I have been using clove oil in conjunction with my hand made palette box (with lid) for the past two years now. By placing just a few drops of clove oil onto a cottonball and leaving it in a corner of the palette, the entire palette stays fresh and the oil won't skin over. The key is to have a lid. It does not even need be completely air tight, it just needs to stop air circulation and trap the clove oil inside with the paint. I have never had trouble with the smell, and it saves the trouble of having little flecks of skin finding their way onto my painting.
I’ve done the exact same thing and it’s AMAZING. It has removed so much stress for me around being afraid of wasting paint. I literally had my glass palette about 20x30 cm, then bought some plexiglass a bit larger and cut it and glued it to be a lid. Then I put silicone filler on the lid, and vaseline on the glass palette, and now they fit perfectly together virtually airtight. Then I bought clove oil at the local health store and have two cotton swabs taped to the lid with a few clove oil drops and it keeps my paint wet for up to WEEKS - even thin mixed piles. Only very fast trying pigments like burnt umber and prussian blue have gotten thin skin over it in a month.
@@fromeveryting29 How long has most of your paint stayed wet and usable? I love the idea of pre-mixing flesh colors if they would stay usable for a long time.
I have the 15" Edge Pro easel (thanks Chelsea, never saw one before I saw you using it). I don't use the glass palette supplied, I place the New Wave Posh grey glass palette on top of it. When I'm done, I put the glass palette in the Masterson Palette Seal box. I taped a cotton makeup pad to the inside of the lid, and put a few drops of clove oil on before I close it up. It keeps all my little mixed piles good to go as well as the unused paint.
I also have a (small) New Wave glass palette and a Masterson Sta-Wet box for my large glass palette. My Masterson box must be defective because it's next to impossible to open and I can't do the necessary gymnastics to open it with a wet palette inside. If I can figure out how to easily open it, while horizontal or at least not vertical, I'm going to try taping a cotton pad on the lid with a few drops of clove oil. Thanks!
Thank you so so much for the Clove Oil idea and the freezer! I work 3 jobs including my art so I often do work in multiple sessions. Thank you so so much for this video!
I use a Masterson palette box and add a sponge with clove oil on it when I seal it up. Then I put it in the freezer. My paint stays fresh for a long long time (except Burnt Umber - that stuff just dries!) I love the concept of these boxes. It's a really smart idea
Any pigment containing magnesium, like Burnt or Raw Umber, is going to have a fast drying time. I use screw-top plastic containers where I place a scrap of paper towel with a few drops of clove oil at the bottom and then I scrape the unused paint onto the sides of the container, then place them in the freezer. The umbers will develop a skin within a few days to a week in there, but the slower drying pigments like Titanium White and the Cadmiums will stay usable for a long time.
The best way I have found to save paint after a session is with a little science, a condiment cup and some water. The science first.......1. oil paint dries out because of exposure to air. No air, no drying.......2. oil and water do not mix. So when I finish painting, I scrape off the unused paint into a condiment cup like you get from a restaurant with a sauce in it. I then pour a little water over the top of the paint, so that it is completely covered and put the top on the condiment cup. Now the paint is not exposed to the air. When you go to use the paint, just pour off the water; it will not have mixed with your paint. I have been doing this for almost 20 years and never had a problem with the paint and water mixing or the water affecting the paint. Another tip is to mix all your excess paint into a gray base to use later. I have also used a Large 7 Day Pill Planner case to put paint in before going out to plein air paint.....about 10 bucks on AZ.
@@laurentmarguery Seventh grade chem..........OIL and WATER do not mix. Been doing this for almost 20yrs and the paint doesn't dry out and the water does not affect the consistency
@@douglasriddle6447 the paint does polymerize eventually. I had stored some oil paint under water in a jar for a few years, and it solidified. ok for short term though.
Now I am thinking about using those little medication organizer boxes, I personally use a classic wooden palette but I like to save good paint for later, so maybe I will try to scoop it in. Thanks for the tip!
The issue with medication (pill boxes) is that you will need a palette knife to get the paint out, or the brush would get stuck and become messy. Additionally, they are difficult to clean, and the plastic cover with snaps would easily break. Furthermore, you need to add clove oil in each compartment's cover.
