Types of Palettes: Wood, Glass, or Paper

There are many options for an artist when it comes to painting palettes. Not only is there a variety of materials, but also of shapes. And as with most things, it all comes down to personal preference.

Your palette can either be handheld or tabletop, a variety of different colors or just gray, and made out of glass, wood, or paper.  It is all up to you, but knowing is half the battle (thank you GI Joe).

Handheld vs Tabletop

A handheld palette is the traditional favorite; you see a lot of old master self portraits with a handheld palette. They have, however, come a long way and are quite a bit different than what you normally see in old master paintings.

Handheld palettes are useful for several reasons. By holding your palette in the same light as your canvas, a handheld palette can allow for better color and value gauging. It obviously increases mobility, again very nice when working on a large painting, and it can help you maintain a more continued focus by not needing to look down or away from the painting.

They come in a variety of sizes and shapes. One company that I have heard a lot about is New Wave: Fine Art Products (you can also purchase them from Dick Blick). Warning: They are expensivo!

Tabletop palettes can also be really great. One, you don't have to hold it! Being clumsy, I only use tabletops. Tabletops also have a larger range of sizes, as in they can be huge and who says you have to put your tabletop on a table?

And as an added benefit, you can also make them at home (I will have a step-by-step in another post) on the cheap.

Color of your Palette

The color of your palette should match the ground, or imprimatura, of your painting, so that the color you are mixing on your palette appears as the same color when applied to your canvas. Otherwise you can get very frustrated when mixing what appears to be the "right" color, only to find that it looks different up on the canvas.

Allow me to give an example: an artist who has a natural wood palette and paints directly onto a white canvas may run into a color mixing problem. When making colors on his palette, the color his eye sees is influenced by the color of the palette. When he takes that paint and puts it onto a white canvas the color will appear to be different because now it is being influenced by the pure white of the canvas verses the tan color of the wood.

I paint with a gray-colored palette because I like a more cool, neutral ground, which helps me unify my colors. In the image below you can see artists utilizing two different types of grounds and painting from two different colored palettes:

Wood vs Glass vs Paper

Wood:

Some artists are all, "Wood is horrible, you can't clean it, I don't like it!" But then others are all, "Wood is the bestest!" Sadly it all comes down to preference, and, in this case, your wallet. A good wooden palette should cost you at least $50.00.

Wood is harder to clean than glass or paper, but that doesn't mean it is horrible or difficult to clean. They do take more upkeep; if you want to keep your wooden palette nice, you have to be nice to it.

Glass:

I use glass because it is easy to clean. I love that I can allow paint to dry on it for days then scrape it off with no problem. But it can break. I have broken two over the past year, though that was more from packing up and moving things with the whole Cousin situation... Glass also affords you more flexibility with colors. By simply placing a different colored piece of paper under it you can create different ground color options. You can also make your own glass palette for super cheap! Like $10 cheap!

Paper:

Paper palettes are made of a waxy paper and come in a variety of colors and sizes. They're a nice default option because any hobby or craft store will carry it, and they're the most transportable of the three options. They can be great when going to school because they are light and are easy to bring with you when painting outside. Paper was the first palette I ever used when learning to oil paint. However, I don't love using it because it doesn't allow for great glazing as it is harder to thin paint, and even with the wax film the paper sucks oil out of the paint.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! For more about painting check out my main Tips and Techniques page.