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Mucky palette....
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Message
Posted
This is interesting. I thought you were referring to how you worked your palette. In terms of cleaning I have one palette for the paint and a sheet of glass for mixing. I rarely clean the paint palette because I use all the paint I squeeze from the tube. The glass mixing palette I clean every time I use it. With regard to the other meaning I thought your question was about, When I paint in watercolour I use what is called a dirty palette. That is, I allow all the colours mingle with each other, I also prefer to use dirty water. When I paint in oils I do the same thing. All the colours contaminate each other, I don't clean the brush between colours and I have dirty and clean turps. It just means my colours have a little of the rest of the colors I use and it helps them to get along. It's not a new thing an old painter told me about this 40 years ago and I'm sure the masters would have known about it too. Mucky/Dirty palette :)
Posted
Well - yes; I think that clinical cleanliness in the studio really isn't necessary, or helpful. In the humble flat, of course, it may be - or you get paint on the seat of your trousers, on your shoes, and that bit of your favourite shirt where it's going to show most. I'm not doing much in watercolour at the moment, but I'm certainly not one of those to clean the palette meticulously between every wash; and while actually working on an oil or acrylic, I'm not one to clean as I go, unless I need to carve out a bit of space for a particularly clean mix: whites and yellows both sully extremely easily, and you don't want to go stirring and slapping at your paint trying to get something to the colour or tone you want, unless you like mud.
This is a quite interesting point, and not one which I think one necessarily thinks about, but just to take one example - if you highlight trees, or branches, rocks, anything in nature, with pure white, it always looks wrong: there NEEDS to be just a trace of something else in it, depending on the conditions of the day: a hint or red, yellow, blue, violet, just to take the cruel edge off: easy to do that if you have mixes on your palette you can just dip into and add to the white (or whatever) to modify it.
Posted
As for palettes, I am getting rid of the 'innards' of an old Victorian wardrobe.
I just noticed the sliding trays are made of solid, 3/8 inch thick mahogany; could even be the Cuban variety... Wow! Enough for at least four new palettes. I'll make at least one, and it would be a sin to leave dried paint on that precious stuff!
John
Edited
by John Walker
Posted
Indeed Marjorie. I still have much of that timber in my garage loft, awaiting conversion into useful items. It's beautiful timber to use of course, but sadly, until I fully recover from the attack of cellulitis I suffered a couple of years ago, I must take things easy. It's surprising how much 'puff' you use when hand-planing timber!
I have just started experimenting by painting on Medium Density Fibre-board, covered with fine mutton-cloth.
John