Why Use a Wooden Palette For Oil Painting?
For oil painting wooden palettes are utilized. They are lightweight and easy to clean. They also look beautiful.
Many paintings of artists at work have survived. Some of these depict a wooden pallet like the one Vermeer employed.
To prepare a palette made of wood clean it using drying oils such as safflower or linseed. This is important because a thin layer of oil helps keep the palette in good condition.
Lightweight
A wooden pallet is lighter than glass or tear-off pallets and can be easily positioned on the easel. Its thickness makes it rigid and stable. This stops it from bending when under pressure. It can also be sanded or stained to give it the color. A wood palette is more sturdy and resistant to insects and fungi than other materials. buy pallets near me made of wood are ideal for mixing acrylics and alkyds.
The most popular wooden palettes are made of either pine or maple. Both of these woods are resistant to the effects of warping and crazing. However, it is important to choose the kind of wood that has been heat-treated to keep insects and fungi out. This is vital to the longevity of the wooden palette. A good wood palette's surface should also be smooth and well-finished. It should have a low amount of moisture, which will reduce the chance of paints being damaged or wrinkling.
Another great feature of a wooden palette is that it is easy to keep clean. At the end of each painting session, the painter can clean the palette with drying oil to condition it for the next time. Linseed oil is a great choice due to its low cost and easily available. It also has a quick drying time.
The natural brown color of wooden palettes is ideal to mix colors since it is a similar color to the dominant color of the canvas. This helps avoid the impression that the colors appear as being darker or lighter than they actually are. Vermeer utilized the traditional wooden palette. In an inventory from 1676, it is mentioned that "tweeschilders eesels" (two easels for painting) and "drye paletten" (3 wooden palettes) were in the inventory. In Pictura, Frans van Meieris painted a Vermeer style palette and Roger de Piles suggested that artists lay out flesh tones on a wooden palette from light to dark.
Sturdy
Palettes made of wood have been used by artists for centuries because they're sturdy and durable. They are lighter than glass or tear-off pallets and more rigid than paper palettes. This makes them easier for you to hold and use while painting. They are ideal for mixing oil paints and alkyds. It is essential to choose a wooden palette of high quality that has been heat treated. This eliminates bugs and fungi that can harm the palette.
A good wooden palette is smooth and well-made which allows your brushes to glide easily across it. It should be sprayed with a drying oil to protect the wood from water and solvent damage and keep its shape. You can purchase pre-finished, ready-to-use palettes or create your own using raw wood. If you're using a wooden palette, make sure to clean it after each painting session. The paint that is left wet on a palette may cause it to warp or crack it over time.
Wooden Palettes remain popular with artists. They were the first mixing surfaces to be used to mix oil paints. purchase used pallets and durable, and they can hold large amounts of paint without breaking. They are great for mixing thick paints like alkyds, acrylics and thick-bodied ones.
In Vermeer's time, the familiar palette with a hole for the thumb had replaced the earlier rectangular model that had handles. The painter supported the palette with his thumb in the hole, allowing him to free the remaining fingers for holding brushes and the mahlstick.
Woods treated with heat, such as spruce and other hardwoods are used to make an excellent palette. This will eliminate any fungi or bugs. A heat treatment for wood also makes it harder to scratch or sand the surface of the palette. After a long period of use, a well-used and maintained wooden pallet will have a smooth, almost glass-like surface. This is due to the accumulation of thin layers of drying oils that help the surface retain its shape.
Easy to clean
A wood palette gives you an easy-to-clean, smooth palette that lasts for many years. This kind of palette is popular with oil painters and will not break or shatter like glass ones. You can purchase wooden pallets that have been sealed or you can make it yourself. To seal it, you'll need boiling linseed oil from the hardware store, nitrile gloves and high quality paper towels or rags (if it has bits, don't use it). Sealing a palette with drying oil will fill in the tiny gaps and create a smooth surface. This will improve with every painting.
After you have coated your palette with oil and sprayed it with oil, you'll need to clean the surface after every painting session. This is crucial as it will keep paints mixing smoothly on the pallet and also protect your hand from solvents. To make your palette more reconditioned, begin by lightly sanding it using 180-grit sandpaper. This will open the grain of the wood, allowing it absorb oils more easily. Next pour a pool of linseed oil onto the palette and then use a rag spread it evenly across the entire surface. Let the oil dry for one or two days.
If there is any remaining paint on your palette, a small amount of OMS spray on the rag should be enough to remove it. You should not use any sharp object to scrape off the dried paint. This could cause damage to your palette.
If you have to scrape a bit of dried paint off your palette, it's best to use a soft brush instead of using the knife. If you scrape it too vigorously, you can break the wood and ruin the palette.
Aesthetically pleasing
A wooden palette is a stylish and sturdy mixing surface that makes you feel like an artist. It can be used to mix oil paints, as well as acrylics and alkyds. Its smooth surface is easy to clean and glides smoothly over the brush when you mix and mix paint. Wooden palettes can be found in various sizes and are light. They are available in various styles and finishes.
Palettes made of wood have been in use as long as art itself and are among the oldest mixing surfaces. The wood has a warm brown color which doesn't affect the colors of the paints. This is useful as the perception of colors is affected by the dominant tone on which they are mixed. A wooden palette can also help you see the hues of your paints as it has a mid-value which shows the hues.
Vermeer's palettes could have been made of wood. The first palettes could have been made from paper or tin, but they are most likely made of wood. A probate inventory from 1676 recorded two "twee schilders eesels, " three paletten" (two easels for painting and a dry palette). Vermeer's contemporary Frans van Mieris can be seen using the same kind of palette in an allegorical painting depicting Pictura. A traditional wooden oil painting palette is shaped with a thumb hole which is used to support it while the remaining fingers are used to hold brushes and maulsticks to steady the hand when painting.
After a cleaning session After a cleaning session, clean the surface of your wooden palette with dry oils - such as linseed or another- to keep it conditioned for the next time you use it. This will fill in the pores in the wood grain, creating a smoother surface for your brushes. Over time a well-oiled palette will develop a gorgeous patina that adds to its appeal.