Watercolor Palette Mixing Surfaces - Differences & My Favorite!

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Let's talk a bit about mixing surfaces today. I'd love to hear your thoughts about your favorite surfaces for watercolor mixing.
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[@gabybop]

Bro tip: to clean stained plastic palettes, use baby oil. Just damp a paper towel with it, wipe the palette clean, and then just wipe it down with a dry cloth or rinse it. I find that oil picks the pigment off the surface really well.

[@surveyguyor8958]

for me, I rarely "clean" my palette. WC Paints are too expensive, and my mixtures are all ready to go next time.

[@EveBolt]

The peeling of the paints was SO satisfying to watch! :O Wow That a huge porcelain palette!! I hope you'll enjoy it, it's so pretty :)

[@MatheusFerreira-mu6lu]

Eve Bolt - Bolt's Vault Peeling Acrylics is the most satisfying thing ever....

[@arleebean]

Eve Bolt - Bolt's Vault thank you, Eve! I hope I enjoy it too!! It's very large and definitely won't be doing any traveling, but the surface is so lovely. 😍

[@joyfulldj]

I have the mijello 18 palette for my gouache, i almost want to test that peeling of just for fun of it :P

[@InLiquidColor]

Ahhh yesssss! 😻 That palette is gold. So glad you were able to pick one up, and that you could lift your DS paints out of the Mijello! I was actually able to lift a wholeeee block of their burnt sienna out of the porcelain palette two. I was able to cut it into four half pans LOL. It depends on the pigment, but worth the shout out :)

[@arleebean]

In Liquid Color ah, that's so interesting!! Yeah, I didn't notice until I was transferring this paint that the porcelain wells are so much larger!

[@LeySketch]

Ugh, that giant porcelain palette is so dreamy! It seems so huge and unwieldy but watching you mix colours on ceramic really makes me want one someday. Also, popping paint out of palettes is so satisfying! Unless you have paints with high honey content like M. Graham, which just wanna stay goop forever. (At least it's pretty goop!)

[@arleebean]

Art of Ley Saulnier I've really been into that pretty good lately. XD M Graham is so nice!

[@LeySketch]

Yes, same! I love M. Graham so much. So vibrant and pretty!

[@prissscilla9952]

Start with a small porcelain flower mixing tray you can keep it home and use it as a limited palette or have a separate palette and use it as a mixing tray you’ll still get better results than just using a plastic palette

[@LeySketch]

stargirl I actually did just this! I picked up one of the wee flower porcelain palettes and I'm using it for mixing. It's been amazing so far!

[@Dawn24Michele]

Don't buy them from at stores. You can get a porcelain serving platter from Walmart for a dollar. You can also pick up dishes for a dollar. So much more satisfying knowing you can use the difference in price on paper.

[@Keithlynd_]

the only thing with porcelain palette is that it's heavy and not suitable for clumsy people like me who keeps dropping everything out and breaking things. X'D

[@kiwimiwi5452]

I recommend mixing on porcelain plates! They are lightweight and work just as well, and adding to that they are really easy to clean. They are also stackable, means they don't take up much space when they are stored

[@nadines.1107]

I live in constant fear of dumping my pretty little porcelain mixing dish.

[@kiwimiwi5452]

@@nadines.1107 ooooh I have the same fear but regarding my dish where I store butter in (like you know, that one thing). It's so pretty and I don't want to be the one who drops it xd

[@farmwife7944]

I use a white ceramic tile from Home Depot. One single tile, 8" x 12", in a satin type glaze works great. I cannot remember the price but it was really inexpensive. They always have singles available for folks to bring home as a sample. I was thinking I would need to use grout or some such thing to make sides but it doesn't need anything.

[@prissscilla9952]

Farmwife same I did this for my oil paints I started with the glass sheet I think it was an 8in x 10in for $3

[@surveyguyor8958]

well how about a corelle plate? they are like a good well. not just flat.

[@FuriedHearts]

Yessssss! So glad I clicked on this video. I've been looking for porcelain platters with barely any sides, or at least not steep angled sides for maximum mixing space. Most platters have a 1" edge but I like how this one barely has one. Looking to make a DIY palette. I found a genius idea online where you get a porcelain platter and mount it to a board and arrange your colors around it in half pans. This enables you to constantly be able to customize and move your colors around!

[@ame8873]

I absolutely LOVE your dragon age stickers on your pallet’s cover!!!

[@OtoKano]

Oh it's sooooooo satisfying to be able to peel paint out of palettes! Daniel Smith and Holbein peel off like a dream. The only one I've had a huge problem with is Schmincke's Phthalo Green. Porcelain is my favourite too :) Enjoy your new beautiful palette!

