(Part 2) Best palettes & palette cups according to redditors

To start up, you'll need a few basic things. The Bob Ross Master Piece Set has the majority of what you need (paint, knife, brushes), then you'll want a big plexiglass palette for mixing the paints. Finally, you'll need an easel to hold a canvas. I can personally recommend this one from Blick if you have one near you. Hope that helps, if you get into it, be sure to sub to r/HappyTrees to share your work!

Sure thing:

• DeckSaver's wonderful OP-1 cover: http://www.decksaver.com/covers/synthesizer-covers/op-1-cover
  
  
• Wood sketchbox with palette: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008D641GM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Vibration pad (only used 1/3rd of it): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OQTV2I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Shellac's sealer: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-12-oz-Clear-Shellac-Spray-408/100176744
  
  
• Red Velvet (can be acquired at any craft/art supplies store.
  
  
• Glue
  
  Hope this is helpful.

Looks like a paint palette similar to this. http://www.amazon.com/6-well-Plastic-Palette-Watercolor-acrylic/dp/B007YNQ6J0

If it's in the kitchen, maybe it was used for decorating baked goods.

Well, flake white is one color you'd want to avoid. It's made with lead. Gamblin makes a flake white replacement that's supposed to be very good, though, with all of flake white's handling properties but without the lead.

Cadmium colors are toxic but only if you breath or ingest the pigment directly. Wash your hands after you use it, and if you have to sand down a painting with cadmium in it, take it outside and wear a good filter mask.

For a medium, linseed oil or walnut oil + a really clean odorless mineral spirit like Gamsol would be a good bet. Mix them about half and half. Instead of keeping a big jar of it open, just get a little medium cup like this one and you'll have, at most, only an ounce of it out at a time. If you don't even want that much you can try an alkyd medium like Liquin, Galkyd, or Neo-Megilp. With pretty much all my paints, I mix in a few drops of walnut oil into them when I first squeeze them from the tube, as that not only helps loosen them up but also slows the drying time a bit; because they've already got that bit of extra oil, I don't need to use a ton of medium, so I've usually only got a couple of teaspoons of the stuff out at a time, whichever one I'm using.

For cleaning your brushes, you can also just use straight linseed oil while you work; just keep a container of it handy, dip your brush in, and wipe it out on a paper towel. (I like these Scott shop cloths as they're specifically made to soak up oil well.) It's not going to get all the paint out, so you'll want to have plenty of brushes so you can swap them out between colors, but it'll keep any paint that's left in there from drying out right away. If money is an issue you can use mineral oil or baby oil for cleaning, just make sure you get it all out of the brush before you pick up a new color. I did this for awhile when I first started and didn't want to invest a ton of money; getting some of that oil into the paints probably didn't do any good for the longevity of those paintings, but they were just shitty ones I was doing to learn how to use the paint anyway so it doesn't matter.

At the end of the day you can just wash them out in warm water and a good brush cleaning soap like Pink Soap from Speedball or Studio Soap from Richeson. (When I clean mine, I take them outside and give them a quick swish in some odorless mineral spirits, shake out the excess, and then bring them back in to wash. Since the OMS gets out most of paint, I don't need a special soap to finish them, I can just use baby shampoo to finish them off. That keeps pretty much all the OMS I use outside where I don't have to breathe it, and makes the final washing go very quickly.)

I am guessing here, but maybe something like this?

Whiskey Painters Large, Empty 12 Full Pan, Travel Friendly Artist Palette with Double Clip-On Cup https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYBNDFC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_xGh7CbEF8H20M

Sorry for the link being a mess, I'm on mobile.

I just use a cheap well palette, like these. I can mix a range of consistencies for glazing and washing.

I dabble in urban sketching a bit, so maybe I can offer some input.

For pens, I use a fountain pen (lamy Safari) with waterproof noodler's ink. Occasionally I'll use semi-waterproof ink for interesting bleeding effects. Other options are microns and copic multi liners. For more dynamic lines the pentel pocket brush is great.

