Reaper Paints and Wet Palette?

[diagnull]

I'm still a novice to mini painting (got about 8 minis under my belt) and am looking to start learning blending and shading. Seems like lots of people recommend wet palettes, but I don't really know how they work and if they work with Reaper paints.

 

Any recommendations for wet palette setups? Or alternatives?

 

Thanks!

 

-c

[Captain Murray]

I got the exactly same question. I´ve seen around some tutorials about wetpallet but still didn´t figure it out how to use it for blending. Anyone with more experience can sahre some toughts about the question?

[All-Terrain Monkey]

Hey guys! As always, don't be afraid to give the search function on the site a shot, as a lot of common painting questions have been already asked. In the Advanced Search on the Painting forum, with the search terms "+wet +palette", this topic from June this year was one of the first ones up, along with a good three pages of results. Try giving them a look-through as I think it'll answer a lot of the questions you have now .

[MonkeySloth]

If you want to try out a wet pallet without dropping a lot of cash you can make a simple one from a blister box, I like the ones from Privateer press, or one of the plastic containers from a larger reaper figure, a sponge and some wax paper. Just take your sponge and cut it to fit in the blister, poor in some water (about 3/4 of the height of the sponge) and then cut your paper to fit over the sponge. I'd dampen both sides of the paper so it doesn't curl up.

 

This won't give you much room for paint but it will let you play around with one to see if it's worth spending money on a real wet pallet.

[diagnull]

Thanks! I didn't think about making a homemade one, but after looking through the articles, I think I'll try a homemade one first.

 

I didn't have much luck searching the forums at first but I think I misspelled "palette". :)

 

Thanks!

 

-c

[MonkeySloth]

As for blending with them, it's really no different then blending with any watered down paint, you just layer back and forth between the two colors you blending.

 

There are people I know who will blend various shades on the palette first and get some great effects but this is also just like you'd blend in a dry palette.

 

The bonus of a wet palette is it can keep your paints good for a few days if it's not clear and has a good way to seal off the air.

 

The downside is your paints will get runnier over time and will mix when you don't want them too. I moved away from them back in May and haven't looked back as I prefer really runny paint and a compartmentalized palette works best for me. Plus I found a dry palette that keeps my paints good for about a week when closed.

 

I'm sure others can cover the benifits of one better then me as I never really liked them but they are better then using paint right out of the bottle.

[Captain Murray]

As for blending with them, it's really no different then blending with any watered down paint, you just layer back and forth between the two colors you blending.

 

There are people I know who will blend various shades on the palette first and get some great effects but this is also just like you'd blend in a dry palette.

 

The bonus of a wet palette is it can keep your paints good for a few days if it's not clear and has a good way to seal off the air.

 

The downside is your paints will get runnier over time and will mix when you don't want them too. I moved away from them back in May and haven't looked back as I prefer really runny paint and a compartmentalized palette works best for me. Plus I found a dry palette that keeps my paints good for about a week when closed.

 

I'm sure others can cover the benifits of one better then me as I never really liked them but they are better then using paint right out of the bottle.

 

My main interest in the water pallet is not exactly the paint conservation, but the ability to mix different shades of the same color to use the blend technique.

 

Today, I use the compartment pallet (actually a pills compartment, the ones with the week days on the lids)and for the different shades of the same color, I just add white to it, mix it and paint. to move to the next shade I add more white to the same compartment, mix it and paint and so long.

 

The problem with this technique is its harder to make shades closer to each other and if I mistake someplace I can´t have the original color anymore to retouch it.

 

I will try the water pallet and see if it works for me

 

Thank´s for the tips

[MonkeySloth]

Youtube has a bunch of videos on wet palettes, I'm sure some of them cover blending techniques http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wet+palette&aq=0&oq=wet+pal

[Captain Murray]

Youtube has a bunch of videos on wet palettes, I'm sure some of them cover blending techniques http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wet+palette&aq=0&oq=wet+pal

 

Thank´s Monkey, I will take a look.

 

best regards

[Doug Sundseth]

Somebody mentioned using waxed paper for wet palettes.

 

Don't.

 

Use baker's parchment, which is slightly water permeable.

 

At Genghis Con, we use disposable foam plates (large enough to work as a palette and they hold the water well), paper towels, and parchment. But if you're interested in something more permanent, Blick has wet palettes starting around $8US, so it's not exactly a major investment. Just order one the next time you get a decent brush.

[olliekickflip]

Using a wet palette takes some getting used to. That being said, I won't paint without one! Parchment paper works best as it doesn't allow water through but keeps your paint workable for a long time. Wax paper will work in a pinch but does let water through and thus does not let you have full control over your paint consistency. Also over time the wax paper will break down and you will have tiny flecks of wax in your paint....this is really bad and hard to fix once dried on your model! If you go with a mastersons palette, don't use their paper either as is let's watter threw very quickly.for best results, make sure your water level is flush with the paper...this will keep your paint workable the longest. If you don't have a sponge, use 3 or 4 paper towels folded into quarters. As soon as the parchment paper touches the water it will want to curl up so put a pot of paint on each corner for a couple of minutes to keep it flat. As for adding water to your paints I recommend that you only add water to the outer edge of your paint....this way if you put too much water in, you can easily add some undiluted paint to the mix! Hope that helps!

[Baphomet69]

I just got a wet palette a couple weeks ago (a Masterson from Blick, in fact). I've yet to use it, I haven't even prepped it yet, but look forward to trying it out (with some nervousness).

[Bumble_B]

Somebody mentioned using waxed paper for wet palettes.

 

Don't.

 

Use baker's parchment, which is slightly water permeable.

 

This very important. No wax paper. Parchment paper. And I second Ollie's suggestion about not using the sheets that come with the wetpallets themselves. too much water and not cost effective.

[kanli]

Good advice here. I made a wet palette using a sandwich-sized tupperware type container, a standard dish sponge and parchment paper. I found everything at my local grocery store. Works great for me, though I have to admit, I never find myself keeping the paint "for days", because I usually have so many individual drops, I change the paper everytime I sit down to paint in order to find space. It's nice to start with a fresh palette anyway. The main advantage for me is keeping the paint wet through a multi-hour paint session.

 

As mentioned above, another problem I could see with keeping paint on a pallette for days is that the dillution is bound to change by evaporation and the absorbtion of water through the parchment paper. So, just remember or write down the basics for a recipe to be able to make it again. Of course this is a lot easier when you aren't picking and choosing from 100+ bottles of paint each time! The more I paint the more I find myself going back to the same colors again and again. It makes mixing a shade or highlight and picking up where you left off much easier.

 

Some of the store bought palettes look very shallow and like they might not hold very much water. The advantage of using a regular sponge, about an inch thick, wrapped in a sheet of parchment paper, is that it holds more moisture and continues to draw from a pool of water in the bottom of the tupperware. Just wash the sponge out every few weeks to prevent mildew.

[frogimus]

Put a penny in your WP to stop (or maybe just slow) mildew. Saw this mentioned on another forum, so I gave it a try. So far, it's worked. But I also wash my sponge whenever I change paper and only use distilled water.