[@arleebean]

Oto Kano thank you, Oto!! I have no idea what I'll use the empty palette for now :o

[@vigtoria8123]

Half of the comments are talking about how satisfying peeling the paints was 😂

[@sandraruberto8806]

I totally agree, porcelain is the best! :D

[@surveyguyor8958]

try corelle plates sometime.

[@lisaselzer6025]

I so so enjoy your voice! I just noticed how I instantly calmed down a bit.. even though I wasnt particularly excited :D much love to you!

[@toiletteregina]

I always wondered why so many people preferred porcelain palettes. NOW I understand. Thanks for the info! :)

[@surveyguyor8958]

corelle plates are cheaper

[@arthurj2985]

Your a great artist and you’ve really helped my watercolor ability enhance

[@Drumaier]

yes porcelain is the best mixing surface. About the tooth paste, i went some times over the surface of the same plastic palette, doing a lot of friction with my finger and going in circles clock and anti clock wise until the surface wasn't shinny anymore, and now is behaving almost the same as porcelain. Here you are showing an improvement over the default plastic but what i want to say is that working more time and harder can give incredible results.

[@lilac_lottie]

i use the toothpaste trick on all my new palette, although im not sure if toothpastes would react to the paints in some werid ways. but it makes plastic palettes tolerable for me. im getting rid of metal tins because i traveled a lot with my old metal tin and it started to rust :(

[@xrainey]

ahh I loved this video! I've only ever used plastic palettes but this really makes me want to try porcelain!

[@megansimonson]

This is so perfect! I was literally trying to search a video for this last night! I usually use the metal lid of my watercolour pencils, but it's so big so I tried using a margarine container lid and it seems to be going pretty well.

[@surveyguyor8958]

try cheap corelle plates (i get mine from goodwill)

[@zgredowo]

Didn't knew about the trick with the eraser, thanks much!

[@TheSgyro]

I knew how this video was going to end😁.. I've heard you can peel the paint off, but never really seen it done so beautifully 😂.. And Danica is 😍👌

[@SupraJulie]

Watching her pull the paints out of that palette made me think someone could be super extra and put their paints into little candy molds to form them into flowers and stuff.

[@cowboish5637]

Oh my god! This helped me so much :') I rlly needed a good type of palette! Porcelain is the best!

[@surveyguyor8958]

cheap corelle plates from goodwill

[@luul9713]

Thanks for sharing your tips!

[@cathyferguson570]

Love porcelain. Just bought a couple of porcelain options from Jackson's and I can't wait to try them out. Anxiously waiting for delivery!!!

[@surveyguyor8958]

corelle plates from goodwill

[@sierra.s]

I saw the Danica skills sticker and I was like “That’s not Arlee’s style what.. it looks like Danica’s” and it was haha..also I think the staining has a meaning behind it..’an artists pallete is always busy’♥️

[@noreenlatimer8193]

The peeling of the paint is like peeling glue-I get it 💜I’m still new to watercolor and beading up was driving me nuts. Then I found a glass dish that I use and love it

[@trangtrinh844]

You can also remove stains on plastic by rubbing toothpaste on it! :D just a quick tip

[@tluvi_art]

Wow, you surprised me with this rubber trick :,) About the staining, for me I think that it comes mainly from blues, purples and greens, since they're often made from highly staining pigments :) I also think that the ceramic palettes work best, but only recently I remembered that I actually have a plate which I could use x) As for the plastic I think that in some of the palettes there's this different kind of plastic, the 'comfortable', not slippery kind, like for example in W&N Cotman sets or Van Gogh sets :) Like the most common plastic palettes are the ones that pull the water into the... "clumps" (? :)) and there are these better quality ones, that are especially for watercolours and they work similary to the ceramic :) And since I only have Cotmans and Van Goghs in separate palettes, I use my ceramic one mainly for my 9 White Nights watercolour pans ^^ Hope that makes sense 😅 Have a great weekend! 💖

[@WitchPixel]

I've been hunting in my local thrift shops for a porcelain devilled egg tray to use as a palette, but unfortunately I've only found plastic ones so far. The quest continues. I've been using a pane of glass out of an old picture frame in the mean time (for gouache mostly) and despite taping the edges, I've managed to cut myself a couple of times, oops. But it's so much better than plastic! Watching you peel those paint pads out of your palette is sooooo satisfying.

[@surveyguyor8958]

cheap corelle dishes (goodwill)

[@cazkiwinz4300]

I use glass coasters, they’re already shatterproof and beveled and have feet so they don’t damage surfaces. Or there is always the ceramic/porcelain tile idea too :)

[@ellespoonies]

you should use the mijello palette to mold your paint and then put them in your big palette!