As far as sketchbooks I've tried the moleskine you mentioned, strathmore' s hardcover journals, and stillman and birn's beta, delta, and zeta series. The moleskine was okay, but the paper was thin and warped easily. The strathmore journal had a high cellulose content and didn't readily absorb the watercolor in my experience. The stillman and birn are my favorite, specifically the delta, as I loved the warmth of ivory paper. They also offer softcover and wire bound if those are your thing.

For a palette, I'd say it's going to be hard to find one that will fit both 24 colors as well as all your accessories. The tin you linked and other bijou-type boxes are better suited for limited palettes. This can hold that amount and you can probably stuff your water brush and sponges etc in the middle space. It has about the same length as the moleskine sketchbooks, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to carry around. Honestly, I don't think it's too big of a compromise to carry your brushes and stuff separately. I personally use this and cart it with all my waterbrushes, pens and stuff in a small zippered pouch. If you don't mind bulk, weight, and price, this could fit a lot inside.

I'd add one step to this instructional - dump excess water from the palette once the paper towel has been sitting for a couple of minutes. Other than that it's a nice setup. A square flat tupperware works nicely as well. When the lid is sealed it keeps paint and water from drying out for days or a week. These sponges are my favorite for using in a palette.

Yes you will have to thin the paint to the consistency desired, the palette just keeps it from drying out. Flow aid is another useful additive to break the surface tension of water and let the paint flow more easily from the brush. You can do both with a 50/50 mix of water and rubbing alcohol to save a bit of money.

Oooh this is a fun game:

https://www.amazon.com/MEEDEN-Empty-Watercolor-Palette-Paint/dp/B01MRYR1VI/ref=sr_1_40?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303405&sr=8-40&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Winsor-Newton-Cotman-Water-Studio/dp/B000XYHYI4/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303405&sr=8-43&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Field-Artist-Watercolor-Journal-Hardbound/dp/B075ZN6XT3/ref=sr_1_66_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303688&sr=8-66-spons&keywords=watercolor&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Artify-Watercolor-Miniature-Carrying-Flannelette/dp/B078SQT3NW/ref=sr_1_72?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303688&sr=8-72&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Smith-285610005-Essentials-Introductory/dp/B00WT5VRF6/ref=sr_1_94?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303776&sr=8-94&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Watercolor-Album-Sketchbook-Spanish/dp/8883705629/ref=sr_1_107?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303816&sr=8-107&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Brush-Brushes-Watercolor-Painting/dp/B00ZO90S1I/ref=sr_1_114_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303816&sr=8-114-spons&keywords=watercolor&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Watercolor-Block-Cold-Press-X12/dp/B0007XDHGO/ref=sr_1_115?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303859&sr=8-115&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Ph-Martins-400262-XXX-Watercolor/dp/B005TFSDF0/ref=sr_1_147?ie=UTF8&qid=1526304003&sr=8-147&keywords=watercolor

sorry for stupid long links

I usually use these from Amazon. Theres two different gauge. I use wider one with mineral oil (more viscous) to clean knife blades and external surfaces, and use the narrower one with Tuff glide (less viscous) on pivots.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FNPTYYK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UjGrxb1AEMM3J

The palettes I ordered are a Meeden 24 half-pan travel palette, and a Whiskey Painters 8 half-pan flask palette(which I have in my hands right now, actually.). As far as palettes go, I also have a 33-well plastic Master's Touch airtight palette that I use for my home-palette for paintings. I wanted something that I could take with me very easily, that was small, and ideally something light, but most importantly durable. I also wanted the choice between having a lot of colors(hence the Meeden) to choose from, and something that limited my colors and could fit in my pocket(the Whiskey Painters). My plan is to stock the Meeden with a full selection including convenience colors, and have the Whiskey Painter stocked with a Primaries Only palette(both CMY and RYB) so I have to mix my own intermediates and such since I need practice with color mixing.

