On this page, drawings are available for you with the help of which you can make an essential tool in painting – the painting palette.

We called them: Artist oval shaped paint palette; Oval shaped paint palette with thumb hole and Rectangular shaped paint palette with thumb hole. The palettes according to our drawings are also called Holding Palettes because they are designed to be held in hand while painting. The painting pallete is usually a thin board of rectangular or oval shape (kidney shape) on which the artist arranges and mixes paints while painting. It often has an opening for the thumb (thumb hole), and the artist holds a paint brush in one hand and a color palette in the other. Painting palettes are usually made of wood, but also of plastic, metal, ceramics, or  some other hard, inert and nonporous material.

 

Painting palette drawings
Project difficulty
Simple
Skill level
for beginners
Level of workshop equipment
Basic hand toools
Laser cutter
Dimensions

 

Artist oval shaped paint palette:  210mm (8 9/32'') x 305mm (12'') x 5mm (3/16'')
Oval shaped paint palette with thumb hole:  285mm (11 7/32'') x 380mm (14 31/32'') x 5mm (3/16'')
Rectangular shaped paint palette with thumb hole:  238mm (9 3/8'') x 350mm (13 25/32'') x 5mm (3/16'')

 

Painting palettes made according to our drawings are intended for oil paint or possibly acrylic paint (problems with cleaning may occur!), they are not suitable for mixing water colors. Watercolor palettes are most commonly made of plastic or porcelain with built-in wells and mixing areas for colors.

Painting palettes are most commonly made from 5-6 mm thick wood boards (although they can be much thinner if made of plywood) and they can have various shapes and dimensions. In our drawings you are offered three different shapes and all the dimensions you may need, so that they can be drawn on stock and cut out. Of course, if you want to make a palette of a different size or shape, feel free to use our drawings as a starting point in the development of your own palette design. You won’t need any expensive tools, it will be enough to purchase quality material, cut the palette shape (using jigsaw scroll saw, copy saw…) and sand it. As far as finishing is concerned, the traditional way is to rub a light coating of linseed oil on both sides and recoat it from time to time. Linseed oil is a proven finish for painting palettes and you will definitely make no mistake if your choice falls on it. Still, there are many other ways to do the finishing, so it is up to you and you alone if you want to experiment. There are lots of texts on this topic on the Internet, so get yourselves informed! Some artists even leave their wooden painting palettes without any finishing, i.e., when they finish painting, they just scrape off the excess oil paint, and buff the remaining paint off with a cloth or paper towel (using no solvent). It is best to clean the palette immediately after you have done painting. If you always practice this habit, you won’t have any problems with keeping your palette clean.

 

Artistic oval shaped paint palette
Artistic oval shaped paint palette - Drawing
Oval shaped paint palette with thumb hole
Oval shaped paint palette with thumb hole - Drawing
Rectangular shaped paint palette with thumb hole
Rectangular shaped paint palette with thumb hole - Drawing

 

Painting is a time-consuming process, and the artist has to hold the palette while working. Over time, it becomes heavy and awkward to hold. For this reason, the wooden palette must be as light as possible while maintaining its function. On the Internet, you can see that palette manufacturers mainly use Baltic birch, mahogany, white maple, poplar or some lightweight plywood. Plywood may be a good choice for you, because it will enable you to make the palette a little thinner and therefore lighter.

 

Download laser cutting file formats (.svg and .dxf) - Scale 1:1, Units:mm
Download project (high resolution images)

Submitted by Ceh Jan