Anyway, lets look at some of the watercolor palettes that are catching my attention today:
Many professionals swore by Craig Young's palette. This is like the Rolls Royce of watercolor palette and one small palette will set you back about USD$500. Not only is it expensive, you will need to wait for more than a year to receive this custom made palette that is exclusive and very much desired by professional watercolorists.
The little brass box company is another company that does this and I happen to know a friend who purchased one. Lets look what this fuss is all about.
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| The little brass box company is like a generic to the real Craig young Palette. Cost about $300 for a palette and the wait time is also one year plus. |
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| This is what is important. The circular deep dish allow you to pull enough mix to cover a full sheet of painting |
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| There are a total 4 deep wells for you . Two flats also expand and this allow you to work on smaller sections. |
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| A little heavy but closes real well. The weight help offset the balance so you won't spill easily |
What do I think ?
I think its defiantly an expensive box but I can see why existing boxes are not appealing. I am really attracted to the deep dish because I know how important it is to be out there with sufficient water in the wells. A lot of times, when you are trying to combat evaporation, its so important to have sufficient mix so as to cover for a bigger painting.
Lets look at some cheaper alternatives and generic to these.
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| A plastic alternative with the same concept. The wells are deeper than regular ones. |
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| Similar concept and much closer to Craig young. About 38 pound for this from Cloverleaf. |
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| Simply a swop from oval to square and it becomes more compact. Quite a nifty idea ( $69) each. Shy Winged Palette |
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| This cost SGD$2 |
As you can see, the nicer palette costs so much more than the regular flat palette that goes for less than $2 in stores. It may sound crazy but designing a brand new mold for production will easily cost more than 5 digits. That's just for the mold itself.
How am I going to design and make an affordable palette ? I have no clue... However, I surely want to find out more... to try and my own Perfect Palette.
thanks for your article, though I find your information to be misleading or simply wrong. The "real" Craig young palette you speak of is a replica of the Roberson palette, just like the palette by The little brass box company. The price is 435 for one from the little brass box company and the waiting time is currently at 22 months. The waiting time for the craig young paint box is currently 12 months. From what I understand, the waiting list is longer for products from the little brassbox company due to them being made to a higher standard.
ReplyDeleteMixing paint on plastic is a whole different story then on a enameled palette. I use Holbein palettes myself, but I have also a john Pike palette that is from Melamine, a high sort of plastic, but it mix better. If you really like to mix well, there is nothing like porcelain, that is just the summum for mixing.
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