I am always looking for ways in which I can make Urban Sketching portable. I always carry a “purse” which is actually my art bag but that includes my wallet. In my “purse” I always carry a couple of sketchbooks, pencils, different types of pens and my watercolors among other things. In a future posting I will share what I carry in detail and how I prepare my sketch bag for my daily use. Trying to be compact but still having all I need to be ready to urban sketch lead me to find this new product, The Portable Painter. I came across this product thru Indiegogo.com crowd funding site. It was started by Steven Padden and so far it has been very successful. I bought it for $30.00 and it arrived way faster than I expected, it took about a week!
But what is The Portable Painter? The Portable Painter is a palette with two wells and a brush. It is made of plastic and is very light. It comes with 12 half pans and I used some double tape to attach the pan to the palette to hold it tight. What I like about it is that it is so compact that it fits perfectly inside my “purse”/art bag, it is very light and you can even put it in your bag pocket. The wells slide perfectly to each side of the palette and you can place it on the ground, a table and even your thigh. One well serves to wet your brush and the other to clean it. It comes with a double brush or you might be able to fit in a travel brush of your liking. I was able to get my size 4 Escoda Versatil, larger sizes on this brand are too thick.
So far I used it in the field on Saturday while sketching with Urban Sketchers and it was very useful. So I liked it and if you like to explore new art products and you are always on the go, The Portable Sketcher might be one to try. Here are the pictures of the product and my most recent sketch.
Right out of the box! and below you can see that the center piece is what holds together both wells therefore you must be careful not to loose that small piece of metal or slider. I am mindful to place it in the bag or in my pocket immediately.
And here is my sketch!
I hope this information was useful! If you are like me you might want to give it a try or not but this is another option for those of us who travel light and carry their sketching tools all the time.
Have a wonderful week and Happy Sketching!
Daisy
Al Fresco, Urban Sketching and My Journey through the World of Art 
Your sketch really catches the energy of the scene; so animated. I love the Portable Painter! It looks like you fill it from tubes. How often do you need to refill the half pans? Thank you so much for sharing such an innovative tool for Urban Sketchers! xo
Thanks! I use tubes to fill the half pans and the ink lasts a very long time. For example, I have another pallette I use at home and have not needed to refill in a year. It off course depends how much you sketch and how large are your pieces.
Thanks also for the tip about double sided tape. I was going to use rubber cement to secure my half pans, and I think the double sided tape is a much better idea.
Oh thanks! I find it more practical and you can remove it as well if you choose to.
Thanks again, Daisy! xo