Wet Palette

Not my idea, but I wish I had done this so much sooner.

I have been wanting to make a wet palette for a while but had two suspicions:

1. That the hype about retaining paint fluidity would not be met.
2. It would be a hassle to use.

Well I was wrong, very wrong, and as I say, I wish I had made this sooner.

Already after a few days I have noticed that acrylic paints used from the wet palette retain fluidity longer, allowing for smoother application, and more leeway in time to use up the decanted paint.

In the second picture, the photograph shows the wet palette as used this morning and four days ago. The yellow and orange that still look glossy are from four days ago; they are not usable now, but retained some fluidity for around 24 hours.

Click to embiggen

The red-brown flesh wash (just above the two browns at bottom left of the paints area) and the two browns below it are all two hours old at the time of the picture, and all still have fluidity.

The wet palette cost me £2.99 in dedicated materials, but all of them could be found around the typical house. I used half a cellulose sponge which was made wet, wrung out, made wet again and wrung out to retain dampness. Then I put a strip of grease-proof paper over that (wrapping the ends under the sponge) and the container is one of those lockable lid types.

Simple, and that £2.99 included 2 containers, 6 sponges and a few metres of grease-proof paper. This should last a while.