The Watercolor Painter's Pocket Palette: Instant, Practical Visual Guidance on Mixing and Matching Watercolors to Suit All Subjects

Whether you are a beginner or a more experienced artist, this little book is an essential part of any watercolorist's library.

This is a lovely practical guide. Most books on color or on watercolor color never quite get to the point of what you want out of it, which is plain information and palettes of color.The Pocket Palette sets up a palette and clearly shows how each color looks when mixed or glazed (painted over another). There honestly isn't another book of this size and practicality out there. This is not necessarily a book on color theory. It is covered but is not the aim of this at-a-glance, application kind of book.As this book is concise, this review will be concise! This book, plus a color wheel and a short book on color theory (a Walter Foster book will even do) should fill out your arsenal for dealing with watercolor color. (That might seem like a lot, but for a lifetime of using watercolors it is the least you can do for yourself.) This book is an excellent value, even if it is short, and it IS portable, perfect to bring along with your sketchbook and notes.

If you want to learn how to mix watercolor without getting "mud" then this is for you. It is not a substitute for the real experience of mixing colors for yourself and watching what happens (such as any blue with cadmium red. Did you get a purple? Hmmm! Interesting!) The section on mixing flesh tones is especially helpful. It's fun just to browse this book and enjoy the tonal variety. A really nice book, in a small, portable format. One of my favorites.

Being new to watercolor painting, this book has been extremely helpful to me in determining the mixtures to use to create the colors I need. I've just sent one to a friend who is just beginning classes in watercolor and I'm sure she'll enjoy it as much as I have.

As I sat in my watercolor class, I tried desparately to just play with my palette and combine colors on my own -- but why struggle without guidance? My teacher showed me the book, and I was sold. The book is helpful in showing the budding artist which colors to mix in hopes of a certain one!