How to make artist's palette?

would like to make a proper wooden palette for mixing them, the question is what kind of wood treatment to use? I assume these are based on a sheet of plywood, but are they varnished, stained, or what?

My wife, who is an artist, says if you must use wood, use marine ply treated with linseed oil. But she says that for acrylics, it not usual to use a special palette; an ordinary china plate is traditional, or a disposable palette, a bit like a large writing pad with sheets that you tear off when finished with, to give a fresh surface. Apparently acrylics dry quite quickly and very hard, compared to oil paints, which makes cleaning a traditional wooden palette difficult.

Acrylics do indeed dry quickly.

The best I've used is the "stay wet" pallette that's like a plastic tray with raised sides, you put a bit of water in first then place one of those disposable "stay-wet" sheets (they're like greaseproof paper) on top of the water and use as a normal pallette. They have a lid as well, so you can store it between sessions without the paint drying out.

I've used a wooden pallette and it was indeed like marine ply, but I didn't find it too hard to clean. Acrylic is water soluble unlike oils, so it does clean off pretty well under running water with a nail brush for stubborn bits. I only switched because I prefer to let the painting dry properly between layers and of course by the time the canvas was dry, so was all the paint on my pallette.

Why not just let her use her imagination ?

michael adams

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Ok, thanks for that, plywood + linseed oil sounds like a plan.