Just came across this YouTube. As of note: the use of W&N Winton paint is not as popular as the better Winsor Newton artist version for its heavier pigmentation.

Yes, I started with an old china saucer, too. Along the way, I picked up a Japanese-made palette at an art supply shop. The palette is round, with a well in the center, and then six wells arrayed around it like the petals of a flower. I think of it as a stylized chrysanthemum.

Prost!
Brad

As usual, I haven't got a clue what I'm doing; I just buy things and hope they'll work. I've been using ceramic watercolour tinting saucers for years as oil paint pallettes because I saw one in an art shop and I liked the look of it. It's only years later that a friend of mine advised me that they were designed for watercolours. I just said "Duh!" Oil painters think you need a big palette with a hole in it for your thumb but that's for painting on a canvas, not for 54mm minis.

I put everything on these little saucers: oil paint, acrylics, gouche, inks, superglue etc. You'll need more than one because they are only 80mm across but that's what I like about them; they are really handy. Because they are so small you never run out of space on your work bench or do you drag your sleeve over the paint. You can use them as a brush rest, how many times has your paint brush rolled off the table? If you have an oil paint mix that you need to keep then clingfilm the saucer and put it into the fridge. I own about 8 of them and usually use around 3-4 in a painting session.

They are quite cheap to buy and last forever because they are ceramic. When they all get covered in dried paint you whack on some paint remover and get your scrubbing brush going until they are plain white again.

My only complaint is that they are not stable when you stack them up one over the other on a shelf. They don't fall over; I just wish that they fitted together better. You can buy stacking versions of the saucers but then they don't have the four divisions for each saucer and that's no good if you're using paint which runs. Other than that they are perfect. They cost around 2-3 GBP each. The ones I have are at least 30 years old.

Thanks all for the thoughts

Hi,
I have been using a piece of white acrylic (perspex) sheet, when full I scrape off the dry paint with a palette knife then wipe clean with IPA. I've been using it for years. Probably scrape off more than I have ever used.

I have been reading accounts of the advantages in using a grey coloured palette as is supposed to better for colour rendition than a white one.
Here is one explanation I have found that explains the logic.
"Grey palettes offer a toned, neutral background that lets the artist see the colors as they will appear on their paintings. Compared to a white palette, the way a color appears on a stark white is extremely different from how it appears on a tonal painting. White palettes reflect light and create shadows , thereby altering the appearance of the actual color of the paint."
Admittedly this probably refers to oil on canvas rather than miniature but it is worth bearing in mind.
Has anyone had any experience of this?

Melanie

Thanks for the thoughts and opinions I have decided to go for a grey glass pallet .