Recently I purchased the very cute Eraldo Explorer’s Watercolour Palette from Riot Art & Craft.
It’s really cute, but I had no need for the paints that came with it as I have an ever-growing collection of tube watercolours. I bought it with the intention of replacing the paints with my own.
Two problems with this plan:
- The paint is glued firmly into place
- The pan size is slightly smaller than the “standard” half pan used in most metal palettes*
Yes, that’s right, when I tried to pry the paint out from the pans, it wouldn’t budge. I tried searching the internet to see if anyone had ever encountered this problem before, but I couldn’t find anything. I tried searching for places to purchase empty half pans in this design. I tried filing down my other half pans, but it was tedious and didn’t provide a good fit.
Eventually, I hit upon the solution: isopropyl alcohol.
I sprayed a small amount into each pan, making certain it dripped down the sides, around the paint, into the bottom of the pan. I let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then I used a dental tool to pry it out, gently wiggling it down each side until the paint released.
The alcohol doesn’t seem to have damaged the paint, but as discussed I had no intention of using it.
Now I can fill my palette to my heart’s content.
I hope this information helps someone out there. Happy painting!
*That said, this pan design is the same as on my Derwent Graphitint Paint Palette.
Thank you for this invaluable advice, it worked great! It won’t be pretty though, it will be messy and everything, but the paints came out, and yes, they were glued to the bottom.
Then I went in with cotton buds dipped into isopropyl alcohol to get the last remains out, and washed in soap water.
After 96 pans of doing that…. Phew. I was pretty tired (and had very dry hands too LOL)