors are subjective.

[@lysa8539]

Thanks for sharing 💓

[@karenmichel]

my pleasure!

[@rachelleandrichard]

Gorgeous colours. I have some unused but beautifully pigmented chalk pastels. This is brilliant. Thank you so much. Rachelle, Australia 🌏 x

[@rachelleandrichard]

Are the colours more gouache-like because of the chalk content?

[@karenmichel]

Wonderful!

[@karenmichel]

they are, they have a nice tooth when dry so they work well for layering with other medias as well.

[@annanicholson6925]

This was so interesting. Great idea to premix the colors you know you always use.

[@karenmichel]

Glad you liked it! it has definitely saved me time.