Enjoying My Artist Palette By New Wave

Since college, I haven’t painted with a handheld artist palette. In the past, I have found these classic palettes to be cumbersome, uncomfortable to hold, and a chore to clean.

So when I received a box filled with two beautiful handmade artist palettes from my Twitter friends at New Wave Fine Art Products, I was a little bit apprehensive about using them!

Grateful for the gift, I first decided to test-out the Highland plein air palette while painting for my 30 Day Plein Air Painting Challenge. The Highland was lightweight, gave me more mixing room, and fit neatly in my backpack. I was sold!

This week, I have been using their mid-size Grand View Confidant in my studio.

I was a bit intimidated by this handmade wooden palette, and I didn’t want to mess it up! These palettes are handcrafted by the Amish using hard white maple along with a durable, yet chic finish.

In my studio, I normally use an artist taboret with a glass-top that I recycled from an on TV stand.   This gives me a lot of mixing room and the glass-top makes it really easy to clean….it was going to be a tough act to follow.

Regardless, after admiring my new Grand View Confidant, it was time to christen it!

As a right-handed person, I like my white paint closest to my right hand. So, I always layout my paints from right to left. For this handheld palette, I decided to organize my paints in an open palette – my spectrum of colors around the outer edge (from right to left) with the middle left-open for mixing.

New Wave palettes come in many shapes and sizes, and are organized into four unique groups based upon functionality.  Nevertheless, I am really happy with the one they picked for me.

The mid-size Grand View Confidant is perfect for my 5′ 5″ frame, and it comfortably fits the contours of my body while providing functional design options for numerous styles of painting.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ample mixing space and room for an assortment of colors. Plus, the comfortable grip makes it easy to hold a paint cloth, extra brushes, a mahstick, or even my cell phone!

This palette is so lightweight, I even forget I am holding it!

And here is one more personal plus – now my little painting buddy (cocktiel), can sit on my shoulder while I paint. He can’t sit on my shoulder when I use my taboret, because he jumps into the wet paint! 😉

An important palette tip: Be sure and clean off the messy paints from your mixing area after each painting session – but, you can leave your paint piles. New Wave palettes are easy to clean, unless the paint starts to harden. The other night, I was in a hurry and didn’t clean off the paint. I use Cobra water-soluble oils, so the next day my mixing area was dry and didn’t easily wipe off. I had to use Turpenoind to cut through the dried paints.
It is a pleasure to recommend the affordable, and beautifully crafted New Wave palettes to my readers.
Some more palette facts…
New Wave Artist Palettes Present Distinct Solutions
Comfort
–  Patent pending 3 point design distributes the weight between the hand, rear forearm, and torso providing maximum balance and comfort.  This significantly reduces stress on muscles and tendons in the hand, wrist, arm and shoulder.
–  Universal fit for all body types
–  Hand sanded edges and thumb hole
–  Extremely lightweight

Quality
–  Handcrafted by the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA
–  Durable satin finish resistant to water, and standard artist solvents (turpentine, mineral spirits, etc.) & mediums
–  Easily cleaned using a standard solvent*
–  Crack and chip proof
–  Freezer Safe
–  Non-yellowing
–  Smooth to the touch
Functionality
–  Variety of designs for all technical methods of painting
–  Made with hard white maple: delicate grain lines that will not distract the artist while mixing
–  Available for right handed and left handed artists
–  May be laid flat on a table top
For all you artists from ‘across the pond’, you can find the New Wave palettes exclusively through Rosemary Brushes. Please tell them Lori sent you!

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Be sure and say hello to me on Twitter, and on Google Plus, Pinterest, and join in the fun at Fine Art Tips Facebook Fan Page! Please checkout my art too LoriMcNee.com, or find me on Instagram lorimcneeartist. ~Lori