Your beautiful oil painting is finished, now it’s time to CLEAN! Learn how to quickly clean your oil palette with this simple tutorial.
This week is another one for all you avid oil painters out there. You’ve just been painting your latest masterpiece, and now it’s time to clean up. But what to do about your painted palette?
You can of course scrape off what you can and save the paint (we have a blog post and video about How To Save & Store Your Oil Paints.
But cleaning your palette is also essential. Why? Well, take a look at the very well-loved oil palette in this Youtube video. Some of this paint is fresh, but some is quite old and “baked on”. And once it’s stuck, it’s stuck! If you want to avoid this in the future, then follow the easy steps in this tutorial and you’ll have no problems at all.
Luckily, you won’t need too much to help you with cleaning your oil palette!
You will need:
– A palette knife
– Some old cloths (we use cut up fabrics from sheets, pillowcases and towels)
– Tissues
– Mineral Turpentine (to help break down the last of the paint)
Step 1: Scrape off excess oil paint
Using a palette knife, scrape off the excess paint. (You can save and store this paint in a clear air light container and store in the freezer, if you want to keep it for next time).
Step 2: Wipe palette with a tissue or an old cloth
After you have scrapped of as much paint as you can, use a tissue or an old cloth and gently wipe over your oil palette to remove most of the paint.
Step 3: Use Mineral Turpentine
Once you have removed all the excess paint, you need to introduce some kind of cleaner to help remove the paint. At The Gold Coast Art School we use Mineral Turpentine which you can buy from any hardware store. Using an old cloth apply some Mineral Turpentine to the cloth, and then rub this cloth over your oil palette to remove all the paint. The Turpentine breaks down the paint, so it can be removed easily.
Step 4: Wipe palette over again with a tissue/cloth
After applying wiping your palette with Mineral Turpentine, you want to grab a clean cloth and gently wipe over your oil palette, one last time to ensure the surface is dry and ready for your next painting session. And hey presto! We have a clean palette.
Tips for Success:
- Work from light to dark: Start with a lighter shade and gradually build up to darker shades.
- Keep your brush strokes loose: Watercolor is a fluid medium, so let the paint flow naturally.
- Keep in mind: Watercolours tend to dry lighter than the colour you first apply. The colours are going to change as they dry.
- Experiment with monochromatic colours to create tonal depth and dimension.
It’s much easier to clean your palette after each painting session, to extend the life of your oil palette and to ensure your palette stays clean and prevents paint from drying and getting stuck to your palette.