Chelsea thank you so much for your feedback on box N paint! It means a lot to hear this review from such a talented artist like you.!! Happy Painting from box N painy
I throw my pallet in the icebox. I’ve also scraped the oil Paint onto a palette knife and submerged it in water. Both keep’m fresh for a few days. A week you’ll notice a thin film of dry layer on top which could be pulled off in 1 sheet which I throw away
i think the reason that smaller paint piles tend to dry up faster is because of the surface area to volume ratio-if you had a 1x1x1cm cube, its surface area would be 6 cm but its volume would be 1cm. if you had a 10x10x10cm cube, its surface area would be 600 cm and its volume would be 1000cm. as the cube gets bigger, the surface area gets smaller relative to the volume. this means that a smaller paint pile would have more paint in contact with the air around out relative to the amount of paint that isnt in contact with the air, causing it to dry up faster.
The issue with pill boxes is that you will always need a palette knife to get the paint out, or my brush would get stuck and messy! In addition, they were difficult to clean, and the plastic cover would easily break. Furthermore the clove oil will not be distributed throughout you need to add drops of clove oil in each individual cover.
I, like chrisgriffith, use a lid on my (microwave glass dish) palette... I have a small plastic spray bottle that I fill with safflower oil, and before I close off with the glass pot lid, I give the leftover paint a quick spray of oil, put on the lid and it works really well... I like the idea of using clove oil on a dab of cloth as well, I must try that as well... :)
I am not ease at all to waste any oil paint, be it expensive or student grade (of course all lightfast). It just grieves me to waste any! I use piles three times as much as presented, and when I come to a halt that day, I store the palette in a cooler place for the next day. If I won't be painting say for a week, I will force myself to use almost all the paint at that session, and the rest I will pile up, and sort them by different chroma and value of neutrals in plastic airtight cans. The neutrals will do for landscape painting and under-painting. Of course, even those cannot be stored for weeks, because of the many pigments, oxidation begins, yet one week will quite do. Other times, I squeeze a decent amount of paint on the palette, and leave the tubes open at a close reach to the end of the painting session to grab after each color if need will be. Either way, one can achieve a painterly look, even impasto impression even if there is literally no paint on the palette, the key is to be mindful of the tubes - painting is so much more than just painting. I have this practice for several years now, for me it works. I paint mostly at home, and I do not argue that plein air painting is whole different story. The box N paint holder is a wonderful idea, thank you!
Strata says that clove oil can ruin their finish on their easel. So I was a little leery of using it. I have a different version of garage that allows you to put a drop of clove oil on the cap that goes on the garage.
I tried all the ways to keep stay wet palette...nothing keeps paint wet for oils...I was and am desperate to have stay wet palette to paint daily in oils after my day job....but nothing worked. I tried freezer, cling film on palette, airtight palette box, clove oil, submerged palette in water bath, mixing slow drying oil( safflower) all!!!...nothing helped after a week...skin forms on the paint.
Looked like walnut oil gel. If you’re referencing paint drying faster on the canvas, that would be liquin. For that, use only 20% with paint. Thanks Chelsea for introducing us to your journey.
Liquin is a blessing and a curse, especially if you're working on a large canvas and mixed a lot of paint. It can dry almost overnight, it becomes sticky. What has worked for me is covering it with plastic and put it in the freezer after each session. If you're working on a large piece.
I'm sorry but this is highly unprofessional. That box is clearly made with a 3d printer, out of PLA or ABS. By the looks of it and the fact that it's cheaper and easier to work with, I'd say PLA. Sooner or later, a 3D printed object will break. 3D printing is used for prototyping, not for final products. How do they justify the whopping price of 50$? for something that cost less than 5$ to print? At 50$ I really expect this to be at least aluminum
Box N Paint has been out there for over one year now, and I can tell you that the cost and time required for 3D printing this painting accessory are not low, considering the quality of its construction. The material itself is quite expensive. On the other hand, a metal version would not be practical since it would heat up in the sun, and certain metals cannot be used with clove oil. We have had awesome reviews and no returns.
