Why Use a Wooden Palette For Oil Painting?
Traditionally, wooden palettes have been used to paint oil. They are light, durable and easy to clean. They also look beautiful.
Many depictions of artists in their work have survived. Some of them show the same wooden palette as those Vermeer used.
To prepare a palette made of wood, wipe it with drying oils such as linseed or safflower. It is crucial to keep the palette in good condition by applying an oily layer.
Lightweight
A wooden pallet is lighter than glass or tear-off pallets, and is able to be held easily at the easel. Its thickness makes it sturdy and stable. This keeps it from bending under pressure. It can also be sanded or stained to give it colour. A wood palette is more durable than other kinds of materials and doesn't be damaged by fungi or insects. Palettes made of wood are ideal for mixing acrylics and alkyds.
The most popular wooden palettes are made from either pine or maple. Both of these woods can resist warping and crazing. However, it is important to select the kind of wood that has been heat-treated to keep insects and fungi out. This process is essential to the long-term durability and quality of a wooden pallet. A quality wood palette's surface must be smooth and well-finished. It should also have a low moisture content, which will minimize the chance of damage or wrinkling to paints.
A wooden palette comes with a great feature: it's easy to clean. Painters can clean the palette after each painting session using an oil that is drying to maintain it. Linseed oil is a great choice due to its low cost, readily available and quick-drying.
The natural brown of a wooden palette is perfect for mixing colors, as it is a similar color to the dominant color of the canvas. This helps to avoid the perception of the colors as being darker or lighter than they actually are. Vermeer employed the standard wooden palette. In his inventory of 1676, it is mentioned that "tweeschilders eesels" (two painters' easels) 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 paint flesh tones on a wooden palette that ranged from light to dark.
Sturdy
Artists have used wooden palettes for centuries because they're sturdy and durable. They're lighter than tear-off or glass palettes, and they're more rigid than paper ones. This makes them easier for you to hold and use while painting. They are also a great option for mixing oil paints as well as alkyds. However, it's important to choose a good wooden palette that has been treated with heat. This process eliminates bugs and fungi that could harm the wooden palette.
A good quality wooden palette is made well and smooth and easy for your brushes to glide across. It should be sprayed with dry oil to shield the wood from solvent and water damage and keep its shape. There are ready-to-use, pre-finished palettes or build your own using raw wood. If you choose to use a wooden palette, be sure to wash it every time you paint. The paint that is left wet on a palette could cause it to crack or warp over time.
Wooden Palettes were one of the first mixing surfaces that were used for oil paints. They're still a popular choice for a lot of artists. They're lightweight, strong and can hold a large amount of paint without breaking. They are also great to mix alkyds, acrylics and other thick-bodied paints.
In the days of Vermeer, a common palette with a hole for the thumb was replaced by the older rectangular kind with handles. New Wood Pallet For Sale was used to support the palette, which allowed the painter to use the rest of his fingers for brushes and the mahlstick.
A high-quality palette is made from wood like spruce or other which has been treated to get rid of any fungi or insects. Heat treatment of wood makes it harder to scratch or scratch its surface. After years of use, a well-used and maintained wooden pallet will have a smooth, almost glass-like finish. This is due a buildup thin layers of drying oil 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 a favorite among oil painters and will not scratch or break like a glass one. You can purchase a wood palette that has been pre-oiled or seal it yourself. To seal it, you'll need boiled linseed oil from the hardware store, nitrile gloves and high quality paper towels or rags (if it leaves bits, don't use it). The process of sealing a palette using a drying oil fills the tiny gaps in the wood and creates an even surface that will improve with each painting that you do.
After you have lubricated your palette, you will need to refresh the surface after each painting session. This is crucial because it keeps paints from mixing in a smooth manner on the pallet and also protect your hands from solvents. To recondition your palette start by lightly sanding it using 180-grit sandpaper. This will open the wood grain and help it to absorb oils more easily. Then, pour a small amount of linseed oil on the palette and then use a rag spread it evenly across the entire surface. Then let the oil dry for a day or two.
After your palette has dried you can use a paper towel to clean it off, and if you have any leftover paint a little OMS on a rag will remove it. You should not use any sharp object to scrape off the dried paint. This can cause damage to your palette.
If you do need to scrape a bit of dried paint off your palette it's recommended to do it with a soft brush rather than using knives. If you scrape it too hard, you can break the wood and ruin the palette.
Aesthetically pleasing
A wooden palette is a stylish and durable 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 mixing and mix paint. Wooden palettes can be found in different sizes and are lightweight. They are available in different finishes and styles to suit your preferences.
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 hue which doesn't affect the colors of the paints. This is useful as the perception of colors is influenced by the dominant tone on which they are mixed. A wooden palette also helps you to see the colors of your paints since it has a mid-value that shows the hues against.
The earliest palettes were made of paper or tin foil however the ones Vermeer used were probably made of wood. A 1676 probate inventory included two "twee schilders eesels, three paletten" (two painters easels and a dry palette). Vermeer's contemporary Frans van Mieris is depicted using the same type of palette in an allegorical painting depicting Pictura. A traditional wooden palette for oil painting is typically shaped to hold the thumb hole that serves to support the palette while the other fingers hold the brushes and the maulstick to steady the hand over the canvas while painting.
After a cleaning session After a cleaning session, clean the wood's surface palette with drying oils like linseed, or any other- to keep it conditioned for the next time you will use it. This will fill the tiny pores of the grain of the wood and create a smooth surface that is easier for your brushes to work on. As time passes, an oiled palette will develop an attractive patina which adds to its character.