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12-03-2009, 07:42 PM
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Senior Member
New Almaden, CA
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 253
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Which watercolour palette do you use?
What is your favourite type of palette? Metal, plastic, butcher tray?
I use the Creative Mark Color-Miser Air Tight palette both in the studio and on plein air outings. It has a gasket on the edges to prevent leaks and keeps the paints moist for quite a while, like two weeks. I have taken it fully loaded in my suitcase overseas with no problem.
But like all plastic palettes, it stains. No matter how gently you wipe the surface it causes microscratches which trap paint resulting in more staining.
I bought a new folding palette by Mijello that I found in ASWExpress.com's Overstock. The regular price is $50, but they are selling it now for $20. What caught my eye was the description: bullet-proof glass.! For 20 bucks, I thought what the heck.
It isn't glass at all, but polycarbonate acrylic, which is used for bullet proofing. I tested it by mixing some puddles of diox. purple, prussian and thalo blues. I let them sit overnight. Using a wet kleenex, it wiped clean! I did the same test again with the same results.
Oh, and there's a disclaimer on the box. NOT MEANT TO STOP BULLET.  |
12-03-2009, 08:12 PM
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Veteran Member
Bemidji, MN
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 885
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
That's too funny...need a disclaimer for everything I guess. I wonder if it'll stop shurikens in case ninjas ever break in...
Anyway...
I usually only use a few paints at a time and mix on my paper, so what I like best for a 'pallette' is individual white porcelain dip bowls. They're heavy, don't stain and I can easily easily swirl a great big brush in their without having to be overly careful. They're raised in the center a little bit, so I can keep my paint thicker there, and let it be more watery around the edges. I also sometimes use a porcelain plate if I'm wanting to mix my colors a bit more.
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Last edited by McKeeJane : 12-03-2009 at 08:14 PM.
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12-03-2009, 08:18 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 346
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I received the Bullet Proof Palette as a gift, and didn't care for it. I don't like how the paint beads. I am a fan of flat wells, so most folding palettes won't do for me. I do have a Yarka folding palette that (modified) holds 40 full pans. It is made of a hard plastic that takes the paint like porcelain. I solved the staining problem with my Jones Palette by setting a porcelain palette in the middle section and mixing on that.
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12-03-2009, 08:42 PM
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A WC! Legend
Texas
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 18,904
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by artsygala
I bought a new folding palette by Mijello that I found in ASWExpress.com's Overstock. The regular price is $50, but they are selling it now for $20. What caught my eye was the description: bullet-proof glass.! For 20 bucks, I thought what the heck.
It isn't glass at all, but polycarbonate acrylic, which is used for bullet proofing. I tested it by mixing some puddles of diox. purple, prussian and thalo blues. I let them sit overnight. Using a wet kleenex, it wiped clean! I did the same test again with the same results.
Oh, and there's a disclaimer on the box. NOT MEANT TO STOP BULLET. |
I got this one too- Jerry's Artarama had them on special once....and it is ok, but the wells are kind of small- still, I am often out during hunting season in the country, I am literally surrounded by drunken hunters within shooting range....so I thought it couldn't HURT to hold up my palette and give it a try!!
My favorite though is a large very heavy ceramic one...I got it at blicks but don't see it now....my only complaint is that it does not have enough wells since I like tons of colors, and I do like to wash this one out after using it, and it is heavy....won't fit in the bathroom sinks to clean, hubby does not like it in the kitchen sink (cadmium  )....and I was cleaning it once in the bathtub (letting it soak), told him the toilet in the same bathroom was out- he took one look at the nasty bath water, did not say a word to me, thought he needed to PULL the toilet for a big clog....and did not...the handle jiggle was just out of wack...(sorry long story)
recently found this one at Cheap Joes- plastic, but tons of wells close together....
but honestly, for things like gouache and liquid acrylic, I found you can't really beat a paper plate because you don't have to clean it...it is not as good for the environment I suppose, but the paint goes into the trash, and you don't waste water...
I can't remember the brand of the covered one I found at Hobby Lobby that is plastic, and I don't wash it since I keep the paint in it....wells all around and open in the center
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12-03-2009, 09:39 PM
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Moderator
Oakwood, Ohio, near Dayton.
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 36,598
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I like the John Pike palette made of a special plastic called styrene. It has 20 wells for paints and a large open mixing space in the center. It also has a lid for carrying the palette back and forth to class and keeping paints clean between sessions.
I actually have two of them because I have a lot of different colors—one is my original palette which is about 20 years old and the other is about 5 years old. I love the way the moist paints puddle in the center when I mix my colors.
The Pike palette is carried in most of the art web sites like Daniel Smith, Cheap Joes, and Blick.