I just bought myself a palette-garage - the cylindrical one with the L shaped paint tray and the clove-oil. We'll see!! I HATE wasting anything not even spoilt food I've often wondered about keeping oil paint splotches in a plastic container with just enough water to cover - it would preserve them from oxygen, and would be cheap and simple but might be a little messy and would require some time with the hair-dryer before each paint session. In my industry, there's always "Bloxygen" which I believe is just nitrogen in an aerosol can. I'm not much in favor of wasting aerosol cans either, and the living-cheapskate in me doesn't like to pay money for an atmospheric gas, and so I don't really use Bloxygen much. I have a hard time believing in the clove oil, but I'll remain open minded and will give it a try. I will consider it a major miracle if this works!!
I have been using clove oil in conjunction with my hand made palette box (with lid) for the past two years now. By placing just a few drops of clove oil onto a cottonball and leaving it in a corner of the palette, the entire palette stays fresh and the oil won't skin over. The key is to have a lid. It does not even need be completely air tight, it just needs to stop air circulation and trap the clove oil inside with the paint. I have never had trouble with the smell, and it saves the trouble of having little flecks of skin finding their way onto my painting.
I’ve done the exact same thing and it’s AMAZING. It has removed so much stress for me around being afraid of wasting paint.
I literally had my glass palette about 20x30 cm, then bought some plexiglass a bit larger and cut it and glued it to be a lid. Then I put silicone filler on the lid, and vaseline on the glass palette, and now they fit perfectly together virtually airtight.
Then I bought clove oil at the local health store and have two cotton swabs taped to the lid with a few clove oil drops and it keeps my paint wet for up to WEEKS - even thin mixed piles. Only very fast trying pigments like burnt umber and prussian blue have gotten thin skin over it in a month.
@@fromeveryting29 How long has most of your paint stayed wet and usable? I love the idea of pre-mixing flesh colors if they would stay usable for a long time.
I have the 15" Edge Pro easel (thanks Chelsea, never saw one before I saw you using it). I don't use the glass palette supplied, I place the New Wave Posh grey glass palette on top of it. When I'm done, I put the glass palette in the Masterson Palette Seal box. I taped a cotton makeup pad to the inside of the lid, and put a few drops of clove oil on before I close it up. It keeps all my little mixed piles good to go as well as the unused paint.
I also have a (small) New Wave glass palette and a Masterson Sta-Wet box for my large glass palette. My Masterson box must be defective because it's next to impossible to open and I can't do the necessary gymnastics to open it with a wet palette inside. If I can figure out how to easily open it, while horizontal or at least not vertical, I'm going to try taping a cotton pad on the lid with a few drops of clove oil. Thanks!
After watching this video, now I think it's time to change my equipment for a more practical one. Thank you Chelsea Lang😊😊👍🏻
I just bought this. It seems like a no brained. I have been using an inverted baking pan, but it only works for certain colors. This will save paint!
Thank you for the tip! Who would have thought that putting paint into container can make such difference..
Thank you so so much for the Clove Oil idea and the freezer! I work 3 jobs including my art so I often do work in multiple sessions. Thank you so so much for this video!
I use a Masterson palette box and add a sponge with clove oil on it when I seal it up. Then I put it in the freezer. My paint stays fresh for a long long time (except Burnt Umber - that stuff just dries!) I love the concept of these boxes. It's a really smart idea
This is awesome I need one of these so bad! I have found using less medium has helped me a lot too initially and then adding medium as I’m in session
Any pigment containing magnesium, like Burnt or Raw Umber, is going to have a fast drying time. I use screw-top plastic containers where I place a scrap of paper towel with a few drops of clove oil at the bottom and then I scrape the unused paint onto the sides of the container, then place them in the freezer. The umbers will develop a skin within a few days to a week in there, but the slower drying pigments like Titanium White and the Cadmiums will stay usable for a long time.
The best way I have found to save paint after a session is with a little science, a condiment cup and some water.
