Wet Pallet... Painting will never be the same..

[althai]

Tupperware works, but something flatter is nicer to use, imo. And for the price of one mini, I really think it's really worth using something designed for the purpose that you will be using for years, rather than something makeshift.
 

Even Jessica Rich says in her Dark Sword videos that she makes her own.  I think she prefers something smaller than the Handy Palette.  When I go with a wet palette, I use the Masterson one.  I use baking parchment on it, though.  It does a great job of holding in moisture and only rarely gives me issues with mold, and only if I really neglect it.

Yeah, I've seen her wet palette, it's ludicrously small. I suspect most people will be happier with something larger than what she uses.
 

In a wet palette this goes all over creation and i end up with a big watercolor-like mess. I also  really hate mixing my paints with my good brushes and all the videos I see online of people using wet palettes show them abusing their brushes as they mix on the wet palette.  Not interested in that.

Possible issues are having too much water in your sponge, water on top of the parchment / palette paper, and palette paper that's too permeable. The first two are easier to test, so I would start with those. You're using a sponge, not foam, right? Try getting the sponge saturated, but without much other water in the wet palette container other than what's in the sponge. After you get your palette paper wet on both sides and lying flat on the sponge, use a brush handle or your finger to get it smooth and squeegee off any water drops on its surface. Try that and see whether it helps your paint going everywhere issue.

 

You may also want to use less paint than you would in the ceramic well palette, because you don't have to worry about the paint drying out.

 

Everyone is raving about them so I am sure i'm missing something.  Help me understand?

Wet palettes are not for everyone. If you mostly paint with straight RMS triads and don't do a lot of mixing, the well method may work fine for you. I know Marike doesn't like wet palettes because she wants her paint thicker than that, and wet palettes will always thin paint to a certain extent somewhat. They are awesome for mixing by eye though, so if you are someone who likes to mix a lot of your own colors they are definitely the way to go.

[Pegazus]

OK - help me understand what i'm missing with the wet palette.  I have a wet palette and I've used them in the past, but I just can't get away from my ceramic well palette.  It makes it easy for me to drop 2-3 drops of RMS paint in, 1 drop of thinner concoction and go to town.  I usually use RMS triads and fill out 7 wells as such to layer (most of the times not all at the same time):

 

3 dark + 1 thinner, 2 dark + 1 mid + 1 thinner, 1 dark + 2 mid + 1 thinner, 3 mid, 2 mid + 1 light + 1 thinner, 1 mid + 2 light + 1 thinner, and finally 3 light + 1 thinner. 

 

Works perfectly for me.  In a wet palette this goes all over creation and i end up with a big watercolor-like mess.  I also  really hate mixing my paints with my good brushes and all the videos I see online of people using wet palettes show them abusing their brushes as they mix on the wet palette.  Not interested in that.

 

Everyone is raving about them so I am sure i'm missing something.  Help me understand?

For me, a large part is about just being able to keep the paint consistent. Humidity is so low here, two or three drops of paint dry out on a ceramic pallet in about ten minutes. Thinning it just adds another five or so. I can break open the skin that forms, but I'm now getting much thicker paint than I should be using.

 

Having been converted to the wondrous world of wet, it's also been allowing me to paint more often simply because I can close the pallet and take care of little things that crop up family-wise, then get back to painting when I can. I don't have to block off a large chunk of time where I know I won't be disturbed. I didn't want to potentially waste paint when I was needed away from the paint desk.

[CashWiley]

I use an 8ish part mix sometimes, and laying it out on the wet palette is rarely a problem. The surface tension of the paint+water holds them together fine.

 

I use an old plate, paper towels, parchment paper and saran wrap. It's basically free, since everything is already in my kitchen. As a bonus, because I'm using a plate, I can throw it in the dishwasher between projects to ensure sanitization.

[SirDibblet]

Wet palettes are one of those revelations you never see coming.

 

It feels like the first time someone switches from craft paint to proper miniature paint (Reaper, Vallejo, Scale75), or going from a synthetic paintbrush to a quality Kolinsky sable brush.

 

It's just another tool that makes everything simpler. And you'll never want to go back.

 

 I jumped into the hobby pretty hardcore and splurged on paints and I quickly made a wet pallet (because everyone here on the forums kept ranting about how it changed their lives) so I don't think my wet pallet "epiphany" was as revelatory as some others but I can attest that I only recently purchased a Kolinsky Sable brush and that changed my painting life forever. I have so many brushes I will never use again except for slopping on base coats and washes now because I can't even conceive of using anything but my KS brush ever again.  I am ordering 2-3 more as a birthday gift to myself.  That was a joyful moment probably on par with the wet pallet "experience" that I can honestly say is thanks to the forumites here that always deliver amazing advice! 

[Pingo]

Seriously you people, the masterson sta-wet handy palette is only $10 [amazon], the perfect size, works perfectly, and is very portable. I don't understand why so many people resort to making their own.

Multiple reasons, I suspect.

 

There isn't really such a thing as a "perfect" size. I recently picked up a Masterson Sta-Wet pallette and noted how very large it seemed. After my paper plates thing had problems in the damp the first sealable plastic palette I have been trying is a little "Really Useful Box" about the size of a 3x5 card.

 

I like keeping my color harmonies distinct. Depending on what I'm working on I may have one palette for reds, russets and yellows and a different one for blues, greys, violets and greens. For me in acrylics this works better with multiple compact mixing spaces.

 

(And I do mix my own colors, so I find a wet palette a tremendous aid.)

 

Part of it may be availability. Not every member here lives in a country with easy access to US products.

