Why Use a Wooden Palette For Oil Painting?
For oil painting wooden palettes are employed. They are light and easy to clean. They also look beautiful.
Many depictions of painters in action are still around. Some depict an unfinished wooden palette similar to those Vermeer used.
To prepare a palette made of wood clean it using drying oils like linseed or safflower. This is crucial because a thin layer oil helps keep the palette in good condition.
Lightweight
A wooden palette is lighter than glass or tear-off pallets, and can be easily held at the easel. Its thickness also makes it sturdy and stable, preventing it from bending under pressure. It can also be sanded or stained to give it the color. A wooden palette is more durable and resistant to insects and fungi than other materials. The wooden palettes are perfect for mixing acrylics with alkyds.
The most common wooden palettes are made of pine or maple. Both of these woods are resistant to warping and crazing. It is important to choose the wood that has been treated with heat to stop the growth of fungi or insects. This process is crucial to the durability of a wooden palette. A high-quality wood palette's surface should also be smooth and well-finished. It should also have a low moisture content which will minimize the chance of wrinkling or damage to paints.
A wooden palette has another excellent benefit: it's easy to clean. After each painting session, painter can clean the palette with drying oil to condition it for the next. Linseed oil is a good option because it's cheap, readily-available and quick-drying.
The natural brown color of the wooden palette is ideal for mixing colors because it is a similar color to the predominant color of the canvas. This helps to avoid the perception of the colors as being darker or lighter than they actually are. Vermeer utilized the traditional wooden palette. In a 1676 inventory it is noted that "tweeschilders eesels" (two painters' easels) and "drye paletten" (3 wooden palettes) were present. In Pictura, Frans van Meieris painted a Vermeer style palette and Roger de Piles suggested that artists paint flesh tones on a wooden palette ranging from light to dark.
Sturdy
Artists have used wooden palettes for centuries due to the fact that they're strong and durable. They're lighter than glass or tear-off palettes, and they're more sturdy than paper ones. This makes them easier for you to use and handle while painting. They are ideal for mixing alkyds and oil paints. It is essential to choose an untreated wooden palette of top quality that has been heat treated. This process kills bugs and fungi that can cause damage to the palette.
A high-quality wooden palette is well-constructed and smooth which makes it easy for brushes to glide across. It should be finished with an oil that is drying to protect the wood against water and solvent damage, and keep its shape. There are pre-finished palettes that are ready to use, or you can create your own using raw wood. If you are using an wooden palette, make sure to wash it every time you paint. Paint that is wet on a wooden palette could cause it to crack or warp over time.
Wooden Palettes remain popular among artists. They were the first mixing surfaces to be used for oil paints. They're light, durable and can hold a lot of paint without breaking. They are also great for mixing alkyds, acrylics and other thick-bodied paints.
In Vermeer's time, the familiar palette with a hole to accommodate the thumb had replaced the rectangular type that had handles. The painter held the palette using his thumb inside the hole, allowing him free his remaining fingers for holding brushes and the mahlstick.
Woods treated with heat, such as spruce and other hardwoods are used to create an excellent palette. This eliminates any bugs or fungi. The heat treatment of wood makes it more difficult to scratch or smooth its surface. After a few years of use a well-used and maintained wooden pallet will have a smooth, almost glass-like surface. This is due to the build-up of thin layers of dry oils that aid the surface maintain its shape.
Easy to clean
If you want a smooth, easy to clean palette that lasts for a long time, then a wooden palette is the best way to go. This type of pallet is popular among oil painters because it doesn't chip or shatter like a glass palette. You can purchase a wooden palette pre-oiled, or seal it yourself. To seal it, you'll need boiling linseed oil purchased from the hardware store, nitrile gloves, and high quality paper towels or rags (if it has bits, don't use it). The process of sealing a palette with drying oil will fill in the small gaps and create a smooth surface. This will improve with each painting.
After you have your palette oily, you'll need to recondition it after every painting session. This is important as it will keep paints mixing smoothly on the palette and shield your hands from solvents. To restore your palette, start by lightly sanding it with 180-grit sandpaper. This will help open the grain of the wood and allow it to absorb oil more easily. Then pour a bowl of linseed oil onto the palette and then use a rag to spread it evenly across the entire surface. Allow the oil to dry for a couple of days.
If there is any remaining paint on your palette, a tiny OMS applied to a rag should remove it. You should not use any sharp object to scrape off the dried paint. This will scratch and damage your pallet.
If you need to scrape a bit of dried paint off your palette it's best to rub it with a soft brush instead of using a knife. If you scrape it too hard, you can break the wood and ruin your palette.
Aesthetically pleasing
A wooden palette is a stylish and durable mixing surface that lets you feel like an artist. It can be used with oil paints, acrylics, and alkyds. Its smooth surface is easy to clean and glides easily across the brush as you mix and take in paint. Wooden palettes are also light and come in many sizes to accommodate your hands. They are available in various styles and finishes to match your preferences.
The wooden palette is one of the oldest mixing surfaces. It's been in use since the time of art. The wood has a warm brown hue that doesn't affect the colors of the paints. This is important because the predominant tone influences the perception of the color. A wooden palette helps you to determine the hues of your paints since it has a mid-value that will show the hues against.
The earliest palettes were made of paper or tin foil, but the ones Vermeer used were likely made of wood. The probate inventory of 1676 included two "twee schilders eesels" and three paletten" (two easels for painters and a dry palette). In an allegorical picture of Pictura Vermeer's time, his contemporary Frans van Meieris and Jan Vermeer used the same type of palette. A traditional wooden oil painting palette is designed with a thumb hole that is used to support it while the remaining fingers are used to hold brushes as well as a maulstick for steadying the hand while painting.
After High-Quality Factory-Made Pallets cleaning session, wipe the surface of your wooden palette with dry oils - such as linseed or anotherto keep it in good condition for the next time you will use it. This will fill the tiny pores of the the wood and create a smooth surface that makes it easier for your brushes to work on. With time, a well oiled palette will develop a beautiful patina, which will add to its appeal.