I feel as though I have been waiting forever for this palette! I really really wanted this palette for a few reasons. Firstly the unique shape and size of the palette itself. I love all things that are a square. I love square sketch books and journals and it’s probably why I love the b6 size so much!! Secondly the palette contains all new colors that were released by Schmincke this year, so there would be no duplicates with any previous palettes. Earlier this year Wetpaint released a 
palette that was limited edition and I missed that one. I believe a botanical palette so this time I was not going to miss a majestic beauty! I also bought this palette because I love Schmincke. It’s my favorite water color by far. I love how intense and sharp the color is with my first stroke. I don’t seem to have this effect with any other watercolor that I own.
In this palette the colors are a double primary that have warm primaries and cool primaries! This really makes some wonderful color combinations and there isn’t really much else that I would need to carry with me. As far how much of an artist I am. Well I don’t consider myself a trained artist by any means but I do use watercolors every day. I just adore them. I started using them about 5 or 6 years ago and I just have not looked back. I love the way they dance on 
the paper and I feel as though they always look great and it’s difficult to even try to make them look bad.
Now, back to this set, I am thrilled with the color choices. Having the primaries available to me allows so many options. I am able to create skin tones with the potters pink. Hair color can be accomplished as well as clothes. I can do basic back drops like the sky and trees. Really I can’t think of something that I would not be able to create! I am thrilled to have this in my hands.
The first thing I love to do when I receive a new palette is to just hold it in my hand and admire it. This palette really fits well, the ring on the back allows you to hold it while doing outdoor painting and have little worry of it falling out of your hand. I LOVE the size! Not sure if I mentioned that or not…LOL!! It’s not too long it’s not too short it’s just right. The palette comes with 12 but there are 6 open slots to fill with more colors. If I were to remove the insert I feel as though I could fit many many more. It’s something I may or may not do eventually.
After removing the cellophane I love to just look at the watercolor pans wrapped like little candies. They just look so wonderful and delicious! Not to eat of course but to add to that art palette. When I finally can’t take it anymore and I need to rip into them I start! I always write the name on the pan. The reason is that I can never remember the order and I can’t really tell what the color is just by looking at it with a new palette. I eventually get comfortable enough with my palette to know the exact color just by looking at it but it takes some time to get to that relationship! 
Now the pans are all named and placed back into the palette it’s time to begin. I love swatching! It’s so relaxing and a great way for me to get to know a palette. I love to see that first stroke of watercolor and watch how it reacts. I swatch first in my journal because I use that the most with watercolor. I also do a fair bit in several different sketch books. I like to draw large sometimes, small other and so I always go to the back and just swatch the palette. I learn how the watercolor interacts with the paper and also how it looks dry. 
The first swipes with the Schmincke color is just so sharp and intense. I feel like the color that I receive just from the first swipe is so beautiful. I only need a quick swipe and so much color comes with it. I haven’t seen that with most of the other watercolors in my collection. With other colors they are very transparent and I need to build the color. Schmincke is intense to begin with and I need to wash the color away. It’s a learning curve for some but for me this is my favorite way to work with water color. I like to work with the intensity, I almost grow frustrated when I need to add more water and color.
The colors in this palette are so beautiful and work so well together that I have not been reaching for any other palette but this one. It’s so pleasing to the eye and I have not found that I am missing anything. I am able to create pictures in my fauxbonichi as well as create beautiful washes of color for journaling. The warm primary and cool primary is something I don’t have in very many palettes and so have felt as though many are incomplete for me. This feels just perfect. I have more room in the palette if I ever do find that I need a color or something to go with the seasons but the core of this palette is just beautiful. The paper that I mostly use water color with is the Tomoe River paper. I love how the watercolor sits on top of the paper and allows me time to move it before it settles. The colors work beautifully in this way but also look tremendous on watercolor paper. They have a gorgeous gradient to them when I swatched them out in my watercolor journals and I am overall thrilled with this palette. I hope for it to bring me many wonderful years of pure painting joy. Do you have this palette? What are your thoughts on Schmincke? Thanks for reading!
