What palette should I use for watercolour painting?
I was asked this question by one of the students from my online art classes and I thought my answer would be a great one to share. Because when it comes to watercolour, the palette does make a HUGE difference. Of course, some artists may use their palette a little differently and have different preferences, but over the years I’ve found these kind of palettes to be the best for watercolour (and the best for the students in my online watercolour classes too):
Use a watercolour palette with deep wells
The most common paint palette available today is a circular palette with little half-sphere reservoirs for the paint. I see a lot of these in my watercolour classes. They’re okay but what I find even better is deep rectangular wells with angled sides. Why? Well, here’s a little tip: most beginner artists will squeeze their paint straight into the bottom of each reservoir. But what you want to do is actually squeeze your paint onto the top angled side, because every time you dip into your paint, some water will come off your brush and pool at the bottom of the reservoir. If this is where your paint is, you’ll end up with one big soupy mess of paint. But when you squeeze your paint onto the top angle of the reservoir, any watery paint falls to the bottom, keeping your freshly squeeze paint nice and thick. That way you always have two consistencies of paint to work with: watery and thick (or what I like to call “tea” and “Vegemite”)
Use a watercolour palette with a large mixing area
When it comes to watercolour, the real joy and “effortless” look comes from working loose and wet. And for that, we need a large area to mix colours in and to dilute them if needed. A large mixing area is also great for keeping up with the teacher when you’re doing online art classes. It gives you lots of room to try different colour combinations and paint consistencies. For “washes” (when you cover a large area of paper at once, like a background sky) this is exactly what we need too. So look for a watercolour palette that has one or two large mixing areas.
Use a non-porous watercolour palette
This one’s a little obvious but you want a palette that won’t absorb your paint. Glazed ceramic palettes, glass or plastic palettes are great for this reason. A tip to help you remember your paint names (for example, when your watercolour teacher has you using new pigments that you’re not familiar with yet) is to write them on some tape and stick them to your palette wells.
Here’s how I learn all the colour names before I am familiar with them
Optional: a watercolour palette with a lid
This is not a necessity but lids certainly do make things a little easier when it comes to palettes. It helps keep the dust out of your paints (if you’re leaving your palette unattended for long periods of time) and also helps when you’re working “en plein air” (outside). It’s great for watercolour workshops too and online art classes. You can pop the lid back on and away you go.
I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. If you’d like to paint with watercolour like a pro, you might like my online Artory Academy. Its an online drawing and painting program designed to help you not just copy paintings but create your own.
Anne x