[@mariakellner2221]

A magic eraser also helps it's a very fine abrasive stops beading and clean staining pigments, tfs

[@kallynaa]

Wa I didn't know that about porcelains thank you! Gonna switch all my watercolors trays now hehe

[@surveyguyor8958]

corelle plates (goodwill)

[@callmekite]

I use a Magic Eraser to clean my palettes, and for $1 (or you can get a multipack for more) it cleans them completely. They shred easily, but considering how well it does I don’t mind. Thanks for the video!

[@phantomnet8131]

Do the toothpaste priming trick with stained palettes. It helps erase them!

[@IndigoPuma26281]

Oh wow this is so helpful! I was just wondering how you thought of the toothpaste thing?

[@shawnariley3518]

I agree with everything you stated the beading up/staining is the worst I want a porcelain mixing palette for that reason. I love mixing colors and it's kind of a pain needing to use more water to avoid beading haha look forward to your next video!

[@rebeccapage4411]

Love my white Corelle plate. Lightweight, break resistant, and no beading of colors!

[@jenthulhu]

So glass works similarly to porcelain? I was thinking about these small glass cutting boards I saw on Amazon. They were a perfect size and not very expensive.

[@surveyguyor8958]

exactly what I use. Goodwill has them dirt cheap

[@avlucchettiart]

The tip of using the vinyl eraser to get the stains off a plastic palette is genius!

[@adildraws]

Wonderful. I found some helpful information.

[@aliceavetisyan2764]

Interesting information. I presume the metal pallet costs more than the plastic one (you don't say :D). What is better: the paint tubes or the already filled pans? Or is it just preference?

[@deepfriedcelery._.4668]

This was extremely helpful, I am getting the Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor set and I was wondering what I should get for mixing the colors(I know they aren’t really meant to be mixed but I do it anyways) thank you for this helpful video hope you have a great day.

[@surveyguyor8958]

use to mix? other than water? If you're talking about a palette, I suggest cheap corelle plates (goodwill) or dollar store

[@bukopaudan]

Hello! I was wondering where you get your Daniel Smith watercolors and what you'd suggest for someone who's just starting out? I wanted to try his paint but it seems pricy!

[@gorway7]

People often underestimate the problem of beading, it is so frustrating when trying to load up some colours on the palette to mix when the surface is constantly rejecting the water and paint from your brush. I would sometimes resort to squeezing drops of paint out of the brush with my fingers to get it onto the palette. Mixing on ceramic or glass is so much easier. At home I have a variety of mixing palettes from large white bathroom tiles to a sets of small shallow porcelain dishes I found at a car boot sale, but there's no reason you couldn't use an old dinner plate. In the back of my Moleskine type sketchbook I keep a piece of 6 x 4" glass scavenged from an old photo frame, with some white sticky-back Fablon stuck on the back and edges. This makes a great little mixing surface when out and about, and the plastic film back also protects the sharp edges, and the glass from fragmenting should it ever break - which happily has never happened.

[@Olaa.____sass]

whether white watercolor is needed?

[@chelseatheatre]

nice da stickers B) also wonderful vid!

[@maaizelaa]

I love porcelain too but I travel a lot and it's not easy bring one even if is the flower because it could break on your bag so I usually use porcelain at home and plastic on the go!

[@edenisok894]

For my plastic palette I have the opposite problem where the paint just spreads everywhere. The palette has quite a few mixing wells though so it’s not too much of an issuse

[@amirahp1690]

Where did you get your stickers on your first pallet? I want them. :3

[@maximme]

serving plate is REALLY the right thing for artist

[@surveyguyor8958]

yup. i use corelle (cheap, especially from goodwill)

[@eBookHoarder]

Ordered that porcelain tray in small and medium. The price is still great.

[@joannasexton1174]

Have you ever had issues with your metal pallete rusting around where your paint is?

[@MalamikArt]

That paint peel must have been so satisfying. I'm curious to see in the future if this large palette will suit you? For me, it is a bit too big. I do love those small discs though. Just my style! Thanks for the lovely vid :)

[@surveyguyor8958]

corelle plates (goodwill)

[@karnidina]

Ah cool you noticed erasers take out the color too. I thought I was a bit funny for doing it but yay!(not alone lol) I like it that you try all sorts of things too. Btw those paints peeling out so easy were satisfying to watch. I wish porcelain was more portable but you can't have it all. You imagine how heavy that would be trying to have a "portable" porcelain palette? lol

[@OnePillKillz]

You can use a Mr Clean magic eraser to prep pallets too

[@surveyguyor8958]

I don't need to "prep" (corelle dishes from goodwill)

[@ramonavisconti674]

I have a plastic palette, i never had a problem with it, but i'm curious now, i'll sure test the porcelain! ^^ nice video

[@surveyguyor8958]

try a cheap corelle plate (goodwill)

[@ramonavisconti674]

@@surveyguyor8958 That's what I did at the time! I really liked it, such a shame I stopped painting :(

[@surveyguyor8958]

@@ramonavisconti674 I am just now starting again after more than a year off.

