Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting Care of Wood Palettes?

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  • #988064

    Hi All,
    I am wondering how to properly care for wood palettes. My track record with them is very bad- they all end up ruined. Which is one of many reasons normally I use a lacquered butcher tray.

    However, I’ve just cut a new palette to size as a replacement for my Jullian easel and I’d like to use it and not ruin it. Also, I am waiting for my new pochade box to arrive and I REALLY don’t want to mess up that palette.

    My questions are:
    1) How to properly season the wood before use
    2) How to properly clean it, especially when some of the paint has dried
    3) Anything else I should know

    Thanks!

    Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
    Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air

    Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

    #1122286
    Anonymous

        Hi stapelaid, this has been frequently discussed in threads, here is one where I like the approach Bill Martin uses.
        https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480655&highlight=cleaning+wood+palette
        Of course it is best to not let paint dry but somehow it happens. First thing I do is scrape it off with hardware store painting/putty type spatula/knives. Then if more removal is needed, I have restored the most dried up, fouled, paint laden palettes with paint remover. However, if you are getting a guerilla box for instance, that palette is coated with a clear varnish, I have even cleaned my guerilla palette like this but it also removes that varnish, so I had to reapply it. So be diligent about that one and wipe her off. Hope this helps some.

        #1122284
        TheBaron
        Default

            3) Anything else I should know

            Thanks!

            Yup! cover it in cling film,saves scraping,personally I use a glass table mat.

            I’m in my wood shed at the mo making a mobile pallete cabinet,glass pallete on the top with a draw below for brushes and things and a cabinet lower down to store the “oil tubes”,its about waist height

            George:I reckon Picasso couldn't do jigsaws as a child
            Oil Painting - WetCanvas!
            The MIO is this way------->https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=599820)

            #1122279

            Then if more removal is needed, I have restored the most dried up, fouled, paint laden palettes with paint remover.

            Thanks Sid. You got the paint remover at the hardware store? It’s encouraging to hear of your restoration success.

            The palette in my pochade box is not varnished and I’ll have to season it.

            Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
            Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air

            Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

            #1122287
            Anonymous

                I forgot the link, it is in there now, there are lots of threads on this and if you search you will get them with a lot of info. Oh yes I completely forgot,
                I have been using turpenoid natural instead of paint remover, I load it on, cover with plastic wrap, let sit for 20 minutes or so and then the paint is soft and comes off with a spatula, follow with turp or spirits and its comes really clean. Turpenoid natural is not as nasty a chemical mix as paint remover.

                #1122280

                Sid: perfect, thanks!

                George: Thanks!

                Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
                Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air

                Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

                #1122288
                Anonymous

                    I have also been using Turpenoid Natural for getting paint off of clothing (soaking spots good then laundery) and for dried paint in brushes, (soaking also for a while)
                    (I haven’t used paint remover since I discovered it, they say the mind is the first to go)

                    #1122281

                    LOL Sid!
                    Turp Natural is very stinky and I personally swear by The Masters Brush Cleaner.

                    But I may try it on a few old palettes I have.

                    It is the best stuff in an artist’s world. Non-toxic, environmentally friendly, restores old dried-paint encrusted brushes to beautiful condition. You can use it on clothes too.

                    Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
                    Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air

                    Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

                    #1122285
                    Naturegyrll
                    Default

                        When I first got my pochade box, I had a piece of glass cut to fit and then sealed the edges. After about a year, I decided that I liked the look of wood and so I took the glass out and seasoned the wood with linseed. It took a while, but after about another year, the wood performs beautifully. I clean off all the paint after every session because I only use it about once a week. I have had no problems with this method. However, I paint with people who let the paint dry. They occasionally spend time pealing it off with a scraper and it seems their palette is no worse for wear.

                        [FONT=Palatino Linotype]Carol
                        [FONT=Palatino Linotype]"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." ~ Pablo Picasso

                        #1122289
                        rltromble
                        Default

                            Personally I have a preference for glass, but I also use a traditional wood pallet. The only reall issue with glass is it can’t grip the paint like wood.
                            On wood you just have to use linseed oil on your pellet until it won’t take anymore. As for cleaning, I just use a razer blade and some cheap OMS. Then using paper towels and OMS I clean until no pigment shows up on the towels. The big down side to wood however is that it is very easy to dirty your colors and wood pallets tend to be smaller.