The science first.......1. oil paint dries out because of exposure to air. No air, no drying.......2. oil and water do not mix. So when I finish painting, I scrape off the unused paint into a condiment cup like you get from a restaurant with a sauce in it. I then pour a little water over the top of the paint, so that it is completely covered and put the top on the condiment cup. Now the paint is not exposed to the air. When you go to use the paint, just pour off the water; it will not have mixed with your paint. I have been doing this for almost 20 years and never had a problem with the paint and water mixing or the water affecting the paint.
Another tip is to mix all your excess paint into a gray base to use later.
I have also used a Large 7 Day Pill Planner case to put paint in before going out to plein air paint.....about 10 bucks on AZ.
That’s a great tip!
There is oxygen in water. Fish beath.
@@laurentmarguery Seventh grade chem..........OIL and WATER do not mix. Been doing this for almost 20yrs and the paint doesn't dry out and the water does not affect the consistency
@@douglasriddle6447 the paint does polymerize eventually.
I had stored some oil paint under water in a jar for a few years, and it solidified.
ok for short term though.
@@deegee8645 Since we were only talking about short term, then there is no problem
What an amazing invention!
ITS A SHAME WE DONT HAVE CHEAP WIDELY AVAILABLE TUPPERWARE TUBS WHICH ARE AIR TIGHT
Now I am thinking about using those little medication organizer boxes, I personally use a classic wooden palette but I like to save good paint for later, so maybe I will try to scoop it in. Thanks for the tip!
The issue with medication (pill boxes) is that you will need a palette knife to get the paint out, or the brush would get stuck and become messy. Additionally, they are difficult to clean, and the plastic cover with snaps would easily break. Furthermore, you need to add clove oil in each compartment's cover.
Brilliant. Thank you so much for sharing.
Chelsea thank you so much for your feedback on box N paint! It means a lot to hear this review from such a talented artist like you.!! Happy Painting from box N painy
I put them in the congelator, it's basically almost forever fresh and ready to use after a few minutes without doing nothing
Not really
@@sujanithtottempudi2991 not really what?
Does putting paint in the congelator makes them to freeze & harden no ? I've never tried it.
@@nguyenduong8815 they don't have water so they don't really freeze but yes they become a little stuffier, in two minutes it goes back to normal.
I love the Palette Garage. Very similar concept to this.
This is really helpful, thanks for sharing 😊
I throw my pallet in the icebox. I’ve also scraped the oil
Paint onto a palette knife and submerged it in water. Both keep’m fresh for a few days. A week you’ll notice a thin film of dry layer on top which could be pulled off in 1 sheet which I throw away
i think the reason that smaller paint piles tend to dry up faster is because of the surface area to volume ratio-if you had a 1x1x1cm cube, its surface area would be 6 cm but its volume would be 1cm. if you had a 10x10x10cm cube, its surface area would be 600 cm and its volume would be 1000cm. as the cube gets bigger, the surface area gets smaller relative to the volume. this means that a smaller paint pile would have more paint in contact with the air around out relative to the amount of paint that isnt in contact with the air, causing it to dry up faster.
A pill box also works, one of those weekly/ fortnightly ones, they are pretty cheap to pick up too.
The issue with pill boxes is that you will always need a palette knife to get the paint out, or my brush would get stuck and messy! In addition, they were difficult to clean, and the plastic cover would easily break. Furthermore the clove oil will not be distributed throughout you need to add drops of clove oil in each individual cover.
I love this channel! You inspire me.
I, like chrisgriffith, use a lid on my (microwave glass dish) palette... I have a small plastic spray bottle that I fill with safflower oil, and before I close off with the glass pot lid, I give the leftover paint a quick spray of oil, put on the lid and it works really well... I like the idea of using clove oil on a dab of cloth as well, I must try that as well... :)
I am not ease at all to waste any oil paint, be it expensive or student grade (of course all lightfast). It just grieves me to waste any! I use piles three times as much as presented, and when I come to a halt that day, I store the palette in a cooler place for the next day. If I won't be painting say for a week, I will force myself to use almost all the paint at that session, and the rest I will pile up, and sort them by different chroma and value of neutrals in plastic airtight cans. The neutrals will do for landscape painting and under-painting. Of course, even those cannot be stored for weeks, because of the many pigments, oxidation begins, yet one week will quite do. Other times, I squeeze a decent amount of paint on the palette, and leave the tubes open at a close reach to the end of the painting session to grab after each color if need will be. Either way, one can achieve a painterly look, even impasto impression even if there is literally no paint on the palette, the key is to be mindful of the tubes - painting is so much more than just painting. I have this practice for several years now, for me it works. I paint mostly at home, and I do not argue that plein air painting is whole different story. The box N paint holder is a wonderful idea, thank you!
