Function prevails over beauty.  My palette consists of the palette paper that you can tear off when it gets too messy inside of a rectangular plastic container that has a lid.  I keep my paint palette with a wet rag on top in a plastic bag inside the refrigerator .  This keeps the paint wet.  It is a good idea for regular house paint also.  If you are rolling the walls of your house, simply put the roller in a gallon sized zip lock bag and you can keep it in the refrigerator for several months of continued use.  I don’t recommend going to the fridge for a late night snack if you’ve woken up in the middle of the night.  I keep all my cool colors on the right and warm on the left with two whites on the top and bottom (one for the cool colors and one for the warm colors).  I keep odorless turpentine in a glass jar for my thinner.  I pour a little in the inverted lid and put it on the palette.  I like to use primary colors and earth tones.  When you mix all of your colors you gain a greater sense of how colors are derived and more realistic colors.  I use three blues (French ultramarine (dark), Cobalt (mid) and Cerulean (light)), two reds (Grumbacher red (main) and Alizarin Crimson (dark), two yellows (Cadmium light and medium), three earthtones (Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Yellow Ochre), and Titanium white.  As you may know, there is no such color as black in nature.  I mix French Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson and Raw Umber to get my darkest color.

5×7   Oil on canvas   $60

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