Palette Seal products vs. tupperware?

[Maryam Foroozanfar]

Hello all, I was wondering if there is an actual advantage in using products made for wet palette storage or if they are just sophisticated and pricey equivalents to tupperware?

With regards to oil paints specifically, what is the best way to store a wet palette?

(Apologies to the moderator if this question has already been asked elsewhere - I couldn't find it through my search efforts.)

An advanced thanks,
Maryam

[Mike McCarty]

Maryam,

I searched for "palette storage" and got more than a couple of hits, including this well seasoned thread:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...alette+storage

[Julie Deane]

I'm having success keeping my pre-mixed oil paints in a Masterson palette, which is like a flat Tupperware rectangle with lid.

I don't worry about the seal, though it might help. I put my paints on a piece of glass that fits inside the palette, then pour water over the paint until each pile is covered. The advantage is that the paint keeps a LOT longer this way. If I have to, I can put the whole contraption in the freezer and it keeps even longer. I lift out the paint to put onto a wood palette when I ready to use it.

[Maryam Foroozanfar]

Julie, that is exactly what I was wondering about - how the Masterson palette compares with other plastic boxes. Your methods of saving paint are eye-openers that I shall try as well. For years now, I've simply placed my wet palette left-overs in a lidded plastic container. I've only now become concerned with preservation methods as I've switched over to higher quality/priced paints and find them drying up all too quickly. Was wondering if it was necessary to pay higher prices for "quality storage" as well.... now aware that it's a matter of method over material.

Thanks again,
Maryam

[Marcus Lim]

Originally Posted by Julie Deane

I put my paints on a piece of glass that fits inside the palette, then pour water over the paint until each pile is covered.

Hi Julie,
Question: How do you "dry" the blobs of paints when you're ready to use them again?

I'm asking because, many times here i read about artists who put their paint globs immersed in water, or put inside the freezer. But i've never heard how they keep moisture off from the paints when we're ready to paint them again. I wonder if i can hear your experience?

[Julie Deane]

Hi Marcus -

I lift the paint globs out with a palette knife. I either turn the palette to let the drops of water run off or just let them evaporate. Sorry, I'm not that big a technician, but it hasn't been a problem.

I've just started using this palette with the water. What I am trying to learn now is to recognize when the paint is getting dryer than I want after it's been sitting a while and .....letting it go. It takes so much paint and time to pre-mix my colors that it can be somewhat painful to do.

The painting I'm finishing now I have been working on a month. I added a little bit of clove oil to the stiffer paints to extend their drying time. They then went into the water. I got by with re-doing the entire batch only once mid-way, and then at the end, I just mixed a few colors fresh on the palette, since I didn't need all the paints to use at that point.

My preference would be to freshly mix my paints every time I sit down at the easel, but life interferes. I work full-time at a stressful job, have the usual household duties, and am trying to build a portfolio and do commissions. So this works for me.