The above plastic paint palette is something I do NOT like. It is very hard to clean, especially when I mix airbrush paints in it and they dry. Soaking it in hot, soapy water and giving it a good scrub with a scrubby sponge does not get it clean (see picture above). Soaking and wiping the wells with 91% isopropyl alcohol does work, but that requires me to use a lot of my stash of 91% isopropyl alcohol. Not gonna happen.
So what to do, what to do? I really like using this type of a palette for mixing small amounts of paint (airbrush or otherwise), but the cleaning of it was a problem and a hassle. I needed to find something that airbrush paint and other acrylic paints wouldn't stick so tenatiously to.
I posed the question to a model horse Facebook group I belong to, wondering what other people used that worked for them. I also searched various art supply sites for ideas. Good ideas came from the Facebook group and here is what I ended up with:
So what to do, what to do? I really like using this type of a palette for mixing small amounts of paint (airbrush or otherwise), but the cleaning of it was a problem and a hassle. I needed to find something that airbrush paint and other acrylic paints wouldn't stick so tenatiously to.
I posed the question to a model horse Facebook group I belong to, wondering what other people used that worked for them. I also searched various art supply sites for ideas. Good ideas came from the Facebook group and here is what I ended up with:
L - Porcelain Palette R - Silicone Ice Cube Tray
On the left is a porcelain palette. Initially, I poo-poo'd the suggestion of using a porcelain palette because it is breakable and I am a notorious klutz. But when a certain online art supplies vendor had a great sale, I thought I would order one and give it a try, and if I didn't like it, not much $$ would be lost.
I LOVE it! It is perfect for mixing small amounts of color for either hand-painting or airbrushing. It is just heavy enough to stay put when swishing the brush around to mix paints. And best of all, it is EASY TO CLEAN, even super stick'em airbrush paints! A brief soak in hot water and a quick scrub with a cloth is usually all it takes to clean it (although sometimes the encouragement of a scrubby sponge is needed for stubborn colors).
Another person from the Facebook group suggested using silicone ice cube trays. Brilliant! I rushed off to check out eBay and Amazon for said silicone ice cube trays and found LOADS of them. Sadly, most of them were colored and I simply had to have a white one. I'm not that good at mixing colors to begin with, so I didn't want to contend with mixing colors in a colored tray. It HAD to be white so the color of the tray didn't influence my perception of the color I was attempting to mix.
Eventually I found what I was looking for on Amazon (see the tray on the right in the photo above). They came in a pack of two. The silicone ice cube trays work best for mixing larger amounts of paint, or paints you want to use over several sessions and want to keep for a bit. I put a piece of glass from a small photo frame over the paints but anything flat and somewhat heavy will do (piece of plastic wrap and a small book, etc.).
To clean it I just let the paints dry and then moosh and bend the tray to get the paint to flake and lift...
I LOVE it! It is perfect for mixing small amounts of color for either hand-painting or airbrushing. It is just heavy enough to stay put when swishing the brush around to mix paints. And best of all, it is EASY TO CLEAN, even super stick'em airbrush paints! A brief soak in hot water and a quick scrub with a cloth is usually all it takes to clean it (although sometimes the encouragement of a scrubby sponge is needed for stubborn colors).
Another person from the Facebook group suggested using silicone ice cube trays. Brilliant! I rushed off to check out eBay and Amazon for said silicone ice cube trays and found LOADS of them. Sadly, most of them were colored and I simply had to have a white one. I'm not that good at mixing colors to begin with, so I didn't want to contend with mixing colors in a colored tray. It HAD to be white so the color of the tray didn't influence my perception of the color I was attempting to mix.
Eventually I found what I was looking for on Amazon (see the tray on the right in the photo above). They came in a pack of two. The silicone ice cube trays work best for mixing larger amounts of paint, or paints you want to use over several sessions and want to keep for a bit. I put a piece of glass from a small photo frame over the paints but anything flat and somewhat heavy will do (piece of plastic wrap and a small book, etc.).
To clean it I just let the paints dry and then moosh and bend the tray to get the paint to flake and lift...
Bending and mooshing the tray to loosen the paint.
...then I dump the paint flakes in the trash and swish out any remaining paint with hot, soapy water.
You have no idea how happy these two easy-to-clean paint palette/trays make me!
You have no idea how happy these two easy-to-clean paint palette/trays make me!
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