Let's go through different palettes suited for different mediums! Watercolor Palette, Gouache Palette, Acrylic Palette and More!
What are Paint Palettes? And Why are they necessary for painters?
A Paint Palette is a surface onto which a painter arranges and mixes paint colors. This surface comes in various materials and sizes. It is an essential tool for every painter. It gives you a space to thin your paints or add other mediums to it, or to simply combine colors and create the right shade before applying it onto the canvas.
Which material is best for which paint?
Traditionally, painters only used a wooden palette with a hole for the thumb, when painting. However nowadays palettes exist in different materials. In this blog we will be discussing the pros and cons of each material and which paint mediums it’s best suited for.
Plastic
This is the cheapest and most common option that most beginner artists tend to choose. Plastic Palettes are definitely a great starting tool for artists. They are light weight, so easy to carry around and hold if you're painting while standing. They're also easier to clean and don't get damaged too quickly, so they're durable. Plastic Palettes work best for thicker paints than thin ones, so acrylics, and oil work well on these. Watercolors tend to bead up on these palettes because of their watery nature. Gouache may work well with these palettes depending on how much water you use with it.
The downside of plastic palettes is that the material sometimes gets stained by the colors. They're easy to clean if the paint hasn't dried out, or even if it has, in acrylics the paint can simply be peeled off or scraped with a painting knife, but in some cases cleaning it is a hard task. Plastic is also not an eco-friendly material, it also doesn't feel as special as other materials due to it being easily replaceable. And well not a very valid reason, but it doesn't look that great in pictures either.
Glass
Glass is probably one of my favorite surfaces to mix and arrange paint on. It's a bit of a heavy material but I like working with it more than something as lightweight as plastic. It's provides a smooth surface for paints to easily mix. It's also easy to clean, as the paint can be scraped off and it doesn't stain. But since glass palette comes in a mostly flat surface its suitable for thicker paints like oil and acrylic. It is considered best for oil paints.
The cons of a glass palette are that they're not as cheap as plastics. Their weight may not be ideal for painters who hold their palettes as it can be tiring after a while. Glass Palettes are also vulnerable, as they might break or crack if they fall in a certain angle, and they can be dangerous if the broken shards scatter in a wide range. And also be a hassle to clean up the mess.
Now this is my favorite surface to use. It's ideal for watercolors and gouache, as the water doesn't bead up. It also works great when mixing colors. It doesn't stain either and is super easy to clean. I personally love these because of how aesthetically pleasing they are. They're like a special palette I would use on days I'm creating something special.
However, beauty comes with a price, and so these palettes aren't cheap either. Similar to glass they also have the risk of breaking, but you'll be fine with a little caution. They also are on the heavy side, so not easy to carry around or ideal for travelling.
Wooden The classic and traditional palette! It honestly isn't to my liking but let's talk about it for a bit. Starting off, what makes this material good is probably the fact that it has an organic feel to it, which many artists love. They're suitable for oil painting, however they need to be really well oiled before you can start putting paint on them, or else the paint gets stuck in the grains. Applying a good layer of linseed oil on the surface is a necessary step to ensure a stressless painting session. The thing with wood palette's is that they get better as you work with them, so the more you work with them the more they'll adapt to suit your need.
Wood isn't suitable for watercolors or gouache as those mediums require water and wood absorbs water. Similarly acrylics on wood is a very big mistake, because acrylic is a versatile medium that can be painted on wood so washing the palette after an acrylic painting session is gonna be near impossible. But some artists love stacking up acrylic paint all over their palette as it serves like a memory of all their previous painting sessions (Image on the left.). Cleaning a wooden palette is not an easy feat even with oils, and it damages the wood as well. So I would say unless you really really love wood, don't get this palette, it might be aesthetic due to its classic look, but don't fall for that.
Metal/ Aluminium
Metal palettes aren't that widely used, as they are only suitable for watery mediums like watercolors and inks. They are light weight and easy to carry and travel with. Some come in airtight seals to ensure your paint doesn't dry out. They are quite a durable material and can last more than a decade if kept right. They tend to stain with time but will be okay as long as you clean them the same day you paint.
Disposable Palette Paper
These palettes exist as a sheets of paper in a pad. Now many artists love and many hate this kind of palette. This palette is convenient and time-saving as you don't need to have a clean up session after painting and can simply tear the sheet of paper from the pad and dispose of it. Many artists that hate the tedious process of cleaning their palettes like to have these.
However these are a short term palette as it gives you a limited number of sheets and you'll have to buy the palette pad over and over again, and it's also not that cheap. Many artists also view this as a waste of material as you have to dispose of a sheet after every painting session. Having a more durable palette which can be washed and reused suits many artists better, but hey! There's no rules, you get what suits you best.
DIY Palette
By DIY Palette I mean to say, use household items as a palette, such items consist of old ceramic or porcelain plates that either broke off from one corner and can't be used for foods, or to use a clingwrap, foil or wax paper over any flat surface and make a temporary palette which you can dispose after the painting session. Some people also tend to use cardboard as a palette for thicker paints, however it's effectiveness as a palette depends on how refined the cardboard is. If you have an empty plastic container at home that isn't exactly in use, you can use the lid as a flat surface palette. Similarly once your jam jar or olive jars are empty, you can use their lids as a metal palette, after washing them thoroughly.
Shapes and Sizes
Aside from material, a palette should also be bought after taking it's shape and size into consideration. This part is mostly according to your own preference. The size depends on the size of your paintings, if you work on large projects, you should consider a palette with a lot of area to allow all your colors and their mixing to occur without having to make mess, and vice versa. When it comes to shapes, you should consider the medium you will mostly be working with. Acrylic and oil are thicker mediums so they work well on flat surface palettes, but if you intend on adding mediums to thin them out, then having a palette with wells or more depth and compartments may be better. Similarly having wells and compartments when using watercolors or gouache is recommended as those mediums aren't that suitable for flat surfaced palettes.
Conclusion
Palettes are an essential tool for every painter. It plays a big role in the creation of the painting and so it should be chosen with much thought and consideration. I hope this article was helpful in informing you of the basic materials used for Palettes. I would be curious to know which palettes you use and your experience with them so far.
Thank you for reading and I hope you check out my other blogs as well!
Plastic
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