Sylvia |
12-03-2009, 11:17 PM
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Senior Member
Philippines
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 221
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
Hi,
I went through almost everything. Got the butcher tray. Good when you like to mix your colors a lot. But since there are no wells, you sometimes limit the amount of paint and water you use so everything won't puddle in one big mud. I like how the porcelain wash prevents staining of the surface. Just don't use scouring pad to clean it so you don't scratch the surface.
Also got gifted with the light plastic palette that has a nice combination of wells and mixing surface. Only complaint, too light. Out here in the tropics, when it gets hot, we use electric fans to cool the environment. That's when I realize some palettes don't need wings to fly.
Recently got some round porcelain palettes that look like flowers. Since I now mix my colors on paper as I paint, this functions well. Heavy enough to withstand stormy winds. I'd like them bigger though.
I still have my hard plastic palette that looks a bit like the Pike Palette but with deeper wells. It does stain but since the stain doesn't come off when you use it, doesn't bother me much.
The Pike Palette looks very promising. It is on my wish list.
Karen
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12-04-2009, 12:34 AM
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Lord of the Arts
Fairbanks Alaska
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 2,302
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I dont worry about staining, too many other things much more important.
I got a porcelain butcher tray for large mixes, and I use the quiller travel palette mostly, also the frank webb palette. Open wells, so you can drag paint out into the mixing area.
Matt
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12-04-2009, 05:17 AM
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A Local Legend
North Yorkshire (James Herriot territory)
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,736
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
...me?, I always use a selection of used microwave food containers both for water and acrylic..plenty of room for sloshing washes about in.. and when they are no longer usable throw them out. If I don't have any with me, such as when out in caravan, I would normally just use a paper plate. I do have a couple of really cheap 10 well palettes in my travelling boxes which I have had for years and normally don't clean as they often have colours on which I have 'invented' for specific pictures....
rgds
geoff
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12-04-2009, 05:47 AM
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Administrator
ORMSKIRK, Lancashire
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Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 64,726
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I use cheap folding palettes with dried tube paint. One for opaque colours, one for transparent colours.
For plein air I now use a W&N Cotman Pocket Plus palette with half pans and a water brush.
Doug |
12-04-2009, 08:29 AM
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A WC! Legend
Pinehurst, Ontario
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 32,923
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I began to worry that I was a palette junkie!!!  I have been searching for the perfect palette to meet my needs for the longest time... I have large ones, round ones, porcelain, plastic... I have sushi dishes and butcher trays...
One day, I ordered some incredibly cheap plastic folding palettes for my students... When filling and working with them, I discovered that I really liked them!! They stain... but that's ok... most of the palettes I've tried will get stains on them...
Still searching for perfection, I bought a Homee Mijello palette... It's too big...
Someday, I'll find what I really need and want... |
12-04-2009, 09:22 AM
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Senior Member
Southern Utah
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 235
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I like porcelain. Cheap joes or butcher tray.
Plein air I use enameled whole pan metal box.
I want to try a Holbein folding metal palette.
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When we are bursting with some wordless experience, Art is our voice,
the song of the heart. ---R. Schmid
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12-04-2009, 05:08 PM
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A Local Legend
Brownsville TX "On the Border, By the Sea"
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 6,577
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
I like Cheap Joe's Piggy Back Palette. It holds a lot of colors all around the edge and has two big central mixing areas. I don't use it that way though. I have each paint area holding a Buddy Cup (round plastic with a lid), and then a lot of Buddy Cups in the mixing areas. On the outside there's a place for the piggy back part. It holds 15 colors and the lid is a mixing area. I have 6 of them with different colors in each and sometimes I just carry one of them along to paint. They are about 6x7".
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12-04-2009, 07:44 PM
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Senior Member
New Almaden, CA
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 253
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
It is evident that there is no one perfect palette, at least not yet!
Judging from your responses, our palette choices are a blend of our painting style and sense of practicality.
Good ideas here, though. I'm impressed by the layout in Shirley's Piggyback palette!  |
12-04-2009, 08:52 PM
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A Local Legend
Brownsville TX "On the Border, By the Sea"
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 6,577
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by artsygala
It is evident that there is no one perfect palette, at least not yet!
Judging from your responses, our palette choices are a blend of our painting style and sense of practicality.
Good ideas here, though. I'm impressed by the layout in Shirl XX's Piggyback palette! |
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12-06-2009, 12:39 AM
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A WC! Legend
New Canaan Connecticut
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 15,085
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Re: Which watercolour palette do you use?
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Sunset Over the Sea and Rocks
BUT of late , last two years or so, I have bought a couple of Small Trianguar Porcelain ones to seperate all the Reds, that have come out and some Wonderful New colors I couldn't resist and had to have !
