Wet Palette issues

[dshavers]

Hey Everyone,

Last night I figured that I would try out using a wet palette, as I've found myself having to paint in little spurts. I'm finding that it's not really working any better than when using a regular ceramic palette. Once I lay down my different colors to mix with, everything seems fine, but when I start mixing I've found that the mixed paint seems to dry up within about 30 minutes, and the parchment paper itself kind of feels dry to the touch. The "blobs" seem to stay wet a lot longer, so it's mainly the mixed areas. I'm using a Masterson's brand palette with the included sponge, and for the paper, parchment paper from Reynolds. Hopefully all of that makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kathrynloch]

Did you boil the parchment paper first? Like you, I'm having a couple of issues with a wet-palette that I am working through and I had two situations - the first was I was working with too large of a sheet/palette and second, I didn't boil the sheet very well.

 

[dshavers]

Well I made sure that the paper isn't quite as large as the palette itself, but maybe I need to go smaller. I had no idea that I had to boil the paper. I know that the paper that comes with the palette said to do that, but I'm using just standard parchment paper.

Did you boil the parchment paper first? Like you, I'm having a couple of issues with a wet-palette that I am working through and I had two situations - the first was I was working with too large of a sheet/palette and second, I didn't boil the sheet very well.

 

[Kretcher]

Hi there, can you post a picture of the palette when you are using it. Perhaps that can give more information that we can comment on.

 

[Einion]

Did you boil the parchment paper first?

The instruction that come with commercial palettes say to boil the paper first?

Well I made sure that the paper isn't quite as large as the palette itself, but maybe I need to go smaller.

This shouldn't make any difference - big piece, small piece it's all the same - all that matters is that the paper is properly in contact with the reservoir.

I'm not getting something though, you say above you're just using standard parchment paper but in the OP the included parchment paper?

Even if you were going the homemade route top to bottom there should such a major difference to mixing on a ceramic tile that it's not even funny, so something's definitely not right with the setup. What you're aiming for is that no matter how warm or dry it is you should be able to paint for hours with the palette open, pretty much without any problems with the paint drying.

Einion

 

[Bloodhowl]

Is the flux capacitor getting the full 1.21 gigawatts? :rotfl:

 

[kathrynloch]

The instruction that come with commercial palettes say to boil the paper first?

The wet palette I purchased awhile back - Masterson's I believe - said to boil the supplied paper before using.

My understanding of parchment paper from my years of baking is that it is semi-porous and designed to wick moisture from whatever you are cooking - not a large amount but a little. That's what makes it nice for a wet palette - it wicks the moisture from the sponge but doesn't encourage evaporation. It is also designed for heat resistance. So boiling it before using opens the pores a little more and improves its wicking ability.

That's the theory anyway.

ETA: I'm in the process of making one up for myself right now and I completely forgot about this. If you want to freak out a younger sibling/niece/nephew/kid/etc get the water good and boiling and use tongs to put the parchment paper in. Hang on to one end and watch it go. The stuff writhes like it's alive. It snakes around and curls into a scroll then uncurls itself. It's really freaky! lol!

 

[dshavers]

Edited original post. I meant to say just the included sponge, and not the paper that came with the kit. The only thing I can think of, is that maybe I didn't have enough water in the container or there were air bubbles between the sponge and paper. I'm wondering if using paper towels instead of the sponge would help as well.
This shouldn't make any difference - big piece, small piece it's all the same - all that matters is that the paper is properly in contact with the reservoir.

The instruction that come with commercial palettes say to boil the paper first?



I'm not getting something though, you say above you're just using standard parchment paper but in the OP the included parchment paper?

Even if you were going the homemade route top to bottom there should such a major difference to mixing on a ceramic tile that it's not even funny, so something's definitely not right with the setup. What you're aiming for is that no matter how warm or dry it is you should be able to paint for hours with the palette open, pretty much without any problems with the paint drying.

Einion

 

[Mercius]

The way I was taught to set up my wet palette was that the water should be almost even with the top of your sponge. I think it sounds like you don't have it wet enough.

 

[QuietiManes]

^^ Yup, there should be a little extra water pooling in the palette, at least, to ensure the sponge is as wet as possible.

Also, you need to "prime" the paper, get the paper soaked through with water, before putting it down on the wet sponge. The commercial stuff usually has odd instructions, like boiling or running hot water over it for a few minutes, but parchment paper should be fine if you just run room temperature water over it for a bit or soak it for a minute on a plate or in the bottom of the palette.

