Painting from a glass palette, in my opinion, is probably one of the best surfaces to use. It cleans up very well vs. a plexiglass palette that scratches. Historically, artists have painted on wooden palettes. You can wipe it off and get a really nice patina over time. Personally, I use a razor blade to clean up my palette. The way I do it, on glass, is I paint the back of a glass that is pre-cut to my palette size. Then, I paint a medium- gray on it at about a 4-5 value scale. That way, you don’t see anything underneath it. You can also spray paint it and use several coats.

If I put it inside my outdoor palette, I put a clear bead of silicone around the glass. That way, it holds the glass and it won’t move around. If I use it inside on my bigger palette, I don’t put as much bead on it since I am not moving it around as much. Just be sure it is fixed in there so it doesn’t move while you paint. Now, yes, glass can break. But, over the years I have had little to no trouble with breakage.. it is very rare for it to happen.

I still generally replace it once a year. Glass eventually will get scraped, but you can get good use out of it before this happens. I recommend going to your hardware store and having a specific size in mind that will fit wherever you are using it or carrying it. I think you will really enjoy the surface of glass over plexiglass and I encourage you to give it a try.

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