Like many of you, I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling over the next few months to spend time with family and friends. When I’m away from home for extended periods of time, I still like to have a creative outlet. Peerless Watercolors are the perfect solution for coloring on the go. I know there have been several creative Peerless palette ideas offered by various designers since these watercolors became popular again several months ago, but I wanted to show you how I pack up my whole system to travel in one small binder in case you find this method works for you too. At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to download the printable template I use as well.
There are three pages total that include a space for the 55 most common colors (Complete Edition Set plus the Bonus Pack) and five blank spaces if you also have the “Jane Davenport Portrait Set” (I do not). I tried to list the colors in what I considered ROYGBIV order, but after painting the swatches I realized there are a few that may be out of order…but it’s pretty close! I printed each page of the pdf onto some of the GP 110# cardstock (“Walmart cardstock”) to start.
After printing, I used my Faber-Castell Deluxe Waterbrush to scribble a thin swatch of each color right above the name in each box. I tried to keep the colors “full strength” on the right side, and diluted them with more and more water as I scribbled to the left so that I could see the full range of colors available from that particular color sheet. I then set them aside to dry.
Once dry, I laminated each sheet using self-adhesive laminating sheets from Avery. You could just as easily use a laminator if you have one, but I love how versatile these sheets are. You simply peel and stick the plastic to both sides of a sheet of paper, press the edges together really well, and trim off any excess.
Here is a completed page from my travel palette. I cut a 1″ x 1″ square from each color sheet and attached it to the laminated page with a little adhesive from my ATG gun. When the color sheet no longer has any pigment left on it, I can peel it off easily (because it’s laminated) and add a new one. I also laminated the pages for a couple of other reasons:
- I can mix colors directly on the page if needed and wipe them clean when finished.
- It protects the swatches underneath from getting contaminated with other colors.
- It protects the page above if some of the color sheets are still wet when I flip the page.
Once the pages were complete, I punched holes in them and placed them in a skinny binder with just my waterbrush and several pages of watercolor paper. Now I can carry an entire coloring system with me on my travels in the amount of space that one magazine takes up in my tote. I would love to bring hundreds of alcohol markers with me to color stamped images while I’m gone, but this is just a much more practical solution for me. And if I’m flying, I can keep this right in my carry-on and not worry about TSA confiscation too (as long as my brush is empty). This is another reason I love the Faber Castell Deluxe Waterbrush…it works like a syringe to take up water. So, if I’m sitting on a plane with my watercolors, I can easily fill my brush up to start working.
If you’re a Peerless fan, I hope you find these ideas helpful! Please click below to download the free templates:
Free Printable Peerless Watercolor Palette Templates
Free cut files and printables are meant to be enjoyed, but never sold or redistributed as your own (for personal use only please).
Thanks for stopping by!
I love this idea! I’ll definitely give it a try once I get time to put it together. Have fun!
I’ve seen different ways of storing My Peerless Papers, so far, Yours is My Favorite, Thanks for Sharing!
You’re so welcome Stacie! I went through a couple of different methods before finally being satisfied with this one, so I’m happy to share the idea with others!
So after laminating the brush strokes you then made other swatches with full colour and stuck them on the top of the laminated image of appropriate Colour?
Then you can just lift the colour off the colour swatches with your blending brush is that right? My brain isnt working so well today 😉
Peerless Watercolors can come as “DrySheet” or liquid watercolors…so the large squares I placed on top of the laminated page are actually a 1×1 square of the color-coated sheet. You can lift the pigment right off of the sheet with a waterbrush or regular paint brush to color…which makes them amazing for traveling!