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thumbnail sketches, tracing paper, and a kneaded eraser. Optional supplies include gum arabic, a board to stretch paper on (1/2-inch Gatorfoam), and gloves for handling paper. You don’t need all of these supplies at once. Acquire them as needed.

Setting Up Your Palette for the First Time
    Setting up your palette is something it pays to do right the first time so you can put the same color in the same well again and again without having to think about it. This section offers tips on making your palette artist-friendly.

    If you have a new plastic palette, take a minute to scrub it gently with a scouring pad and a little scouring compound. This removes the shiny surface and prevents the paint and water from beading up when you try to mix them.
    Most palettes have
wells
around the outside edge to hold pure pigments and a
mixing area
in the center. You use the mixing area to add water to paint to make it flow better or to mix paint colors to create a new color.
    To set up your palette, follow these steps:
    1. Get out all the tubes of paint you want to put on your palette.
    2. Imagine your palette as a color wheel, as shown in Figure 2-3, and set each tube next to the well that it may occupy.
    If your palette is square, start on one side and arrange the colors by ROYGBV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet). If you want, you can include your browns between the reds and oranges because browns are a form of orange and red.
    Figure 2-3: The palette as color wheel.

    By setting all the tubes out before you fill the wells, it’s easy to change your mind, and you can rearrange the colors until they’re in their best positions.
    If you have more wells than paint tubes, leave a well between the colors to allow some expansion later. Anticipate where you might want to expand your paint colors.
    3. Squirt half a tube of paint in each well.
    If the paint is dry enough to hold the shape of the hole when it comes out of the tube (like toothpaste does), add some water and mix it until the paint relaxes and fills the bottom of the well.

    Use a permanent marker to label each paint color on the outside of the well it’s in. When paint is dry and dark, it’s hard to remember which color is which without a name. If you change colors later, you can remove the name with a scrubber sponge or steel wool.
    4. Replace the caps on the tubes and start painting.

    Make sure paint tube lids and the threads on the tubes are free of paint before replacing the cap. Paint can act like glue when it sets on the threads of the tube, and the next time you try to loosen the cap, it’ll twist the metal tube, possibly breaking it open.
    Arthritic hands will enjoy smoothly turning lids if you smear a little petroleum jelly on the threads before resealing.

    There’s no waste in watercolor pigment. If paint dries out, just add water to rehydrate it. So don’t be afraid to put a generous amount of pigment in the well. A tiny pea size will just be inadequate.

Prepping Your Paper
    Paper is the foundation that your painting will live on. It’s pretty important to understand. In this section, I give you some tips on treating paper properly and getting it ready to accept a painting.

    Respect your paper. You’ll probably respect it automatically after you pay $5 to $10 a sheet for it. But you need to handle your paper with respect, which means trying not to crease it. If it must be rolled, make sure you roll it gently. Also try not to touch it with your hands because your hands have oil on them. You may be painting along only to have a big thumbprint show up in the middle of an even wash you were hoping to achieve. Carry paper by the edges, or use a wrapper you can touch. And wash your hands before handling paper. Avoid resting your hands directly on the paper. Use a tissue or tracing paper to rest your hands on when painting or drawing.

    Store paper flat. Storing paper upright fatigues paper and makes wrinkles. Of course, storing large sheets of paper