Things You'll Need:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Plexiglas (optional)
- Glass plate (optional)
- Ceramic tile (optional)
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Step 1
Consider the types of materials you use when painting. If you use oil paint, acrylics or watercolor, figure out how spacious your palette should be when painting. Consider how much space the palette will use if you don't hold it while you paint. Oval, kidney shaped, round, square, rectangular or welled shapes are all important style issues when considering your palette needs.
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Step 2
Traditional oval and kidney shaped palettes have a hole for your thumb so they can be held when working. There is also a rectangular shaped palette with a thumb hole for easy storage when travelling. These types are easy to clean since they are flat and the paint can be scraped away.
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Step 3
Clear acrylic palettes offer easy cleanup for acrylic paints, and they are unbreakable. Solvents can also be used to clean oil paints from this surface and the acrylic surface won't stain.
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Step 4
Mix your paints in a plastic welled palette. These wells are for holding, storing and mixing paint. Emptying unwanted paint is more difficult than cleaning a flat palette would be.
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Step 5
Use freezer paper for an inexpensive palette. Tape the paper with the waxed side facing you onto a piece of sturdy cardboard. When you are finished using it, dispose of it or cover it with plastic wrap for use at a later date. Freezer paper can be found in supermarkets and comes in 150 foot rolls. Cut several palette sheets at once and store them flat.
Pads of palette paper are available and work the same way freezer paper will. Pads of palette paper are disposable and add ease for travel. -
Step 6
Your old glass plates or left over ceramic tile can be used as palettes. These items are great for any paint, they clean up well and have the ability to withstand caustic cleansers. They will break when dropped and aren't easy to hold when painting. They are primarily a stationary palette and rest well on a table or work station.
