An artist’s palette cup
may seem like a trifle, yet choosing one can be surprisingly tricky. First of all, let’s figure out what a palette cup for oil paints actually is. A palette cup, or dipper, is a small container (a little jar) into which artists pour mediums and thinners for their paints. You can read about thinners in the previous article, “Thinners for oil paints. Which one to choose?“. Like all art supplies, palette cups come in different designs and are made from different materials.
Single or double palette cup?
Single palette cup
This is the name for a dipper with just one cup, so you can only pour one kind of thinner into it. It works well for plein air painting and if you use just one solvent in your oil painting.
Double palette cup
As the name suggests, this painting dipper has two cups joined together. They are often used for different kinds of mediums. For example, you can pour linseed oil into one to mix and thin your paints, and clean solvent into the other to quickly rinse paint off your brushes.
What are artists’ palette cups made of?
The choice of materials for your palette cup isn’t very wide: it’s either metal or plastic.
A plastic palette cup
stands out above all for its price (which always catches artists’ attention) and its lightness. I would call these amateur palette cups; like all palette cups, they come in single and double versions. If the cup has a lid, it will become hard to open and close over time. The finest particles of paint collect where the lid meets the cup, then harden and make it difficult to screw the lid on. That’s when the cup becomes vulnerable, because the plastic can crack when you open it. And if you take it out for plein air painting, it can easily get crushed in your field easel box.
A metal palette cup
This one can definitely be called professional! It costs more than a plastic one, of course, but it will serve you much longer. It’s all about the strength of the metal, and also the fact that every metal palette cup should have a rubber seal (if it has a lid). Thanks to this seal, your palette cup will close tightly, won’t leak and won’t let the smell of solvent escape.
Even so, choose a metal palette cup carefully and inspect all the seams before buying. Tiny cracks can hide in the seams, and solvent can seep through them.
Palette cup with or without a lid?
A palette cup for oil painting mediums, made of any material, can come with or without a lid. The only difference is what you do after a painting session. The medium left in a cup with a lid just needs to be closed up, and it will be waiting for you at the next session. In a cup without a lid, however, the solvent will evaporate (if it’s pure solvent), varnish may start to thicken and harden, and oil will simply collect a layer of dust… so there’s only one way out: pour the solvent from an open palette cup into a closed container.
Many professional artists don’t bother choosing a palette cup at all and often use a tin can, a small glass or any container that can hold solvent.
What matters most is what you can create on the canvas, but a good palette cup can be a real helper and make working on your masterpiece easier!