Tips for keeping oil palette from drying out

[Christina Kent]

What do you do to keep your oil paint palette from drying out? I’ve been painting with oils for a while and would usually leave my palette in the freezer to keep the paints wet between painting sessions. However my freezer started getting cramped and sometimes I would accidentally smudge paint around. So I switched to a Masterson sealed palette (the 12″x16″ ones) which are supposed to be airtight and keep oils wet for days or weeks. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be working for me- after just a few days, some of the paints had begun to dry. Any tips?

[FarmHand]

Clove oil, just a few drops.  The kind you can get at the health store.  It is actually in some old medium recipes.

 

Use it  especially on earth tones.  They seem to dry out first.  Will give you a few extra days.  Or buy the biggest tube you can and put a huge pile on your palette and let a crust form on the outside.  Slice it open with a palette knife and you have fresh paint underneath.  Has worked for me for years!

 

[Author]

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