Instead of putting clove oil on the sponge I add few drops of Brush Mate Trade 20 Fluid. Probably it’s more toxic but it works better for me
Nice 👍🏼
Wow.. Life changer :-)
Strata says that clove oil can ruin their finish on their easel. So I was a little leery of using it. I have a different version of garage that allows you to put a drop of clove oil on the cap that goes on the garage.
Would paints harden with heat in car?
the little box made a bad seal as paint squished out upon closing !! ... accounts for the partial fail !
I went through the link Bostonart box...it is not a stay wet palette but just a portable storage box I think
I love it ❤
Burnt umber and ultramarine blue are the first to form the skin
I tried many stay wet palette....nothing worked
I tried all the ways to keep stay wet palette...nothing keeps paint wet for oils...I was and am desperate to have stay wet palette to paint daily in oils after my day job....but nothing worked. I tried freezer, cling film on palette, airtight palette box, clove oil, submerged palette in water bath, mixing slow drying oil( safflower) all!!!...nothing helped after a week...skin forms on the paint.
Could you lightly mist your oils with clove oil?
I bought tray in ikea for 2$ and I cover my paint with this tray. Works the same
Long tray, so it covers everything
Whats name the liquid you put next to the color ? 🤔
Clove oil.
Was it a medium
Looked like walnut oil gel. If you’re referencing paint drying faster on the canvas, that would be liquin. For that, use only 20% with paint. Thanks Chelsea for introducing us to your journey.
“teeny, stingy little piles” Yes, I’m guilty of that one.
i would be concerned about cleaning it. the paint won’t dry as quickly, but thin layers will inevitably build up over time.
🖤👏
Liquin is a blessing and a curse, especially if you're working on a large canvas and mixed a lot of paint. It can dry almost overnight, it becomes sticky. What has worked for me is covering it with plastic and put it in the freezer after each session. If you're working on a large piece.
👍👍👍
just eat it! nothing like chowing down some cad yellow with a distant sunset or some cobalt blue for those late night snacks
I'm sorry but this is highly unprofessional. That box is clearly made with a 3d printer, out of PLA or ABS. By the looks of it and the fact that it's cheaper and easier to work with, I'd say PLA. Sooner or later, a 3D printed object will break. 3D printing is used for prototyping, not for final products. How do they justify the whopping price of 50$? for something that cost less than 5$ to print? At 50$ I really expect this to be at least aluminum
Box N Paint has been out there for over one year now, and I can tell you that the cost and time required for 3D printing this painting accessory are not low, considering the quality of its construction. The material itself is quite expensive. On the other hand, a metal version would not be practical since it would heat up in the sun, and certain metals cannot be used with clove oil. We have had awesome reviews and no returns.
I just bought myself a palette-garage - the cylindrical one with the L shaped paint tray and the clove-oil. We'll see!! I HATE wasting anything not even spoilt food I've often wondered about keeping oil paint splotches in a plastic container with just enough water to cover - it would preserve them from oxygen, and would be cheap and simple but might be a little messy and would require some time with the hair-dryer before each paint session. In my industry, there's always "Bloxygen" which I believe is just nitrogen in an aerosol can. I'm not much in favor of wasting aerosol cans either, and the living-cheapskate in me doesn't like to pay money for an atmospheric gas, and so I don't really use Bloxygen much. I have a hard time believing in the clove oil, but I'll remain open minded and will give it a try. I will consider it a major miracle if this works!!
whats the 2nd pile on the right to the white?