The Daily Book of Art

DAY 161

ART 101

Paint Palettes

CHOOSING YOUR MIXING SURFACE

 

Throughout history, palettes for acrylic and oil have ranged from slabs of wood and sheets of glass to ceramic plates and newspaper (as used by Picasso). Today, the most common types are wood, white plastic, and disposable paper. If you’re working over a brown underpainting (as many early artists did), try using a wooden palette; while mixing, you can envision how the colors might appear on your painting. If you’re working on white canvas, white plastic is a good option. You can even clean acrylics off the plastic with mild soap, warm water, and a little elbow grease. But if ...