Mixing paint on the palette
I never use a palette knife on my palette. To mix a tone, I plunge my brush into the paints and use the brush to mix what I need. For example, on this nearly-fresh palette, I dipped my brush into the cobalt blue–the second blue from the bottom right–and used my brush to mix it
Those who live in glass houses…
…or use glass palettes. I get a lot of questions about my homemade palette. I’ve been using this palette for several years and by now it’s pretty beat-up. In fact, I attempted to replace it recently but the replacement’s glass cracked before I could use it. Read moreSmooth Move—Smooth Painting SurfacesWhat is it? It was
Painting nuts and bolts
My homemade palette has provided good service for several years. It has enough room to muck about in, but it’s not so large that it’s difficult to move or clean. I converted the glass-framed reproduction I found at a secondhand shop into an everyday palette by removing the print and then painting the backing a middle
How I paint: mediums and thinners
This photo shows painting cups in front of my custom-made palette. I always use this selection of mediums and solvents when I paint. In the left-most container is my medium. My medium is very drying which means, among other things, that it is very rough on brush heads. Not only does it dry out the brush hairs,
This morning’s palette
This is the state of my palette after taking it from overnight storage. I clean the palette each morning with a scrapper and remove dried colors. Often, if no colors dried overnight, I’ll start right in. My medium is fast drying and there’s no danger of previous mixtures affecting new ones. This homemade palette has
Palettes
Here is my general. all-purpose palette. It has a good assortment of every color group and the core neutrals I always mix. You can do just fine with fewer colors–three or even fewer from each group is certainly workable. When I was younger, I had a very limited palette because I had a very limited