Practical tips for your palette
How to lay down paint and how to clean it off
Whether you’re left or right handed, arrange your paints along the top edge of the palette in the same order every time. That way, you will intuitively know where you paint is without having to look down each time. This will also enable you to keep colours clean leaving you with a large mixing space in the middle.
A recommended order could be:
- White
- Yellows
- Reds
- Purple
- Blues
- Greens
- Browns
- Ochre
Be generous with your paint
Don’t be stingy with your paint. Your painting will benefit from having a depth and intensity of colour. Also, if you haven’t mixed enough of a particular colour the first time, it’s very hard to replicate it!
Use a painting knife
Use a painting knife to pick up and mix colours from the range at the top edge of the palette. Using a painting knife means that you can compare the colour you’ve got with the colour of the object in front of you to see if you’re getting close!
If you have mixed a colour you will use again but need the space for something else, use the knife to scrape up the surplus and ‘park’ it on the edge of the palette out of the way.
Cleaning your palette
Clean down your mixing area at the end of the session with cleaner from your brush jar, and wipe it off. When you clean off the whole palette to put it away, wipe it over with a rag and a splash of linseed oil.
Last but not least
Enjoy your painting!
Shop for palettes
We have a good selection of high quality palettes for sale in our online shop – here are a few examples. Our Cappelletto range of palettes (and easels) are made by an Italian company based in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. They are lovingly made by hand.
