Craft challenge #2 - wet palette

If the last post (dice bag, remember?) was my magnum opus, this is far more straight forward but may actually be of more lasting use. A wet palette is something that many painters I admire have mentioned using, or recommended using, so I thought I should have one. After all, merely having one will make me a better painter, right?

Fortunately, this is dead easy and cheap to put together; I spent £1.89 to make my palette and the only tools I needed were a pair of scissors!

Step 1 - obtain a small, seal-able air-tight plastic pot (Tupperware is perfect for this, but other brands are available), a cheapo spongey cleaning cloth, and a pair of scissors.

Step 2 - cut the spongey cleaning cloth to fit the plastic pot, you want several layers. I went for four layers as that's all I could get from one cloth. Two of the layers were nice and neat, the two bottom layers were made from the off cuts. In hindsight, a square or rectangular pot would have been easier to cut shapes for.

Step three - add some water, just a splash more than the minimum required for all the sponge to be damp. You may need to leave it a moment or two to soak in.


Step four - cut a piece of standard baking parchment (mine was from Tesco's, according to its box) to cover the top layer of sponge

Step five - look around with pride to see if any of your nearest and dearest recognise your achievement.

Step six - decide it doesn't matter, you know what you've made is useful.


I put a dab of Foundry Flesh (5A) on the palette and left it. Here it is, still wet and thin, forty eight hours later. In fact, I'd put a bit too much water in the palette and the paint had actually got runnier!

I can see this being really useful for people like me who are likely to have to abandon a sneaky spot of painting when their young children stop entertaining themselves unexpectedly... Bless 'em!

Speaking of which, I hear one of them still awake...
Rab