PALETTE
The word "palette" has two meanings for the watercolorist. the first meaning refers to the particular combination of pigments in a painting or personal collection of paint; the colors you prefer to work with. Then there is the paint holder itself. A palette to hold your paint. A palette for your palette, if you will.
Palette options:
Watercolor palettes are commonly made with these three materials.
Plastic - plastic is lightweight, but will stain easily. Not only that but the plastic will yellow over time.
Porcelain / Glazed Ceramic / etc. - does not stain and is easy to clean. The added weight obviously made these less ideal for a travel palette, but they are excellent for your studio desk.
Metal - butcher's tray - free-form. made of white enameled metal. Ideal if you want to set up a different and unique palette for each painting style or subject. cleans easily. will not stain or break.
Wood - this is a popular choice if you want to go more “natural”.
The number and design of paint wells will vary.
No ridge - flat, allows the pigment to flow into the mixing area.
Light ridge - deep at the back but has only a light ridge as it meets the mixing area.
A “Contained” well - equal height on all sides.
How do I arrange the colors in a palette?
Arranging a primary palette - arranging a palette in the order of the color wheel makes the most sense, and if you have any colors that spill from their wells into the color next to it, the "contamination" will be minor.
Arranging a color temperature palette - arranged by warm and cool colors; a split primary color arrangement.
One of the most helpful things you will ever do is make a color chart of your palette so you can remember which colors are in which wells.
