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 A traditional wooden palette takes a little preparation but it's worth the effort.  This is a large Richeson palette that you can get online for around $25 (dimensions are 18"x26.5).  The palette is not balanced and I highly recommend having a balanced palette as well as shaping the thumb hole for comfort.  It's a good idea to do those things before sealing so check out my upcoming blog that describes how I improved mine if you're interested.

The process of sealing the palette is easy to do during breaks from other work.  You'll need:  boiled linseed oil from the hardware store,  nitrile gloves and high quality paper towels or lint free rags (If paper towel leaves bits don't use it).

 If you want to start off with  a toned palette  you'll need Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and a white (artist oil paint) and a palette knife (you can use a black instead of Ultramarine). I have used polyurethane to seal palettes but the old way of repeated applications of linseed oil yields a wonderful surface that improves with use.  Each painting you do becomes a part of the palette's patina.

Pour several ounces of oil on the backside of the palette and spread it evenly.  Cover the whole back generously.  I use a glove and spread it with my hand because rags or paper towels soak up and waste a lot of the oil. 

Let the oil sit on the palette for an hour or so and then wipe all excess oil off with a rag or paper towel.  Never let an oil film of any appreciable thickness dry on the surface.  

If you just want to seal your palette without a toning it, repeat these steps on the front side.  It will take five or six applications, back and front, before the wood has absorbed enough oil to function as a palette.  If you like to paint on a warm tone, this is a fine option.

If you want a neutral gray patina from the start, as I prefer, save unused paint from normal painting sessions, or just use Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre (or blue and other earth reds and yellows) and white to mix a mid-tone neutral gray.

Add enough oil to make an easily spreadable paint (softened butter consistency) and cover the front side of the palette.  Let it sit for an hour.

Wipe off the excess,  rubbing the tone in a circular motion, with a lint free rag or high quality paper towel.  If it's too tacky to rub in easily, add some oil. The goal is to have oil (and pigment) actually absorb into the wood rather than sit on top of the wood like a coat of paint. The wood should appear stained as in the image below. 

If a paint film is left to dry it will result in a gummy area that will impede mixing.  Let this patina dry for a few days.  If you want a more opaque patina, repeat.  Then follow instructions for sealing as you would the raw wood (wipe on oil with or without gray added, let sit an hour, wipe off excess and repeat daily, back and front).  If the new oil starts to remove the patina tone, wait longer to oil it. When the palette can reflect a hazy image, like the window reflected below,  it's done. 

To care for it after use,  scrape the majority of the paint off with a palette knife.   The paint that can't be removed with a palette knife can be scraped and mixed together, adding a little boiled linseed oil to release it from the wood grain and to make it mixable.  Add a little of whatever earth color,  blue or white is needed to make this slurry a neutral gray.  Then,  adding a little more  boiled linseed oil if required,  wipe off the slurry and  rub  to a polished finish.    This will allow additional patina to absorb and build up slowly over time without building up an actual layer of gray paint. 

If  you'd like a free pdf copy of this post click here.

Have fun!

I'll be adding a post on balancing your palette and making it comfortable to use soon.  The best way to keep up with this blog is to go to the very bottom left of this page (keep scrolling), find the Facebook logo and if you're on Facebook, both 'like' and 'follow' or sign up for my newsletter.  

The day before Memorial Day, 2014, I was in New York City.  I stood in The National September 11 Memorial park looking into empty places where two great towers once stood.   This monument had a profound effect on me.  The memorial is a work of art, and, as a work of art should, it pulled at me to contemplate the feelings it inspired and think about why art is important.

The sound of the ever falling water is peaceful and the engraved names that go on and on around the perimeter are sad and sobering.  But it is the water falling endlessly into the empty footprints of the Twin Towers, then falling again further into unknown depths at the center that I found so terribly sad.  Art always says something if you listen and this monument told me that it had explored the depths of tragedy and grief, death and absence, and that no one could attempt to honor the dead more sincerely...but that it had no hope or comfort to give.   

Art is a powerful thing and it influences us in more ways than we realize.  When we want great people, great events...even terrible tragedies remembered, artists are called upon to create something that words can't express.  But should a memorial be a source of comfort for those who visit, or inspire hope?   Monuments  say something about the culture in which they were created and, of course, I realize the September 11 Memorial may whisper something different to another visitor.  It did not comfort me or tell me what I wanted to hear. I don't think that was the artists intent. It did inspire me to reflect on that day, to remember and think about those who were murdered, their family and friends and on what I believe.  But comfort or hope has to come from another source.  Maybe that's okay.

I just registered for a workshop with Bernie Dellario, one of the great artist/instructors at the Academy Art Museum this Fall.  I love plein air painting but don't always want to spend time exploring for things to paint.  Most great ideas for paintings are unexpected and often present themselves at inconvenient times.  While photographs can work for situations when there is  simply no other choice, I dislike being dependent on a mechanical eye and I want to be able to gather as much information as possible without one.   So I'm still looking for the most portable medium for sketching.  I have a 6"x8" pochade box for oil painting and I've tried watercolor.  The oil painting sketch kit is still cumbersome in too many ways.  I love watercolor but it is so different from oil paint that I still can't use it for portable sketching.  I'm still figuring out watercolor and not putting enough time into learning.   

So I was glad to see Bernie offering this class.  Bernie is a fantastic artist.  I'm looking forward to reducing the learning curve guided by his expertise and exploring a medium that should complement my oil painting but dry fast, clean up easily and be very portable and easy to set up and put away.  I have high hopes!

Bernie's class is Saturday and Sunday, September 21 and 22 and you can find class information here.  There is a great line-up of instructors this Fall at the Academy Art Museum and you can find out about their classes here.

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