How to Make a Wet Palette

A wet palette is one of the most useful tools that a miniature painter can use, for it allows acrylic paint to resist drying for significantly longer periods of time than if it had simply been put onto a traditional palette. This ability to keep the paint wet longer will prevent paint waste due to drying, and will reduce the need to remake paint mixes.

Required Materials:

-distilled water

-a plastic container (preferably with an airtight lid)

-parchment paper

-paper towels

Step 1:

Fold a piece of paper towel and place it into the bottom of the plastic container. The paper towel will allow the palette to retain moisture, and therefore allow the paint to last longer.

Step 2:

Pour the distilled water into the paper towel so that the entire paper towel is saturated. Tip the container over so that any water that was not absorbed will flow out. If the palette is too wet, any paint that is added to it will absorb so much water as to become unusable.

Step 3:

Cut out a portion of the parchment paper that is small enough to sit on top of the paper towel without any of its edges being folded up. This is important, as you do not want any air to to get under the parchment paper. If air pockets form under the parchment paper, the palette will prematurely dry out, thereby becoming useless. I have found that soaking the parchment paper in water before putting it onto the paper towel makes it easier to smooth out and remove air pockets.

When you put the parchment paper onto the paper towels, make sure to smooth out any air pockets that have formed underneath the parchment paper. Next, flip the parchment paper over and smooth out any new air pockets that have formed. Repeat this process two to three times.

Final Thoughts:

Wet palettes are very simple and cheap to make, but are extremely helpful. I found that when I left my palette out with my other painting supplies mold grew. In order to prevent that from happening again, I store my wet palette in the refrigerator. Storing it there might seem strange, but it also serves to make it last longer.