The Tombow Blending Palette
Read on for more!My intention is to use this set to mix a variety of Tombow Dual Brush marker colors. I then applied the mixed colors to Zentangle Bijou tiles for interesting and varied backgrounds. After the Bijou Tiles dried, I then finished them with Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA).
The sky blue is actually a blend of several blue Tombow Dual Tip Markers blended on the Blending Palette.
I found the blending palette set easy to use and intuitive. I created backgrounds for a tin of about 50 Bijou tiles all at once, then stored the dried tiles in the Bijou tin. During the week I created my ZIAs using most of the 50 tiles.
I like that the colors were more even than when applying the marker directly to the Bijou tile. One of the things I really like about the blending marker is that it is self cleaning, meaning that you just rub any excess color on a piece of paper and the pen cleans itself ready for your next colors to be picked up with the blending marker. Easy Peasy!
I also experimented with using two colors directly applied to the blending pen nib. This was not my preferred way to use the blending marker. Your results may vary.
Over all, I consider the Tombow Blending Palette to be an optional purchase that is handy to have, but not necessary. The same results can be achieved using any plasticized, waxy or waterproof blending surface, a fine mister, and a Tombow Blending Marker.
Notice how smooth the blended background colors look. This is a great improvement over applying the markers directly to the tile.
After checking out the Tombow Blending Palette, I decided to buy additional Tombow Blending markers so that I can use one for each of the color blends I commonly use, light violets – pinks, oranges – yellows, reds, light and darker greens, and light and darker blues. I also keep one clean for spur of the moment blends. I find that I spend less time cleaning blending markers after each use, and more time on the ZIA itself. I store the additional blending markers in a pen-cup by themselves with the colored part of the brush pointing up for easy identification. I think the product is a good buy at the Amazon price point, and the Tombow Dual Brush Pen color chart on the back of the blending palette is a valuable plus.