Santa brought me the bust of Hand the Imp from Nuts Planet and I thought I'd give the wet palette technique a shot when I paint him. I'll use acrylic paints.

Even with a wet palette, might it be a good idea to use an extender to lengthen the drying time to help with blending? Is an extender necessary or do the paints just stay wet a little longer after application due to the wet palette?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mike

Hi Mike

Think you may have got the wrong end of the stick - a wet palette doesn't extend the drying time on the figure, it stops the paints drying up on your palette, making them go further. If you want to extend their useability on the figure, a medium can help and there are a few to choose from.

(BTW You can buy a fancy wet-palette from an art shop but they are easy to make)

"I see!", said the blind man.

My confusion stems from a youtube video where it seemed the painter using a wet palette had more time than usual to blend even after the paint was applied to the figure. I don't recall him mentioning whether he was using extender or not.

But I will, and if it isn't a complete disaster, I'll post a picture or 2.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Sorry it took so long to reply.
A wet palette is easy to build, use a airtight flat bottomed container stolen from your kitchen, wet some paper towels with distilled H2O and cover with damp palette paper or parchment. Close it up after a painting session and the paint will last for a week. Don't use metallics with it because they don't respond properly.

To get more blending time and better flow, I was given this formula: 1/8 retarder, 1/4 flow enhancement medium and the rest distilled water. This will extend the time you have to blend as well as flow better off the brush.

If you use retarder, do not point your brush in your mouth. It accumulates in your system and even small amounts can cause nerve damage.

Thanks for the reply.

A plastic, lidded Chinese take-out from a recent dinner looks like it'll be perfect for my purpose. Paper towels are cheap plus my wife has a role of parchment paper on hand so I'm good to go. I bought a "happy little bottle" of Bob Ross brand acrylic extender but haven't used it yet.

I'm looking forward to trying this on my next day off.

To which I'd only add the advice that using distilled water can stop bacteria growing on the palette but it costs money. If you can't get any, you can also add a few drops of a biological cleaner to ordinary water or use a medicated wet-wipe instead of a paper towel as your reservoir. I recently made a big batch of matte medium and water - my favourite mixture for painting - but it 'went off'. It's useable but it smells like rotten eggs!

Speaking of containers - I've found the more air-tight the longer the paint lasts. I like the kind with clips on the side. In the UK, where I live, there's also a thrift shop (the 99p store) that sells a case a shallow flat case for carrying baby wipes which makes an ideal palette.

After I saw my buddy Scott Hershbell use the wet palette, I made my own from a takeout container, roughly 7"x5"x3", a kitchen sponge, and some packing paper. I have parchment paper, but it's treated with silicone and is impermeable. Once I figured that out and took a scrap of brown packing paper, similar to the paper used for paper bags, I was in business.

Prost!
Brad

I use a single sandwich box, like the ones people take to work. this has a sealable lid and i also use a spontex type of sponge as i find this stays wet longer and doesn't go manky like paper towels. This also keeps the paint wet longer, well i find it does anyway. I hope this is of a litte help. Oh the sandwich boxes can be obtained at any large supermarket in the plastic box section of the cooking and baking tool area.

Most of the time, I do not use my wet palette. And I like my paints to dry very very fast on the subject.
I can lay dozens of thin layers in a few minutes from darkest shadows to highest lights without any 'blending'.

For me.....Acrylic...Vallejo,Reaper,scale 75,dark star metallic,also for metallic rub and buff cut with winsor and newton liquin(not acrylic).... wet pallet for flesh only.....But here is the key for me..if you're using acrylic,..Vallejo Glaze Medium along with distilled water up to 1-1 mix (but I don't go that far usually maybe 20% glaze).The more you use the more you dilute the paint and loose adhesion.But like Alex said...If you want your paints to dry fast use only water.For me ....I'm slower than friggen molasses so the Vallejo Glaze Medium is for me........Acrylic paint, plus touch of distilled water,plus glaze medium=more time for success or to screw up........Anyway,that's my poison.

Wayne