I've read many times that one of the challenges some artists face when starting to paint in acrylics is their fast drying time. This lead me to believe that they dry the moment they are put to canvas. That's not the case at all, there is at least a few minutes to work and manipulate the paint before it drys on the painting surface. This may not be the ideal situation for those accustomed to painting wet into wet but for me it's just right since I don't like waiting around for paint to dry before I can get into painting more detail.
However acrylics quick drying time does pose a problem with keeping the paint workable on the palette. Here's how to keep the palette wet while painting and still workable several days later:
For your painting palette use a shallow plastic container with a lid that shuts tight(think tupperware).
Line the container with a sheet or two of damp paper towels and on top place down some parchment paper which will serve as your painting palette. The kind used for baking, not the stuff ancient manuscripts are written on. Yeah, I know you knew but I couldn't resist.
When you are done painting for the day, spray a light mist over the paint and close the container with the lid. This will keep the paint wet for 3 or 4 days.
