A palette is an indispensable instrument of any artist

A palette is an essential tool of any artist. It does not really matter if you have just taken up painting or if you are already a connoisseur and experienced master of your craft. A palette is an instrument helping to blend paints, create shades, tints, tones and semitones, experiment with colours. The outstanding artists’ palettes look like a mirror of their creative style. On the surface of a palette you can literally see a favourite colour scheme, expression or pedantry of a painter.

Let us find out what kinds of artist palettes exist. They can be classified as palettes for water-soluble (watercolours, gouache, acrylic) paints and the ones for water-insoluble oil paints. If everything is more or less clear with the first kind of palettes that are usually manufactured from plastic of white colour with special wells for paints, the artist palettes for oil paints may have a great variety.

Палитра

The most popular palettes for oil paints are made of wood. Please pay attention that they must be varnished (at a factory or independently) as it is necessary to prevent the oil in the paints from absorbing into the palette’s wood so that the paint does not lose its natural properties. Wooden palettes can be oval, rectangular or square. The shape does not matter. However, the size has to be sufficient not only for applying the paints but also for mixing them in the middle of the palette.

The palette has to be thin and light in case you paint while holding it in your hand or walking en plein air. The working lifespan of a palette will be longer if between painting sessions you keep it in a horizontal position. It is desirable to clean the palette after every painting session or upon finishing the picture.

Палитра

In art-stores you may come across plastic palettes for oil painting. They are not so traditional. However, they have certain advantages. First of all, they are light. Secondly, oil from the paint will not absorb into them and they don’t need to be varnished. Thirdly their white colour coincides with the colour of canvas and gives a better idea about what this or that hue will look like in the real picture.

One more modern palette for oil painting is a paper one. It looks like a loose-leaf album for painting. The side of the sheet that serves as a palette is covered with a special kind of varnish. Its undeniable advantage is that it does not need to be cleaned. Just replace the used sheet with a clean one and that is it. However, it is more expensive as well because a paper palette is basically single-use (disposable). Some artists use canvas, primed cardboard or chipboard as a palette. We love wooden artist palettes and use them during our master-classes. A wooden palette preserves a charm of epochs. To feel it come to the oil painting class at the Lihtaryk Art Studio.

Make application

    Nearest masterclasses
    Check all available dates >>
    Our clients` reviews
    How to get us

    Our location

    Write us

      Tech Support for your corporate Website