                            [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

                            #1122277

                            I’m a big fan of glass as a palette surface – even completely dried paint can be taken off the surface with ease using a single-edged razor. Clear glass laid on a neutral-grey backing (or with the reverse painted) is the palette for fixed positions.

                            For hand-held palettes plywood’s okay, especially if prepped well – sanded dead flat, polyurethane varnished – but seriously consider using Perspex. In addition to being a better colour for colour judgements than natural wood (who wants to wait for months or more for a palette to go to a good colour?) the surface is much more forgiving of scraping.

                            Einion

                            Do you know if your colour is off in hue, value, chroma... or all three?

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                            #1122283
                            matthewstiles
                            Default

                                no matter what preparation you choose for your wooden palette make sure you do it to both sides or it will warp.

                                For my wooden palette’s I first enlarge the thumb hole and then re-bevel it to my liking with a round file. Next, sanding of all the edges and surface. After that, a cleaning with turps/OMS to get rid of the dust. Finally a few coats of linseed oil allowing time in between for each coat to dry.

                                Clean up is typically just wiping off the paint after each session with a rag. If it’s stubborn I add some linseed oil it comes right out, no need for turps.

                                Maintenance is a random wiping with linseed oil when I feel like it, or when I had to use turps on it from being lazy and not cleaning it quickly enough.

                                Over time this allows a patina of oil paint to develop that is typically a very neutral grey. If you only ever want the palette to be wood colored then I suggest french polishing it with shellac.

                                #1122292
                                EthanS
                                Default

                                    I use polyurethane to seal the wood. It is the same as if you were having hardwood flooring re-done.

                                    This makes the palette non-absorbent which is what you would be going for with a wooden palette.

                                    I’ve seen palettes that were badly prepared which actually caused the oil to be absorbed into the wood while someone was painting.

                                    I observed this episode in oil painting class once many years ago.

                                    The student couldn’t figure out why the nice juicy paint they squeezed out didn’t have the same brushing qualities when they tried to go from palette to canvas.

                                    The paint seemed to be drying and it was causing her problems.

                                    When she brought this problem up to the instructor, during the instructors trip around the room to spend some time with each student, the instructor responded “The paint isn’t that dry” and proceeded to talk about an arm that was too wide.

                                    The important thing is the stain the palette a certain tone and color before your seal it with polyurethane.

                                    As far as paint drying on the palette – prevention is better here.
                                    Don’t let the paint dry on the palette.

                                    Renoir used to clean his palette every day after his painting session was over. Scraping off the excess paint, wiping the palette numerous times with turpentine rags and wiping the turpentine off the palette making sure it was as good as new.

                                    Many painters I have seen, have piles of dried paint around the edges of the palette and they never clean this area, only the mixing area. Eventually you have “mountains” around the edges of the palette which makes it harder to use if you like to hold your palette.

                                    If you look at self protraits of painters from the 1400’s thorugh the mid 1800’s you will see very clean palettes. Never any dried caked up paint aroud the edges which shows they always cleaned their palettes off after a day of painting.

                                    If you are concerned about wasting paint you haven’t used, transfer this paint onto a paper palette with your palette knife and then transfer it back to the wooden palette the following day.

                                    This way your wooden palette will always stay clean.

                                    #1122290
                                    alhajri
                                    Default

                                        I color my wooden palettes with a mid tone color and then varnish it 3 times with polyurethane. It keeps it from absorbing any oil colors or mediums.

                                        And it makes cleaning the palette easy.

                                        I’m becoming a fan of glass palettes recently for indoor painting and
                                        the disposable paper palettes for outdoor painting.

                                        Kal

                                        #1122278
                                        antgeek
                                        Default

                                            i use freezer paper from the grocery store, comes on a big roll, to cover my guerilla box palette. you can just tear off the mixing area if you want to save leftover paint. I usually put a couple of pieces on with bits of tape around the edges.
                                            i also have a ruined wood palette from my french easel, which is not getting used these days. wondering if it could be sanded down and re-varnished? sorry I am not much help to your question, Stapleaid!

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