Which palette should you buy
For oil, start with a wooden or glass palette: oil stays open 6-8 hours at 20 °C, so a simple 200 x 300 mm wooden oval at 150-300 g already does the job. For acrylic the surface matters more than the shape, because the paint skins in 10-20 minutes on an open palette but stays workable 4-8 hours on a stay-wet one. If you paint both, choose for acrylic's clock and the oil side takes care of itself.
| Palette type | Typical size | Weight, sheets or wells | Paint stays open at 20 °C | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oval wooden palette | 200 x 300 mm (8 x 12 in) | 150-300 g | Oil: 6-8 hours; 24-48 hours refrigerated at 2-8 °C | Oil painting at the easel |
| Disposable paper pad | 240 x 320 mm | 40-60 sheets of 120-160 gsm | Acrylic skins in 10-20 minutes | Acrylic and gouache studies |
| 12-well plastic palette | — | 5-10 ml per well | Acrylic skins in 10-20 minutes | Watercolour and fluid paint |
| Large flat palette | — | 20-30 dabs of about 5 ml | Acrylic skins in 10-20 minutes | Mixing large colour batches |
| Stay-wet palette | — | Damp sponge plus parchment sheet | Acrylic workable 4-8 hours | Long acrylic sessions |
| Mid-grey palette | — | Surface at about 18% reflectance | Matches the base material | Neutral colour and value judgement |
Oil gives you hours on almost any surface; acrylic gives you minutes, so the paint decides the palette.
Oil paint left on a wooden palette stays open for 6-8 hours at 20 °C, which is why a plain wooden oval has been the default for easel work. You can mix at leisure, walk away, and come back to paint that still moves.
Acrylic runs on the opposite clock. On any open palette — wood, paper, plastic or glass — it skins over in 10-20 minutes at 20 °C, and once the skin forms the dab is finished. Working fast, misting, or switching to a stay-wet palette are the three honest answers.
So the choosing logic is simple. If you only paint oil, almost any flat surface works. If you paint acrylic, the surface has to manage water. If you paint both, choose for acrylic and the oil side is automatically covered.
Wood, paper, plastic, glass and stay-wet trays differ less in shape than in weight, capacity and how long they keep paint alive.
The standard oval wooden palette with a thumb hole measures about 200 x 300 mm (8 x 12 in) and weighs 150-300 g. Disposable paper pads come at 240 x 320 mm with 40-60 tear-off sheets of 120-160 gsm paper, coated on one side so paint sits on top instead of soaking through.
Plastic palettes split into two families: well palettes, where a 12-well tray holds 5-10 ml of paint per well, and large flat palettes that take 20-30 pea-sized dabs of about 5 ml each. Wells suit fluid media that need separating; flats suit mixing.
Glass and mid-grey palettes complete the set. A mid-grey surface is calibrated to roughly 18% reflectance, which keeps colour and value judgement neutral — a white page makes every mix look darker than it will dry.
A stay-wet palette is a damp sponge under a sheet of parchment, and it stretches acrylic's working time from 10-20 minutes to 4-8 hours at 20 °C.
The principle is evaporation in reverse: instead of the paint losing water to the air, the damp sponge feeds moisture up through the parchment at a slow, steady rate. The paint sits on the parchment, not in the water, so it keeps its original consistency.
Two failure modes account for almost every complaint. A dry sponge puts you back on the 10-20 minute clock, and a dripping sponge floods the dabs — and water beyond about 20-30% by volume starts to break the acrylic binder, weakening the dried film.
Damp, not wet, is the whole skill. The sponge should feel like a wrung-out cloth, and the parchment should lie flat with no air pockets, or the dabs will slide and pool.
All working times on this page are quoted at 20 °C room temperature.
Every card quotes only measured values — millimetres, grams, millilitres and hours.
The figures are drawn from manufacturers' published specifications for standard palettes, pads and knives, checked against widely used studio guidance.