palette addicts

[charliez]

Great photos everyone! And awesome collections, obviously everybody is in search of the "perfect" palette. So...

What would be your PERFECT palette? What are you looking for?
(lets have a go for 1) a plein air palette and 2) a studio palette!

[Philippe56]

I finally found a 33 wells palette each one containing 5 ml that I fill from the tube and I use it especially to transport my pigments on the spot.

I usually mix my colors on a sheet of paper (a block of common paper 80 gsm) for I usually do small format unless I have to prepare a lot of juice, in this case I use a cup. The advantage of paper are :

- I can keep them and note which pigment I mixed with which others and it finally serves me as references
- on the white paper I see a better view of the future result I can expect
- it is still new and no trace of these phtalo pigments that I would find on every plastic or even some metal box I have used before.

Against the paper:
- It's not easy to hold in hand when in plein air especially if windy.
- It does not allow preparing large quantity of juice so it's limited to small format of painting.

I have also one or two llittle boxes I sometimes take for sketching on the motif.

[watercolourfanatic]

My perfect palette Carlos, although I qualify this by saying I've only seen a photograph, would be the 24 pan palette made to her specification by Craig Young for the artist Jenny Wheatley.

It appears to be a cross between the Paintbox and Palette Box. Craig thought he'd made two for her. I shudder to think what it cost . Oh for a lottery win .

Peter

[ingegerd]

I think my 24 whole pans lightweight metal box works well and I have no plans to replace it with something else.

[blissofsilver]

I have never tried metal myself but I seriously love the portability of plastic.

[Marcio C]

Tred, I have the plastic palette you describe (is it called Frank Herring?) and find it very useful and flexible, it is one of my favorites. I fit 20 colors in mine, by closing the thumb hole area and fitting 8 half pans of less used colors in that space. I like that you can fit the wells with whole pans, or fill the wells directly with paint, which is a plus for use with larger brushes. It is very compact and easy to hold, light and durable, cleans easily, and closes well. My only minor complaint is that with my metal boxes I also had room for two brushes, which now I have to carry separately.
Oh almost forgot, one other thing I like is that I've enjoyed organizing my colors in this grid pattern, as opposed to around a circle or in rows.

[Marcio C]

The perfect palette, for me:
Holbein style, because of the quality of the material, compact size and lightness, and the vast mixing areas and only one hinge. (Another reason for the Holbein format is that I can store brushes in the palette.) It would be about 4.5 by 9 inches in size. It would be sealed like the Mijelo palette (including the thumb hole). The wells would be deeper, larger like those in the Frank Herring palette, which could be filled with paint or fitted with whole pans--16 on the bottom and 8 more on the lid.

[watercolourfanatic]

The palette sold by Herrings is a near copy in hard plastic of the old Roberson box that Craig Young re-invented as the Paintbox after seeing John Yardley using an original well-worn one. Several other Herring products, the family are keen artists, are based on old designs no longer available. They pride themselves on developing products for artists `designed by artists'.

Peter

[Tred]

Peter,
I see that another Roberson palette has surfaced on Ebay UK.
Item number: 251025706030
It's not a De Wint or a Binning Monro and although it's like a Holbein I assume that it pre dates them.
Ted Wesson used a Binning Monro before switching to a Holbein and in all the photographs of Ted working would back that up. The only difference between the Roberson on Ebay and a Holbein would seem the be the hinge - two small hinges on the Roberson as opposed to the piano hinge on the Holbein.
Who copied who ?
Cheers
Tred

[watercolourfanatic]

According to my information Tred. The Roberson was the one with egg shaped wells and Craig Young saw John Yardley's, which he had used for over thirty years, and used it as the basis for his design. Craig calls it the The Paintbox and also makes a larger version with 20 paint wells and 6 oval shaped mixing wells. Yardley has both.

The Binning Munro was used, similarly antique, by Trevor Chamberlain. Craig copied this and called it The Palette Box. You can have it with or without the flap. Trevor (and David Curtis) have the version without the flap.

I looked up the one on E Bay and it looks more like the Binning Munro. A Chelsea company called Green and Stone sell antique palettes but I've never seen either of these listed, although other palettes, certainly one at least by Roberson, have occasionally been for sale. Someone bought one at a Bath antique shop for a fiver not so long ago. Windsor & Newton claimed it was worth £200.

Peter

[Tred]

Peter,
The references I have of the Binning Monro box are a picture from a Ted Wesson article in "The Artist" and a photo of Robin Mackervoy with one in the new book on "The Wapping Group". (Great book BTW).



All the wells are on one side of the box, as they are in Craig's Palette Box -.unlike the wells of the Holbein.
The Ebay box has to be made prior to 1937 when Roberson relocated from 99 Long Acre but it's difficult to ascertain just how well it would clean up and it's also difficut to see if the mixing wells are dished or flat.
One can safely say that it pre dates the Holbein palette.
Cheers
Tred

[chris_wc]

I recently bought a Holbein 500 to replace a W&N large heavy metal palette. The W&N was lovely when I bought it but after 2 years I was disappointed to find that it was rusting badly and the rust was getting in to the paint. The best UK suppliers of Holbein palettes I found were:

Charles Evans - only sells the 500 (I think);

Cornelissen - only sells the 350 and 1000 (I think).

(I bought from another supplier but I wouldn't recommend them.)


Factors to consider were:

Weight - I was a little concerned that the 1000 would be too heavy to hold for long periods;

Number of paint wells - the 500 & 1000 both give 24 paint wells;

Number of paint wells in the 'lid' (i.e. top half when closed) - the 1000 only has 4 while the 500 has 12; (fewer in the lid mean less risk of paint dripping in to the bottom half)

I took advice and thoroughly cleaned the enameled surfaces to remove any oily contaminants. I used a little washing up liquid and cream cleaner, but took care not to scratch the enamel.

The problem where paint will drip from the top half in to the bottom half happened the first time I closed the palette but it has not happened since. Once there is a thin layer of paint dried to the surface in each paint well, any additional paint squeezed out will stick to that and won't drip.

I find the paint stays damp but I always spray the paint about 30 mins before I start painting and I always squeeze out a little fresh paint as well.

[Bobar57]

The Holbein 500 is my model of choice in the Holbein line.Great palette.Never had an issue with dripping paint from the top half since I used M.Graham paints and let the palette open for two days before closing it.The honey in the paint prevented the paints from drying.
My oldest son is going to buy me or better put give me the funds for watercolor supplies soon,maybe a couple of months and I'm still struggling between buying the Kolinsky brushes,M.Graham paints,good paper and a Holbein 500 or a CY Paintbox.Sometimes I think is wise to save the money from the CY ,buy the Holbein and the saved money goes toward more paper.
What will you do if you were in my shoes?

Bob

[Marcio C]

Bob, since you asked, if I were you I'd buy one kolinsky brush (size 8 or 10) and use squirrel or synthetics for other sizes and shapes (Mary Whyte does this, and so do Z and Castagnet), get a Frank Herring plastic palette (the palette is the item of least immediate effect on your painting--it would be the last item I'd splurge on), and spend more money on good paints and paper. I thing that's the combination that will make your money and painting go further.

[jmb57]

excellent advice!!!!