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Is the Schmincke ultramarine non-granulating? I haven't heard anything about their paints... I heard that Holbein has a really nice non-granulating Ultramarine I've been looking into.

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Also, by 'technical' I didn't really mean stuff like architectural or really mathematically technical illustrations. I don't really know the word for the kind of illustration I do, but I like to try and put as much depth and texture in my illustrations as I can, but I prefer to use contrast and light values to create it, rather than relying on the paint to do it for me. Most of what I learned about how to handle watercolors I've learned through trial and error, practicing Sumi-e, a single book on Fantasy painting, and watching every single Bob Ross "Joy Of Painting" video and trying to translate what that video had over to watercolor from oil.

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Edited to add a few details that I skipped out on. Still new to Reddit.

> I tried Drakenhof Nightshade and it made all of it too blue (a bit splotchy when I did it for a helmet on a test model).

Do remember that you're (probably) going to be going back over with that grey or a lighter shade for highlights later - so that may knock back the blueing effect the shade had.

You can always cut the wash with a bit of water. I've put my washes into dropper bottles, which makes thinning them out if the need arises very easy. But, that's not at all required. Just get a palette (like this sort) and you can just transfer a bit of wash in, and then some water.

> a bit splotchy when I did it for a helmet on a test model

Probably just a bit too much, or you allowed it to pool on a flat spot. That's a bit of practice there - and I'll refer back to my you're probably going to paint over that bit anyway comment.

And for the future, you can experiment with more precise application of the shade. A bit more time consuming up front than just grabbing a big brush and laying about. But it's got upsides too.

Not the person you're replying too, but about 3 months ago I moved over to a bought wet palette from DIY ones so got some insight on that.

I started with wet palettes on ones chucked together with some sponge and a bit of parchment paper in one of those generic tuppers you tend to get take aways from. That worked okay but the seal wasn't perfect so it wouldn't stay that wet overnight (worked fine for during the painting session, but keeping mixes for the next day wasn't really an option) and the taller sides were really annoying to have to reach down into the box to get the paint.

The next step up for me was the round tub some Tangfastics came in. It had lower sides and a bigger area, but the shape was annoying and it suffered from the same imperfect seal as the tupper. It's just something that comes with those plastic tubs that aren't meant to be perfectly water tight.

The next move up was the plastic box that GW tufts come in. That worked really well, for a box that's not advertised as being water tight it really is. Worked amazingly, but suffered from a tiny surface area to work on so needed near constant changing of the paper. Fine if you're working on a lot of models at once in an assembly line style so just need the one colour to stay wet for ages whilst you apply it to all the models then you can move on to the next colour or if you're working with a limited colour palette, but any big projects were difficult to work with. That being said, the small size is great for using as a travel palette and if I'm travelling but want to paint or going down for a painting session at the local hobby store I'll bring one of those.

I eventually caved in and bought a palette, this one here Frisk Standard Deluxe Palette Box, Nylon/A, One Size for about £15, and that's what I'm currently using. The massive size (bigger than any DIY one I've used or seen anyone using) is great for working either with lots of colours at once or just having the paper last a few days over a project or two. It also seals perfectly airtight, with a rubber ring type thing around the lip of the lid to get a perfect seal, so the paint is always just right the next day, possibly even a few days if I leave it and don't paint for a couple of days. The walls are also fairly low, not as low as the Citadel tuft box but that thing is tiny, which makes it comfortable to work with. The lid doesn't fit underneath it quite properly so you can't rest it on the lid whilst working, but I just pop the lid down the side of my desk whilst I work. The lid is also a really smooth plastic with no logos or ridges in it so when I'm working with metallics or inks I'll pop the lid on the palette and use that as my dry palette, which is more convenient than having to keep a dimple palette nearby because it's got a big graphic on the lid like the Masterson's one does. I'll probably never move back to a DIY wet palette besides for the Citadel tuft box when I travel (honestly those things are so small it's so convenient for travel). It doesn't come with any sponge or paper mind, the only downside to it I guess but given you're likely to chuck out the paper and eventually have to ditch the sponge anyway due to it getting nasty that's no bother, I just use some folded over paper towel and some parchment paper, replacing the paper towel probably every other day (another thing I particularly like about this wet palette is the width is almost exactly the same as a sheet of paper towel and pretty much the same length as one and a half sheets so three sheets folded over fits perfectly in it so no need to cut any paper towels down to size) .

