A wet palette is a shallow tray lined with a damp sponge and a sheet of semi-permeable membrane paper. Paint sits on top of the membrane. Water wicks up through the membrane from the sponge, keeping paint moist and workable for hours — sometimes days — rather than drying out in minutes.
That's it. That's the whole trick. But the difference it makes to your painting is significant.
What Actually Changes
Extended working time. Paint stays usable on the palette while you work through an entire model. You mix a tone once, not ten times. This matters enormously for consistency — the third highlight on model fifteen matches the first highlight on model one because you've been using the same paint all session.
Less waste. Squeezing paint for immediate use is wasteful — most of it dries before you use it. With a wet palette, the paint you mix stays there, usable. You squeeze less, waste less, run out of pots slower.
Better blending. Wet blending — the technique of moving two wet paint colours into each other on the model — becomes possible. On a dry palette, paint starts drying the moment it touches a warm model surface. On a wet palette, your thinned paint stays in the right consistency range for longer.
Less interruption. You stop losing your concentration to re-thinning dried paint.
What to Buy
The community standard is the Redgrass Games Evomini (compact) or Redgrass Games Studio (larger working area). Both use a purpose-made hydration paper that keeps paint workable longer than makeshift alternatives. The build quality is excellent and the lid seals properly so you can leave paint overnight.
The Masterson Sta-Wet is the older community standard — cheaper, simple, proven. No frills, does the job.
If you want to spend less before committing to a purchased palette, make one first.
How to Make Your Own
You need three things:
- A shallow lidded container — a takeaway container with a tight lid works fine
- A sponge — cut to fit the container, saturated with water
- Parchment/baking paper — NOT greaseproof paper; you want baking parchment, which is semi-permeable
Wet the sponge thoroughly, squeeze out excess so it's damp but not dripping. Place it in the container. Cut baking parchment to fit on top of the sponge. Your palette is ready.
Paint behaves noticeably better on this than on a dry tile or paper. The DIY version works well enough to confirm whether you'll use a wet palette before spending on a nicer one.
Using It
A few habits that help:
Don't drown the membrane. The sponge should be damp, not waterlogged. If water is pooling on top of the parchment, the sponge is too wet — squeeze some out.
Seal it between sessions. Close the lid between painting sessions. Paint will stay workable overnight on a properly sealed wet palette.
Rinse the membrane weekly. Old paint builds up and the membrane becomes less effective. Rinse under a tap periodically.
Thin normally. The wet palette doesn't thin your paint for you — it maintains the consistency you start with. Still thin your paint properly before putting it on the palette.
One Objection
The most common pushback is "I use a wet palette and my paint goes mouldy." This is real, and it happens when the palette is left sealed for too long with paint on it. If you're not painting for more than three days, rinse the membrane. The mould grows on old paint, not on the paper itself.
With clean habits, a wet palette is genuinely the single piece of gear most likely to improve your painting immediately — without any improvement in actual technique.
See our full brush and tool recommendations for the rest of a well-equipped painting desk.