The Best Travel Watercolor Palettes

You know how people buy cute gym outfits to inspire them to workout? I do that, but with art supplies.

I’ve tried so many different travel watercolor palettes over the past four years of my watercolor painting journey from premade pans to wells that I fill from my own tubes. Plastic, wood, metal, ceramic, resin…you name it I’ve tried it. Such is the life of an art supplies addict.

So here are my detailed thoughts on the best travel watercolor palettes. I want all my art supplies to be pretty, but at the same time, they must be functional. I also want them to compact and light, able to fit into my nice work bags without causing a supplies disaster while commuting with them. So if this sounds like what you’re looking for too, keep on reading! You’ll find links to purchase the products below…I tried my best to find the best prices.

Portable Painter Micro Palette

Portable Painter Palette - Micro

This little palette is so innovative and now comes with inserts to expand the colors from 6 colors to 24 (as long as you’re ok with tiiiiny amounts of each color) and also have a tiny paint brush. The Portable Painter Micro is incredibly light as it’s made of plastic. There’s two mixing surfaces that fold out and one deeper well that slots into the side which can either be another mixing surface or as a water well. The options make this a great travel palette option. It also folds back in on itself into a neat compact package that I’ve fit into tiny purses.

I have the full sized Portable Painter as well but I prefer the micro version because portability is the most important factor for my lifestyle. Something to note when choosing this palette is to be aware that there is assembly required to begin painting and to clean up. Sometimes I want to quickly pack up and go but since the portable painter folds back onto itself you’ll need to make sure the wells aren’t extremely watery or you may find yourself with a messy, leaky palette. Additionally since it is made of plastic the mixing areas there will be staining, but since I almost never clean out my palette anyways this isn’t really a problem for me.

Etchr Mini Porcelain Palette

Etchr Mini Porcelain Palette

The Etchr Mini Porcelain palette is one of my more unique portable palettes because it’s porcelain! And as such , there is no staining, and due to the shape of the wells, you can get a good pool of a color mix. There’s also no beading due to the palette material which makes for a really enjoyable painting experience. I love that the center has a larger circular well since artists tend to have a trusty favorite color. There’s are two versions, one that holds 19 and the other that holds 37 colors, so you’ll surely find one that suits you best!

This palette’s strength is also one of its weaknesses. The porcelain adds a high quality weight that makes painting at a table or easel a true delight. There’s one ceramic plate for your paints stacked on top of another one with wider wells for mixing space. The palette comes with 3 little felt circles to separate the plates and cushion it from breaking when in the tin. It’s important not to lose these or you’ll have porcelain clacking around in a tin as you travel. I sometimes panic when I’m painting with this outside that the felt has blown away in the wind. This isn’t a palette I’d really use for plein air painting. It still makes for a great travel palette if you’re going to paint at cafes, but if you’re on an unsteady surface, this palette slips and slide and might get broken if it falls. It’s one of my most expensive travel palettes as well so breaking it would be a shame.

Wooden Charlie Palettes

I am absolutely addicted to these Charlie USK Factory palettes. This is an example of peak craftsmanship. I have three of these and regularly think about getting more. You can find all sorts of wooden watercolor palettes for a fraction of the price on Amazon shipped to your house same day or next day. I’ve been lured by this too but it’s not the same. The magnets on the Charlie palettes are tiny and strong, the wood quality is so nice and sanded to a comfortable smooth finish. Something small and unique about the palette is the rounded bezels. I haven’t noticed this on any of the other cheaper palettes but this feature makes it so much nicer to hold.

Charlie USK Palettes at a Cafe

The walnut wood is not only a sophisticated deeper wood color, but it’s also lightweight so you can bring this little treasure everywhere you go! The mixing areas are a white-coated film which does stain a little bit, but I don’t mind that especially since it helps keep the palette light. There are multiple well configurations to select from too if you check out his Etsy shop I have linked. For more complex paintings (that I still paint on the go at cafes, but the more serious works aren’t usually painted on the train)

Depending on where you live the shipping is fairly high since these are made in South Korea but it is so worth it! Charlie lovingly packages everything with such care and it arrives SO quickly even though it’s coming from halfway across the world for me. I feel so inspired every time I use this palette.

Natsume Handmade

My tiniest palette comes from Natsume Handmade. A very thoughtful watercolor gift from a close friend who must have done some really good research! The one I have is 6 miniature wells with a small mixing area made of a resin which is both lightweight and resists staining! This seller is based out of China so I knew it would take a while to ship so I tried to buy something similar off of Amazon only to promptly return it due to quality issues. The Natsume palette snaps firmly into place with magnets and has a clip to attach the palette to your sketchbook for maximum portability. Amazon’s versions lack that magnet which makes securing the two halves of the palette together really difficult. Furthermore the wood of the palette itself isn’t cut carefully or thoughtfully so when closed the halves don’t sit flush against each other. This is the best limited watercolor palette with just 6 colors and limited mixing space which forces you to really see beyond color and focus on values to define your painting. This little travel palette is so tiny it fits into my clutches and girl jean pockets (notorious for being borderline decorative). With this little cutie in your artistic arsenal, you’re practically never left without paint and inspiration since you can take it with you EVERYWHERE. I loved my original Natsume Handmade 6-well so much, I ultimately ended up getting a second travel palette from Natsume which was as stunning and lovely as the gifted one.

How cute is this itty bitty little Natsume Handmade palette????

When picking a travel palette there are so many factors to consider, weight, ease of use, cost, ability to inspire. But no matter what you choose, it will be a great choice because you’re choosing to create art every day! I hope my musings will give you some insight on these palettes and help you pick the right one for your art and lifestyle.

All of these palettes were purchased with my own money and none of this is sponsored. I just really love these art supplies! All links are the lowest prices I could find at the time of this posting which is subject to change.