 

Another reason may be economic. While, in my experience, hobbyists can sometimes get weird about minuscule cost savings when reasonably priced conveniences are available, at the same time some of us are on really quite restricted budgets, or have been on them enough that tolerable substitutes that cost only pennies are attractive. When $10 buys a day's food and a wet palette can be cobbled together with common kitchen supplies, some of us will go that route.

[Pingo]

OK - help me understand what i'm missing with the wet palette.  I have a wet palette and I've used them in the past, but I just can't get away from my ceramic well palette.  It makes it easy for me to drop 2-3 drops of RMS paint in, 1 drop of thinner concoction and go to town.  I usually use RMS triads and fill out 7 wells as such to layer (most of the times not all at the same time):

 

3 dark + 1 thinner, 2 dark + 1 mid + 1 thinner, 1 dark + 2 mid + 1 thinner, 3 mid, 2 mid + 1 light + 1 thinner, 1 mid + 2 light + 1 thinner, and finally 3 light + 1 thinner. 

 

Works perfectly for me.  In a wet palette this goes all over creation and i end up with a big watercolor-like mess.  I also  really hate mixing my paints with my good brushes and all the videos I see online of people using wet palettes show them abusing their brushes as they mix on the wet palette.  Not interested in that.

 

Everyone is raving about them so I am sure i'm missing something.  Help me understand?

Not every tool is suited to every hand.

 

You have a painting method that works very well for you. It sounds like it would be a nightmare to try with a wet palette, which is more suited to entirely different ways of painting.

[Pingo]

Wait, people use their good brushes for mixing? Really?

[Auberon]

Once you are Rich, you can afford all of the good brushes you want. 

[Pingo]

Once you are Rich, you can afford all of the good brushes you want. 

When I was poor I had one good brush and three good paints. Some things are not worth economizing.

[Willen]

Seriously you people, the masterson sta-wet handy palette is only $10 [amazon], the perfect size, works perfectly, and is very portable. I don't understand why so many people resort to making their own.

 

I was going to reply but Pingo took the words out of my mouth. Good for you, too, about easy and cheap access to Amazon. The sta-well palette for me is a rare unicorn, never seen in the wild.

 

Now, if you had phrased it like "seriously, I think that if you can get it the masterson palette is easier than making your own" it would've sounded less... harsh; but please remember only a small population portion have access to US purchasing privileges.

 

It is also very easy to do your own, although getting the proper kind of paper has proven to be impossible for me here as well.

 

About the whole "it's not for me" thing, I guess... it's a tool so if it doesn't work for you, don't feel forced to use it   .

 

Due to my house/area humidity variations if I use paint on a hard surface it usually starts drying in clumps in about 20 minutes. That is no good for me; especially since I got used to a chaotic painting style where I pick and chose from a color mayhem palette in front of me (whatever is whitish get's used for highlights, for example LOL). It can get watery but that is usually because I thin my paints a lot to begin with; good paper would prevent excessive water absorption from below. 

 

And I use my good W&N #0 to mix minute amounts of paints in the palette all the time, is that wrong? 

 

Edit: My new palette "sponge" is not getting mold but yes a humidy stench I hate. I am trying the boiling water method now; after a day soak in antibacterial cleaner I then poured boiling water in and set the palette; let's see how it handles through the weekend.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Willen

[knarthex]

I had some of the watery issues when I first started using a wet palette last year, and as usual, the forumites answered my cry for help....

Help! There is something wrong with my Wet Palette

 

I use an old brush to mix my paints / medium / water on the wet palette, but that is what I find works for me...

 

For all the discussion, what we do here is an art form, and the how you do it isn't as important as the results being pleasing to you!

 

I have a large Mastersons wet palette, and am seriously considering a smaller one, as I tend to not put to much paint in the middle....

 

Just rambling now...

 

Coffee    

[Pingo]

I will use my good brushes to do small blends on the palette, but for thorough mixing of larger amounts of paint I will use a low-grade brush, since paint is likely to get up into the ferrule and I like to stir it well.

 

Really I prefer to use a palette knife as a precision instrument to mix paints, but the amounts we use in miniatures painting are so small it's difficult to find the space to work with the knife.

 

That's a reason I might use a larger palette.

 

I have seen both ammonia and hydrogen peroxide in small amounts recommended as mold inhibitors on wet palettes. I haven't tried either of them, but so far as I know neither should cause harm to the paint.

[Willen]

I have seen both ammonia and hydrogen peroxide in small amounts recommended as mold inhibitors on wet palettes. I haven't tried either of them, but so far as I know neither should cause harm to the paint.

 

Yeah... I try to keep harsh chemical out of my palette because... you know... forgive me Pingo for I am a sinner 

 

A week ago or so, wife ask me worried if I have a series of blisters on my lower lip... nop, just Vallejo Offwhite.

[Cranky Dog]

I will use my good brushes to do small blends on the palette, but for thorough mixing of larger amounts of paint I will use a low-grade brush, since paint is likely to get up into the ferrule and I like to stir it well.

 

Really I prefer to use a palette knife as a precision instrument to mix paints, but the amounts we use in miniatures painting are so small it's difficult to find the space to work with the knife.

Fortunately, this is my normal situation. Small amounts of an already pretty thin paint. Still, maybe I should look into a suitable mixing brush. I'm thinking something stiff.

 

In all seriousness, my good brushes probably see more abuse simply by trying to reach the awkward recesses on several minis, or retouching the occasional eyeball/button shirt which begs to be poked with the brush.

 

...That and dropping the brush on the hard floor, point first. [sigh]

[Loim]

I have a Masterson. It does what it's designed to do, but my primary complaint with it is that it isn't water tight. I now use a small snap lock food container that is about 1/4 the size of the Masterson with pennies, a sponge, and Reynolds parchment. No issues.