{"id":497,"date":"2015-07-28T08:31:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T07:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/?p=497"},"modified":"2025-10-02T10:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:44:14","slug":"the-benefits-of-a-glass-palette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/the-benefits-of-a-glass-palette\/","title":{"rendered":"Why A Glass Palette Is The Best Palette You Can Get"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The one thing I would recommend every artist use is a glass palette. You can buy one from a art suppliers, or like me, make your own for free. Find out more below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_4.jpg\" alt=\"tonal scale under glass palette\" class=\"wp-image-526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_4.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_4-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A glass palette is superior to a wooden or paper palette in many respects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It&#8217;s easy to clean with a paint scrapper.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It has a ultra smooth surface to mix your paint on.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can effectively make it whatever colour you like by placing coloured paper\/card beneath it. You can even print out a tonal scale and place that beneath your palette to use as a reference when mixing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It&#8217;s just about indestructible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can of course buy a purpose-made glass palette from a art suppliers, but you can also make your own much more cheaply and save your money for more paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can buy a piece of tempered glass from your local glass supplier. They&#8217;ll cut it to your desired size, and if you ask them they may sand the edges for you as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NB. If you make your own glass palette you must <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Toughened_glass\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">use tempered glass<\/a>. DO NOT use frame glass or ordinary window glass, which is brittle and liable to break and harm you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_2.jpg\" alt=\"glass palette for painting\" class=\"wp-image-502\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Personally, I use a 18 x 12 inch piece of tempered glass that was originally a shelf from a household fridge, my mother&#8217;s fridge in fact. The fridge had broken and was being recycled, I didn&#8217;t just eat all her veggies and steal the shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Always try and use the largest palette you can accommodate, if you have room for a 3 foot square palette, great! &#8230;the bigger your palette, the more space you&#8217;ll have, and with more space you&#8217;ll have more freedom to mix up plenty of paint. A lot of artists, especially beginners, simply don&#8217;t use enough paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_3.jpg\" alt=\"Glass painting palette\" class=\"wp-image-501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_3.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_3-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Once you&#8217;ve got your glass palette sorted, instead of squeezing out paint directly onto the palette, try taping a strip cut from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsupplies.co.uk\/c\/oil-palettes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disposable paper palette<\/a> onto the glass, and place your paints out on that. This way, when the paints go hard or get too polluted and messy, you can simply pull off that strip of paper and throw it away, before taping on a fresh strip and squeezing out some fresh paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_6.jpg\" alt=\"Dirty painting palette\" class=\"wp-image-2294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_6.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_6-300x228.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_6-768x583.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After some serous painting your nice glass palette may look like this, in which case you&#8217;ll want to clean it. Let me show you how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"566\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_5.jpg\" alt=\"Cleaning a artists palette\" class=\"wp-image-2293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_5.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_5-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_5-768x543.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I use a old paint scraper, the type used to scrape paint off the walls of a house or remove old paint from woodwork e.t.c. It&#8217;s very strong and sturdy, with a sharp edge to get under the dried hard old oil paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_7.jpg\" alt=\"Removing oil paint from a artists palette\" class=\"wp-image-2295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_7.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_7-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_7-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For it to work effectively, and this does depend somewhat on what type of scraper you use, you&#8217;ll need to hold the scraper a 45 degree angle. This allows the edge to dig down under the hardened paint and push it away in front of the edge, instead of the edge of the scraper just sliding over the top of the paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dry oil paint is very hard, so if you&#8217;ve let your paints dry on your palette for a considerable time it takes some serious elbow grease to remove, even with a good scraper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_8.jpg\" alt=\"Paint scraper\" class=\"wp-image-2296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_8.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_8-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_8-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You need to keep the edge of your paint scraper fairly sharp, it doesn&#8217;t have to be sharp enough to cut, but it needs to be a fine edge that will slide easily up against the edge of the hardened oil paint, and not slide across it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_9.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_9.jpg\" alt=\"Cleaning a artists palette\" class=\"wp-image-2297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_9.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_9-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/glass_palette_9-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you have removed all or most of the old hardened paint just give the glass surface a final clean with a rag or tissue soaked in white spirits (or other paint solvent) to get rid of any paint left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tempered glass is hard, really hard, and it&#8217;s unlikely that you&#8217;ll damage the smooth surface by cleaning your palette in the way described above. I&#8217;ve been using my glass palette for years and it hasn&#8217;t got a scratch on it. Having said that, if you did somehow manage to damage the surface you could just flip it over and use the other side, and be a little more careful cleaning that side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">So if you&#8217;re struggling to judge the colours you&#8217;re mixing on that dark wooden palette, or tired of mixing paint on top of old dried up paint because you never quite got around to cleaning your wooden palette properly after your last painting session, give a glass palette a go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">As always, if you enjoyed this post and found it useful, please share it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Happy painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The one thing I would recommend every artist use is a glass palette. You can buy one from a art [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,36,70],"tags":[83,84,85],"class_list":["post-497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-studio","category-art-tips-and-advice","category-painting-trips","tag-glass-palette","tag-painting-palette","tag-palettes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5603,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions\/5603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}