Realistically the function is the same between DIY and bought, during your painting session the paint will stay wet for longer and give you more working time. The difference comes in how well it seals, size/working area, ergonomics, and the convenience and I con 100% say that a bought one is way more convenient, a lot more comfortable to work with, has way more working area, and seals much much better. I'd say if you have a tighter budget or don't paint loads then there are more priority things to spend on to improve your painting experience, like paints or good brushes, but if you're happy to drop £15 on a palette, paint a lot (so ergonomics in important), or paint slow/like to take your time/like to take breaks (so a good seal is important) then it's well worth upgrading to a bought one.

The cheapest one I could find on Amazon Germany: Atelier Interactive Acryl-Palette "Keep-Wet" https://www.amazon.de/dp/B009T37I4A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_f-hSDbEMSKCH4

Beginning Paint Set

Good Beginner Brushes

Palette I still use

This should get you started, the only other thing I'd suggest is getting a black wash (I use citadel paints so I use Nuln Oil, unsure what the technical term for it is). The thing is, I've purchased a ton of stuff. A TON OF STUFF. I never ended up using the Dry Paint set that I got, out of all of the washes I only use two of them on a regular basis and I use expensive brushes now. If you're just starting out it's better to use these synthetic brushes because they're cheaper and you don't have to worry too much if they get ruined. Expensive brushes are great, but you won't know why until you get better.

I use actual wet palette paper because I have found nothing else to be anywhere near as good. Specifically I use this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frisk-Acrylic-Keep-Wet-Palette-Refill/dp/B015WICDU4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549710757&sr=8-1&keywords=wet+palette+paper

To make it go further, I split each sheet into 3 and use them in an A5 Tupperware type container with a clip on lid. I put 3 or 4 folded paper towels under the absorbent part of the paper to hold more water.

Moved from sponges to this, never looked back.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAA-Acrylic-Keep-Wet-Paper-Refill/dp/B009T2JMNG/ref=asc_df_B009T2JMNG/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310902543009&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5240255277616795716&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046616&hvtargid=pla-770426622173&psc=1


Always behaves. Quite cheap. Performs great.

I use Cotmans!

And this is the palette I have:
New Mijello Bulletproof Glass Palette for Watercolor 36 Colors https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0173S3G0M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_WBsWAbTAYY7Y4

Do you have a specific budget? The following brands have always been good for me. These are all acrylic paints:




* Golden (duh...this is the creme de la creme of acrylics. I've only used their fluids but they're most well known for their heavy body.) This set is a solid option, but this is even better





* Galería (best student grade I've worked with) This kit includes paint, brushes, and canvas paper and so may be an ideal option for a beginner.





* DecoArt 1-Ounce Traditions Acrylic Palette Sampler -- great professional grade paint for the price and a solid color selection and two mediums -- one which slows the dry time and a glaze.





Finally, although they aren't my preference, many people ADORE Liquitex Basics and it is used by even professional artists. With that in mind the Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint-It! Kit provides a great color selection with a larger white tube (definitely needed, I go through white like crazy, most artists do), paint brushes, a palette knife, a palette, and a canvas board. This is definitely a solid option and really a bargain.





I paint almost exclusively with round and filbert brushes (I like Royal & Langnickel's Zen line), but a good, low cost variety pack with flats, filbert and round would be a good option.

For the Qor, they will pop out without putty but it's not too much of a big deal when I keep the color sheet in there.
The Schmincke has the lock-in palette and it's nice. If you're looking for just the tin, Meeden makes a fine one https://www.amazon.com/MEEDEN-Empty-Metal-Watercolor-Palette/dp/B01MTMFH4V