DIY disposable palette?

belle2 · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 176 Location: Newcastle

I am up to my eyeballs in mess and am not a good cleaner upper. Any ideas for a cheap disposable palette system?

The Pook · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 2823 Location: Tasmania

You can buy paper tear off palettes. Are they too expensive?

Are we talking oils? acrylics?

Ice cream container lid with a hole cut in it?

I use scrap wood offcuts sometimes if I don't want to use my two "official" palettes.

thecatsgrin · Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 2163 Location: Gippsland

The only thing I use as a palette is the foam tray you get from under the meat at the super market.
The paint doesnt dry out fast when on them, when it does dry it peels off it quite easy, so the same tray can be used over and over, when the paint is really stuck on, then the black film peels off paint and all... you can get the same trays under corn and some vege's too....
I dont get alot of meat from the supermarket, so get others collecting aswell!

I am up to my eyes in clutter in my work area aswell... so these trays work well for me!
If you have left over paint you can just glad wrap them and the paint stays wet aswell.

I dont know how they go with oils. the solvents may disolve the foam, but with acrylic and watercolour they are great.

The disposable palettes, seemed to me just to be the waxy baking paper you can buy at the supermarket, just cut into a shape and stuck together.

ocker1 · Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 518 Location: NZ

Im eating a lot of Cadbury's ice cream because the lids make good palettes

well thats me excuse anyway Embarassed

Tango · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 1049 Location: Melbourne

My acrylic pallette
On one large rubbish day a neighbour left out a pile of white porcelain dinner plates which I now use for my acrylic paint palettes when they are all covered in paint I put them in the laundry trough to soak over night and by the morning the paint has detached itself from the plates.
My oil pallette
Over the years it's been all sorts of things, like ocker1 ice cream tub lids where popular till I stopped eating the stuff... but an old bit of Laminex or the lids off the 4ltr gesso tubs are the go at the moment.

belle2 · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 176 Location: Newcastle

I've got glass with a white paper backing stuck to a table which is fine. Every now and then I take it outside, layer it with brush cleaner and scrape it back. But occasionally get overwhelmed with paint. I've bought heaps of white saucers from op shops but then I have to clean them!
I need a studio slave!

We don't get ice cream because I eat it. All of it.

Amandav · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Hervey Bay

Belle, I have a large sheet of glass that was cut to fit the top of my workbench. I glued white melamine to the workbench and the glass sits on top.
It sounds like you have something similar but that the cleaning up is the issue for you? After spending years wasting time I finally clued up and bought one of those paint scrapers that have a handle and replacable blades (similar to the blades you put into stanley knives). If the paint is wet enough to do a wipe down clean I do that, but any drier and I use the paint scraper. They are cheap and easy to replace and make cleaning dried paint quick and easy.

Acrylic paint I use plastic plates or any kind of plastic lid which are easy to peel dried paint off (assuming it is a little thick).

belle2 · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 176 Location: Newcastle

Thanks Amanda
Yes my system is same as yours but I'm lazy and tend to let it build up.
I am determined to clean up before painting next.

The Pook · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 2823 Location: Tasmania

gggraph · Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:19 pm Post subject: Re - DIY disposable palette?

I don't work in acrylics that often, but when I do, I used to put Cling Wrap over a china dinner plate, then peel it off when I'm done.

I don't bother that much any more, as acrylics will come off the plate, or the china palettes I prefer for watercolour under hot water, or if that fails, with a bit of Spray 'n Wipe.

Grant

Jo Tyler · Joined: 13 Aug 2008 Posts: 488 Location: Newcastle

I use acrylics and just buy homebrand plastic plates or bowls and toss them in the bin when I'm done, I don't like the clean up after a day of painting either Confused