Swatch ring

The first time I had seen the idea of a swatch ring for coloring medium with a hole in the swatch for easy reference was on Kim Holden's website. I wanted to create a swatch set with only the main color on it and so I adapted her chart to a simpler one. This also brought the number of pages down to just 7. I printed them out on my Strathmore Paint Pad paper as I wanted the color to be on the paper that I use the most when coloring. I colored all the pages (which I have to admit, did take quite a while) and then I cut the swatches apart.

Once I had 150 little squares, I then punched a hole in the top white area for the ring and in the bottom colored area for a see-through hole to reference color more accurately.

I did eyeball the holes, so they are not all exactly in the same location, but it works for me. I then sorted the cards as per the 150 Prismacolor pencil chart. I may still change my mind on the sorting of my swatches, but I opted to start with this. 

Once sorted, I divided the swatches into three sections and threaded each onto a book ring. This allows the swatches to move freely and yet they are easy to keep together.

I am excited to see how this works for me to help with finding the correct color pencil when working off of a reference source. This is definitely a tool that would come in handy with whatever medium one works with.

You are welcome to download my simple Prismacolor Premier pencil chart for these little swatches here.