Sounds like you either wrung out the sponge or tried to use the paper before it was soaking wet.

 

[dshavers]

Defintly didn't wring out the sponge, just filled the container with water till it was almost full, and then laid the paper down. I'll try priming the sheet, or just use more water. LOL.

^^ Yup, there should be a little extra water pooling in the palette, at least, to ensure the sponge is as wet as possible.

Also, you need to "prime" the paper, get the paper soaked through with water, before putting it down on the wet sponge. The commercial stuff usually has odd instructions, like boiling or running hot water over it for a few minutes, but parchment paper should be fine if you just run room temperature water over it for a bit or soak it for a minute on a plate or in the bottom of the palette.

Sounds like you either wrung out the sponge or tried to use the paper before it was soaking wet.

 

[MrPickles]

i bought all my stuff for my wet pallette at the grocery store and it works great.

 

[QuietiManes]

I know some people who just use a folded paper towel and a small piece of parchment paper that gets thrown out every couple days or at the end of each session. It doesn't have to be fancy, as long as it does the trick.

 

[t77mackie]

I use a wet palette when I'm base coating, dry brushing or when doing the final highlighting on a mini. In my experience, it doesn't make the paint last 'forever' but it lasts longer than being on a dry palette and it's definitely better than painting out of the pot - which I never do. After the base coat is down I switch to a plastic reservoir type palette because the paint I use for blending-layers is thinned waaaaaaay down and you can't keep the paint on a wet palette thinned precisely and consistently.

I've never heard of boiling the paper before - I'll have to try that out to see if it makes any difference. And I keep the water level as high as possible in the wet palette container without it pooling on top of the paper.

Happy painting!

 

[MrPickles]

one thing i noticed is i have 75 watt bulbs everywhere and the heat from them tends to try out the paint quickly. even paint on the wet pallett will dry out from it.

 

[QuietiManes]

Well, that's like putting it in an oven...it only works near room temperature with little to no wind. Move the wet palette off to the side, out of the heat, should work as intended then. Or, if that's not an option, try moving the bulbs further away, a couple feet...or maybe make a little tent for the wet palette? Although the indirect heat would still be an issue.

 

[GraveRisen]

I picked up this from a local art shop
http://www.mastersonart.com/products/handy.htm

It's AMAZINGLY good. The sponge that comes with the P3 palatte is absolute garbage. So is the paper it comes with.
I followed the instructions that came with mine and it works flawlessly. I can keep paint wet for a week in it, but it doesn't water it down at all.

 

[dshavers]

Sorry everyone, been busy with a 9 month old. I did a little test with the wet palette again following the advice from everyone on here, and it seems to work a bit better. I made sure there was enough water in the well, and primed the parchment paper first by running some room temp water on to it. Where I'm strugglig now is the mixing colors part. I find that if I mix only a small amount of color using the "blobs" layed out first on the palette, the paint tends to dry out much quicker. I'm assuming the key is to mix a bit more volume to combat this. Also is there a negative side to having "too much" water in the well?

 

[dshavers]

This is the exact one that I have. Do you use the included paper?

I picked up this from a local art shop
http://www.mastersonart.com/products/handy.htm

It's AMAZINGLY good. The sponge that comes with the P3 palatte is absolute garbage. So is the paper it comes with.
I followed the instructions that came with mine and it works flawlessly. I can keep paint wet for a week in it, but it doesn't water it down at all.

 

[kathrynloch]

Sorry everyone, been busy with a 9 month old. I did a little test with the wet palette again following the advice from everyone on here, and it seems to work a bit better. I made sure there was enough water in the well, and primed the parchment paper first by running some room temp water on to it. Where I'm strugglig now is the mixing colors part. I find that if I mix only a small amount of color using the "blobs" layed out first on the palette, the paint tends to dry out much quicker. I'm assuming the key is to mix a bit more volume to combat this. Also is there a negative side to having "too much" water in the well?

Too much water means it pools on top of your palette and the paint becomes runny. You can't control it and becomes more like a wash than a paint. You want the paper wet but not puddles on top of it. That being said, when you mix your paint, you can add a couple of drops of water to it, especially if it's thick or a little on the old side. I have a dropper bottle here and if my paint is thick, I just add one or two drops at the most. Anything more and I've got a puddle that runs over the sides and into the sponges and makes a mess. Then I take the end of my brush and gently mix it just enough to get it stirred.

And good luck corralling the 9 mo. old. I hope you have your track shoes on. They move amazingly fast despite the stubby little legs.