Which palette is the right one for you?
If you paint a miniature or scale model, you are probably wondering about painting palette. Which one can I use? What’s a dry palette? Is a wet palette good for me? One thing is certain, acrylic paints dry quickly, and you need a proper surface to mix your paint. Each palette has its purpose. Read on for tips on picking the right palette for you!
What is a palette?
A palette is a surface used for mixing paint, ink and all kind of medium, varnish and such.
What is a dry palette?
A dry palette is a surface made of paper, wood, plastic ceramics or glass used to put acrylic paints on. It is called a dry palette because there is no hydration system. You have to add water to your paint in order to keep it from drying too fast. If you are using only a dry palette, you will have to work quickly! Acrylic paints dry quicker than you think, unless you are using a micro drop of paint, you will waste a lot of acrylic paints. It is also harder to use painting technics like blending or dry brushing with a dry palette.
Why do I need one?
It is the first palette you will ever own and even if you switch to a wet palette, you will always come back to your dry palette for a specific use!
Depending on your needs, you may use a flat surface or a well palette, like the wavy accessory for V2 Wet Palettes.
I find the well palette very useful for inks, washes and highly diluted paints but I always have a flat one around (paper sheets or plastic palette) for mixing varnish with acrylic paints or glue. Why? because varnish or glue is not easily removed from a well palette. It is much simpler to clean a flat surface, or if you are using a paper sheet, you can easily throw it away.
Wet Palettes
A wet palette, on the other hand, is a more advanced type of palette. The hydration system is composed of 3 parts: a case, a foam pad, and a paper sheet. The idea is to keep your acrylic paint moisturize and workable for long. How does it work? The paper sheet can absorb water from a reservoir (sponge, foam). The moisture diffuses up into the acrylic paint to keep it from drying out too fast.
Why do I need a Wet Palette?
Save your paint, save your money. The hydration system will keep your paint wet and workable for hours. Wet palette with lid is even better, you just have to close it after your session, and a few hours or even a few days later the paint will still be usable, just mix the paint a little bit ( pigments separate from the medium over time. mix it, and you are good to go).
It is by far, the most used palette by miniature painter because it allows you to execute advanced techniques like wet blending, glazing and many more.
Worry-free! Since your paint is workable for long, you can focus on your painting. You don’t have to worry about your paint drying too fast like with a dry palette.
Which wet palette is best for miniature painting?
Wet palette: The Everlasting Wet Palette is the best choice for miniature painting. It is used by thousands of painters and hundreds of talented pro-painters & youtubers around the world.
Dry palette:Â Redgrass offers a Glass Palette as well as the well palette “wavy” which comes as an accessory for the Everlasting wet palette (included in the complete pack) and is really useful as a side palette for mixing inks and shades.
Conclusion
We have hopefully answered all your palette related questions, but if you have any others, feel free to contact us via social media and we will be happy to help!
