I am often hovering over the Painting Sage’s shoulders wondering how the colours are so even, and the layers so smooth and watching the magical and weird use of a ‘wet palette’.
I have often wondered if using one of these might help my ability to keep the paint a nice consistency.
So! The other day I head over with coffee to start painting a Warmahordes miniature and Painting Sage has made me a wet palette!
My amazing wet palette in all it’s glory!!
I do have to admit, it has made life SO much easier. I’m not having to water down my paint to the point that it’s non existent to keep it fluid, and really the main reason for using water now is just to keep my brush flexible haha.
Absolutely loving it!!
The colours you see there are the colours I am using to paint up Shadow of Everblight‘s Warcaster Lylyth.
This is not actually an army I’m planning to play, but I love the mini.
Slowly but surely. She now has a cloak and some teeth in her hair – but need to get a better photo of it.
Oh, and I had a stab at trying something freehand. As you know I was given some Warhammer 40K stuff from a friend as a gift, and I’m painting one of them to give back to him – so I asked what he would like on the flag and took a shot.
I need to go over the white again as it’s such a transparent colour (Game Colour Off White) it need a few layers to get it even.
Before anyone mentions this – I did not paint this over the black actually – but I did accidentally cut off his botton teeth when I was painting the back around it, so the teeth have ended up darker/less white coverage.
I’ma fix it later.
Well, that will be all for today!! Can’t wait to finish work and do some more paaaiinttting !!!
Sincerely,
El
Cappuccino Gaming 
Love the free hand banner! i suck at it so im very impressed!
Oh thankyou so much!! It was painstaking slow work and I kept having to go back and try to fix things but slowly slowly kind of resembles a skull haha. Thankyou for your nice encouragement though!! š Really appreciate it.
It’s amazing how easy wet palettes are to make. That being said, you can find some nice ones for about $8 U.S. at Michael’s.
…aand then I read that you’re in Australia. So, never mind me!
Hehe I was about to ask what a Michaels was! The biggest thing I cant seem to find around here is the parchment paper. We have something similar for baking but its wax coated and thus water proof š¦ but with the special order painting one I’m currently using its so much better to paint with!! Ehehe
Tell me more about the wet palette. Are you saying you don’t need to thin your paints? Did you just put cling wrap over a damp sponge? I’m intrigued!
Well, a lot of people use the Wet Palette made especially for miniatures painting by Privateer Press. However as I’m mostly broke (haha) Paint Sage figured he could fashion one out of a sandwich container.
It’s actually kitchen sponges that are then dampened with water and a sheet of Parchment Paper placed on top. At the moment I’m using the parchment paper sheets that came with his Privateer Press set – but I hear you can get it in a supermarket without too much trouble.
Here is a basic DIY guide on making one :
http://www.fullborerminiatures.com/articles/wetpalette.html
The only difference is I’m using sponges to keep a higher water content for longer š
And it doesn’t exactly mean that I don’t thin the paints still, but now I just get them to consistency I want and they stay like that and don’t dry out as quick so it stays nice and smooth. And I’m thinning them down easily half as much to get them where I want them.
I hope that helps š !!
Wet palettes are marvelous. Mine is a strip of parchment paper over a wet paper towel in an old blister pack. Grin. Single biggest leap in painting quality for me.
Yea I have to admit I thought it would be nice but not this good!! Because the sandwhich container is air tight when closed I have ky paint mixes now last for a few days instead of maybe 20 minutes! Absolutely loving it!! š why didnt I do this sooner?
A friend of mine has had some success with home baked wet palettes using baking paper and a sponge: he posted about it here http://spruegrey.invurted.com/diy-wet-pallette/ for a slightly different view.
Nice freehand, by the way.
Why thankyou! And I’ll check it out š
Additional:
One thing I have noticed is that the parchment paper in the Privateer Press sheets is not waxed like standard Baking Paper. Do you happen to know if your friend was using waxed parchment? And if so, does it matter which side up?
Such a fine question, I’ve put it straight to him. I’ll let you know what he says
Thankyou very much! š
Adam tells me that he put the waxy side up. Also, he is using baking paper, not parchment. I guess the higher grade paper will take a bit longer to get right amount of damp but thereafter may well last longer.
Good luck with the new frontier
Thanks so much! I will definitely give this a go and see what it’s like! š
that banner is freeken amazing. Oh what I’d give for those skills
Oh thankyou so much! I really appreciate that! And I’m sure you could do this!! I do admit though, it did take me quite a white to get all the white for the skull down and then the bits of black around it – and kept having to fix it.
But I suppose, maybe, hopefully that will get easier with practice! Eheh. š
Hi there I just noticed that you’re a fellow Aussie š I think wet palette’s are especially great for us. I find it difficult painting miniatures in summer sometimes. As soon as you squeeze the paint out of the bottle it’s dry!
Cool freehand on the banner. How do you like the Warhammer models compared with Wyrd’s minis?
Oh I’ve definitely noticed a good difference with the wet palette. I kept having to repeat watering down my paint to keep it fluid before and this is so much better! I do have to admit I prefer painting the malifaux models purely because I prefer painting on metal but I might just need time to get used to plastics š
And hello fellow aussie lander! š
I wouldn’t be without my wet palette! I used to use a sponge, but I’ve taken to using an old dinner plate with a couple paper towels (I use good quality thick towels) cut to fit. Then I cut a sheet of Reynold’s Parchment Paper to fit inside that. Submerge the whole thing in water for a minute to let the parchment get good and soaked, then drain off most of the water. I use Saran Wrap to seal it when needed.
Haha, yes now that I’m using one I’m wondering how I was ever painting before!!
May I ask what the pros for the paper towel over the sponge are? I have seen a number of people using that same set up in blogs and was unsure what the pros/cons for either type of wet palette were?
Well, I’m no expert š
The sponge in a tupperware sealable container was nice, but I wasn’t comfortable with the susceptibility to mold. With the paper towels, once I am done with a sheet of paper, I can change the whole thing out for less money and effort.
The main reason for me was trying to make a larger tupperware/sponge version. The one I have is slightly bigger than a sandwich. I needed more room! I tried the large dinner plate because it’s square with a decent lip…and it works great. Not very mobile, but I don’t need mobility.
Functionally both were the same.
Oh man and I’m just working on a post about palettes š
I love my wet palette, I don’t know how anyone could paint mini’s without one! I used to use kitchen sponges but after about a year or so they got very ugly and started to fall apart, so just warning you! I’m using the same container but a paper towel now to hold the water in place.
Oh thankyou! I was wondering why so many people use paper towel instead! That’s probably why haha.
May I ask what you use for the paper? I’m struggling to find a paper I can switch out for the expensive P3 Wet Palette paper.
^ Have you tried the parchment paper yet?
@ Cashwiley: I’m thinking I’m going to have to try to order it online as I’ve now ended up with about 10 different brands of baking parchment but all turned out to have the wax coating š¦ And the wax just repels the water and dries the paint out.