[@ramonavisconti674]

@@surveyguyor8958 Nice!! I've been wanting to get back to it for a while now. Actually, I see now that it was right when the pandemic started when I stopped, so almost a year now too

[@surveyguyor8958]

@@ramonavisconti674 I pulled out my equipment and I have only student supplies. I think I lost my whole box of better materials. I had a move back and forth from some people I was helping (live-in) in another state so I think i lost all that stuff. Really frustrating. It included my drawing supplies as well as my copperplate supplies.

[@skyelorspacex]

I'm using a plastic one currently. I'm hoping to get a tin palette soon

[@surveyguyor8958]

corelle plates (goodwill)

[@surveyguyor8958]

Also, have you compared to using corelle plates? Price is much cheaper than a big porcelain palette.

[@TheNurseBetty0]

I use a $2 plastic cheese board from a kitsch/homeware store in Australia and its stained so badly. i know they have porcelain ones so i should investigate those

[@AngiesArt]

Try using a Magic Eraser on the plastic palette. I got rid of A LOT of beading that way. And you can’t see scratches or anything...

[@surveyguyor8958]

yup. this is why people use toothpaste. (not with a toothbrush of course, like a paper towel) but corelle dishes are cheaper, and just like those expensive ceramic palettes.

[@fangchick93]

I don't mind the stains myself, I find it gives a palette character, sort of like warped paper in a sketchbook

[@MyCrimsonMischief]

I got a similar cermaic/porcelain plate from tj max or home goods for 5 dollars

[@barefacedquestions]

Can anyone tell me if there is anything in the porcelain palettes that make them better to regular porcelain serving trays?

[@peachbooks3199]

besides the shape, nothing i think. just use a plate you already have one to spare. for me i wanna get a palette shaped one bcs i dont want it to ever be confused with the other plates and used for food accidentally

[@barefacedquestions]

@@peachbooks3199 Thanks for sharing.

[@MegaSteffih]

Where did you get the stickers on the first palette from? 😮 Also I loved the video... I was considering buying a new palette, so this helped me get closer to what I might pick next 😁

[@surveyguyor8958]

I suggest cheap corelle dishes (goodwill)

[@astral__783]

I've only used cheap plastic pallets so I didn't understand what you meant by beading and pooling until you got to the porcelain pallet, then it was like watching stars being born * __ * I need me one of those.

[@surveyguyor8958]

corelle plates (goodwill)

[@fanny6802]

Transparent watercolor??

[@kiwimiwi5452]

I'm so lazy with cleaning up my palettes (also because I keep thinking "oh I could use that paint up one day") that I now have two plates, 3 weird shaped porcelaine palettes that were meant for the kitchen and a plastic box that actually is made for storing food all dirty with paint. It has come so far that I mixed on top of another watercolor palette, and the paint for my most recent painting was mixed on my plastic ruler xD

[@surveyguyor8958]

I do that, it only makes sense. your shades are ready for next time. Just try cheap corelle plates (goodwill)

[@gnostie]

Seeing this video today is a sign. I am fairly fed up with paying hefty prices for mixing palettes from art stores. That's it, I'm just going to find cheapish porcelain plates/serving dishes and finally close this painful subject... Thank you for inspiring me! PS Nearly forgot: have you tried ordinary dinner plates? Must they be porcelain as such?

[@PayneWaterStudio]

I use an ordinary kitchen plate it’s actually a very light grey with specks and it works amazing! It was only $3 on sale and it’s the perfect size and color (I can still see the true hue I’m mixing). I have also used a soap dish that’s white it’s small so work good when I’m on a tiny workspace.

[@joyfulldj]

Me and my little mixing tile will go moping in my kiddy corner now

[@happybananavampire3098]

Ayyyyy Dragon Age!

[@thelastcoffeebean]

I never tried porcelain before! lol I remember being traumatized when I found out that plastic stains...

[@surveyguyor8958]

cheap corelle plates from goodwill

[@annakoch9972]

WOW!!! Does ALL Daniel Smith behave like that?! :-o I want Daniel Smith!!!

[@reptilianoverlord7319]

When I saw the thumbnail I thought for a sec that the pic on your palette was Seth Everman lol 😩😩😩

[@dashdots]

For some reason the green on the metal palate looked like Italy

[@surveyguyor8958]

i would not use a toothbrush. it may help, but you're polishing it, so I would use like a paper towel with toothpaste. much better coverage than just tiny bristles. You wouldn't polish your car with a toothbrush, even if tiny you would use a pad of some sort. right??

[@nmaister5]

Me: *sees dragon age* Me: *smashes the phone while clicking*

[@Dawn24Michele]

Simply using a plastic palette will break it in.