Expanding Your Watercolor Set & Using Unique Boxes

Have a favorite watercolor set you'd like to add to, but the tin or box isn't big enough? Let's explore expanding a set and using unique, custom, or modified tins or boxes to create a more personalized watercolor set to be enjoyed for years!

As always, I'd love to hear your feedback and how you approach expanding your own watercolor sets, what kind of tins or boxes you prefer, and any suggestions on making the process easier or more beneficial. Please let me know in the comment section below.

The complete color list of all 44 full pans:
Row 1. Naphthol Red (NEW), Pyrrole Red, Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Rose
Row 2. Permanent Alizarin Crimson (NEW), Perylene Maroon, Transparent Red Iron Oxide (NEW), Terra Rosa (NEW)
Row 3. Vermillion Deep (custom), Cadmium Orange Hue, Azo Orange (NEW), Indian Yellow (NEW)
Row 4. New Gamboge, Naples Yellow (NEW), Hansa Yellow, Hansa Yellow Deep
Row 5. Nickel Quinacridone Gold, Permanent Green Pale (NEW), Azo Green (NEW), Permanent Green Light
Row 6. Sap Green, Olive, Hooker's Green, Cobalt Teal
Row 7. Cerulean Blue, Cerulean Blue Deep (NEW), Turquoise (NEW), Prussian Blue
Row 8. Anthraquinone Blue, Ultramarine Pink (NEW), Cobalt Violet, Quinacrodone Violet
Row 9. Dioxazine Purple, Moonglow (Daniel Smith), Titanium Buff (Daniel Smith), Yellow Ochre
Row 10. Transparent Iron Oxide Yellow (NEW), Quinacridone Rust, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber
Row 11. Transparent Iron Oxide Orange (NEW), Sepia, Payne's Gray, Neutral Tint

The limited edition "The Wicker Man" collector's box is made from 100% pine wood. The benefit of this box for the paints is that it will help absorb moisture and keep the paints fresh.

The intent of my channel is to bring fresh, new content to the amazing YouTube art community and to aid artists, both new and experienced, in finding unique ideas, thought-provoking discussion, and real-world product reviews of items I actually use, myself.

I do not take payments from companies, so any products you find on my channel are typically purchased by me for my personal use. I am not supported or endorsed by any brand or benefactor. And I do not ask for donations via Patreon, Kofi, or other venues.

My hope is you enjoy the work I do here, as much as I enjoy presenting it.

Thank you for the opportunity to inform, educate, and entertain you (where applicable! lol!)

#mdcampbellart
#mgrahamwatercolors
#thewickerman
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#watercolortins

(c) 2021 copyright M.D. Campbell • All rights reserved

[PaulaBean]

I made my own pallet box with balsa wood.

[LanaGoesArt]

Hi Mark, you've put so much love and creativity into creating those palettes. I have to admit, that the Medeen tin with all the inner stuff taken out is incredibly useful and I admire how much thought and effort you put into adjusting the palettes to your needs. It's wonderful!
You've chosen beautiful colours too! :) Have fun with your new setup!
Have a great day and stay safe. :)

[lynnrush]

Great video. That was a fabulous gift. I use the half pans that come with the stick on magnets. I’m lucky to have gotten some cigar tins from a friend. My palette keeps growing as I mix my own colour combinations (greens especially) from the single pigment tubes I already have. I really like the M Graham paints and they mix beautifully with other brands too.

[drbettyschueler]

I have lots of watercolor sets. Most are in palettes I don't like so one of the fun things I do is look for unique containers to turn into palettes. I've used cigarette boxes, colored pencil boxes, plastic storage boxes (they come in an amazing number of sizes), wooden boxes, candy boxes, CD cases, and any other suitable container I come across while in thrift stores. I especially like to make complete travel sets with some of the smaller containers. It is a very enjoyable hobby.

[hannahthufvesson]

Hello!
I really appreciate videos that emphasise how creative it is to plan and fix and organise, thank you for that! 😊 Would you ever consider making a swatch video with all of these gorgeous M Graham paints? It's difficult to find proper videos of them on YouTube and it would be very helpful! 😊

[ismailabdelhamid]

Thanks Mark for the nice awesome ideas. It is so practical. Waiting for color test video. Thanks for sharing

[ogposhgeek]

I, too, am playing with how to arrange my palette of half pans and am going in the direction of affixing magnetic tape to the back of each pan. I also label each pan with the color name (white painter’s tape and a fineliner do the trick!). This lets me move the pans around on my butcher tray mixing surface—without worrying about an accident. I can do the same with the metal pan they came in, without fiddling with the rails (which I removed). If you like this idea, I wonder if you could use magnetic primer paint on the inside of one of your cool collectors’ boxes? This way, you could arrange and rearrange without prying at tape! (Me: Eyes EBay app contemplatively and thinks about cool boxes...). 😆

[jrm]

Thanks for posting. I love seeing your ideas for recycling things to be used as pallets.
Tfs.

[ArtistJane]

What a beautiful and creative set up! It’s inspiring me to reconstruct some of my own custom watercolor palettes. I love the wicker man box as well, and although I’ve never seen the movie, Midsommar is by far one of my favorite movies of all time! Great ideas, Mark! Also, what’s wrong with smelling cheese?! 😆 🧀

[veragaines]

Great ideas for storage! The M Graham looks gorgeous! Enjoy!

[sherryclark]

You are absolutely correct about the smell of M. Graham watercolors! I was so excited to have received 12 tubes as a gift only to be aghast at the odor when I began filling the pans last weekend. They are still in drying mode, but I'm now hopeful that some of the stink will subside. Thanks for being honest!

[ArtBrain]

Pulling apart with love so your paints can grow their family!

[sunnyday]

Very interesting. I have several sets that need to be put in pans - Was just thinking about how I'm going to do this. Thanks for some great ideas!

[Gyuujin]

I relly like this vid. Full of ideas and inspiration.

[waymire]

Anyone who tries this... make sure you either label your pans, or make a chart with the name or number .. or both...BEFORE you pan the paint. It's really easy to forget which paint is which and they can look completely different than their diluted color both wet and dry in the pans. I learned this the hard way lol.

[essietangle]

Great new colors, hope you enjoy a l l of them. I have a question, no matter how careful we are, paint might get on your wooden box, are you ok with that? Otherwise this seems to be great. I’m guessing you don’t need a place to mix colors or do you have a plan for that? I love using old tins etc. Maybe when the weather is warmer you will make a plein air video with it.

[LunaBianca]

I'm just using a tin box from some coloured pencils I tried out that went into my office pencil case instead of my art supply collection ^^' That one definitely fits all my odd single pans that don't belong with one of the pre-sorted boxes/sets quite snuggly :)

[heidikolb]

Congratulation to your new set. Brilliant idea. Could you tell me please what kind of pans you use, as they look very straight down to me an not increasing towards the bottom, like for example, the schmincke pans. Have fun with your new palette.

[lunakat]

I do that too I have different tins, old sets, etc I usually use tacky putty it works very well. I have M.graham paint and I don't notice any smell at all. I was having a problem with D.S quin pink it smelled like mold so bad. I ordered new tubes and they all smelt the same.

[mariatriesart]

Thanks for the idea of the double sided scotch tape. I didnt know it was strong enough. I have 25 new tubes arriving adding to my m. graham collection (45) daniel smith and a WinsorNewton Pro tube & 3 Qor tubes. Dont know if I should separate the special effect Daniel Smith paints, or keep the M. Grahams separate. I dont know how M. Graham mixes with others...have you mixed them with other brands?? Do they mix well?