Adventures in Painting: Ceramic Watercolor Palette Review

Artist Collaboration with East Wheeling Clayworks and Their New Ceramic Watercolor Palette

Watercolor Palette by East Wheeling Clayworks.

Local. Handmade. Small business. Watercolor. Need I say more?

As a fellow small business owner, I was more than happy to test out East Wheeling Clayworks’ new Watercolor Palette and share my thoughts. East Wheeling Clayworks is a family-owned production pottery studio here in Wheeling, WV. They throw, build, and craft everything from mugs and dish sets to incense burners, custom orders, and jack-o’-lanterns. You can check out their work here!

If you haven’t noticed (or if you’re new here, welcome!), I love watercolor supplies as much as I love painting. I have an arsenal of paints, brushes, and palettes, but this is my first experience with a ceramic watercolor palette. I’ll admit, I made my own ceramic palette years ago; it’s small and very wobbly. Functional, yes. Pretty and worth sharing? No. I’ve always dreamed of a handmade ceramic palette for my studio, so when Adam reached out with their new design, I couldn’t say no.

What I love most about this palette is the design, size, and aesthetic. With a functional design, this palette is easy to use and is large enough for mixing yet doesn’t take up much space on my table. With a creamy speckled glaze, this palette is both ideal for mixing colors and is pleasing to the eye.

This handcrafted ceramic palette is both durable and aesthetically pleasing. The palette measures 7 inches by 10 inches and is about half an inch thick—she’s a sturdy gal.

I couldn’t wait to fill this beauty full of paint! Just looking at it on my table makes me excited to pick up a brush. This palette has a smooth, non-porous surface, allowing for easy color mixing, and unlike plastic and enamel palettes, this palette will not stain.

(Tip: I use a “Magic Eraser” to buff the surface of my palettes before using them—this prevents the paint from beading on the palette.)

This palette features ten individual wells for paint—choosing ten colors was harder than I thought ( I may or may not have spent over an hour choosing these colors ). The wells are large enough to fit my size 12 Winsor and Newton watercolor brush, making it a great palette for larger brushes. As for filling the wells, I prefer leaving some of the well empty, however, you can easily fill up each well without paint spilling over the edges. The spacing between each well prevents color contamination, which is an added plus.

As pictured above, I had no trouble mixing colors on this palette; the paint glides beautifully across the speckled surface. The mixing area measures about 6.5 inches by 5.5 inches and is not divided into larger wells, which I prefer. I love mixing colors and layering old mixes atop new mixes, so having an open mixing space is perfect for me. Adam also mentioned that they are adding a lip to the bottom of the palette to prevent paint from spilling over the edge, but I haven’t had any issues so far—the palette lays flat, so the paint doesn’t run!

The glaze is white with speckles; I can’t gush enough at how lovely it looks nestled among my paints and brushes on my table. I wouldn’t say it’s bright white, however, the off-white glaze doesn’t impact color mixing.

This palette also features two thumb holes, making it righty and lefty friendly; I don’t hold my palettes often, so I didn’t use this feature much while painting. I also feel the palette’s weight would make it difficult to hold for long periods, however, I’d rather have a sturdy palette for my studio than a thinner palette that could possibly crack. The inside of the thumb holes are glazed, so no rough edges to scratch your thumb.

Isn’t she pretty?

Painting with this palette was a treat, and it is officially my favorite studio palette. Not only is it functional and beautifully handcrafted, but it also brings me so much joy in my studio. If you’re interested in this palette, reach out to East Wheeling Clayworks; they’ll be happy to make one for you.