What is the ARGOS PAINT PALETTE SYSTEM?  It's a new art palette design I devised for art-related acrylic painting.  It's the direct result of many years of  trial and  error  experimentation  as I  worked  on  my  own  acrylic  fine   art  landscape paintings. 

During a consultation I had with the senior patent attorney of a law firm, I was advised that such items as this, while valid on its originality, could be easily copied and marketed by a half-dozen countries with a long history of such activities, without regard and in clear conflict with U.S. patent laws.

As such, I decided to shelve the ARGOS PAINT PALETTE concept for the time being.  However, the basic concept can still be followed (and is the one I use) by using basic plastic products currently on the market.  As seen from the photo to the left, a plastic dish with an airtight cover is basically all you need to make painting with acrylic paints a more practical pursuit.  For lack of anything "better" (and being a history buff), I call it the ARGOS Paint Palette system. It effectively deals with the problems associated  with the older, more antiquated palette designs currently on the market, intended for use with water-based pigments. 

The previous generations of paint palettes which claimed to be suited for acrylic  paint  lacked  practicality,   convenience,  and  even  presented certain  hazards  (i.e.,  black mold).  These  older  palette designs  normally come with a thin,  flat  sponge  which is  supposed to be dampened  with water.   A special type of paper is then placed on top    of  this  sponge, which  absorbs  water  from  the  sponge as  this  paper "palette"  dries  out.... the  perfect  environment  for  dangerous  mold formation!

With these older palette designs, the artist places his or her paint (usually tube paint) on top of this damp paper, and mixes it accordingly, prior to usage.  For the artist who needs  or wants  to leave  this  mixed  paint for more  than a week,  you have to deal with a slowly disintegrating paper "palette", as well as the paint getting more and more diluted from laying on this damp paper.

As most artists know, diluted paint covers and applies much differently than the mixture ratio originally intended, with resulting frustration and aggravation as you constantly re-mix and adjust your paint mixtures to compensate for continually diluted paint.  In fact, I began to dislike the activity of painting in general, until I realized it was these lousy, poorly envisioned palette designs that were eroding and destroying my creative drive!  

The worst  by-product of this  "paper on sponge"  palette is...MOLD! (This may explain much of my respiratory problems...).  Current  news  stories  about this dangerous black mold growing in people's houses in damp locations also applies to these older, outdated palette ideas as well.

After six long years of scraping this black mold off the paper palette, and dealing with diluted paint, I started  experimenting with  different ideas I came up with as I painted.  I won't mention any brand names in particular, but  there are  various  types and  models of these  "sponge  and  paper" palette configurations from different manufacturers presently available in most art supply stores. 

Since these outmoded palette designs were all that was available (and still are) you  can  be assured I  bought  and  tried  them all.... each  and  every  one of them.   Unfortunately,  the  end  result was  always  the  same... a soggy, smelly, moldy mess.  

And all this wasn't inexpensive either, as you had to purchase "refill pacs" of paper palettes and sponge to maintain this primitive functionality!  I felt bad that I had even bought any of these older, outdated designs, but that's all that was available.

The remedy to this?  Simply locate a suitable plastic dish (as pictured) with a snap-on plastic cover and you're set to go.  The cover (preferably of clear, see-thru plastic) prevents rapid drying of the acrylic paint in the "palette" (dish).  It actually works like a charm, though some plastic containers seal better than others.  It won't stop the paint from drying, but it will certainly slow the drying.  Acrylic paint dries very rapidly, so an open palette allows all your paint to dry up, making it unusable.

The plastic dish you decide to use can be large or small (as pictured).  I find that this small size works quite nicely for my working style. (I prefer colors to be placed at close proximity to each other for mixing purposes). It also fits fairly comfortably in my hand.  For those who prefer to set the palette on a work bench, a larger size will probably be more practical.

These affordable plastic dishes with covers can be found in most any grocery store.  Another necessary item is the plastic sprayer bottle.  Also easily found in most large grocery or hardware supply stores.  A fine mist sprayer is preferrable over the larger, more coarse sprayers intended for misting plants.  Simply spray the "palette" every few minutes in warm climates, and snap the cover on to keep paint moist and usable for extended periods.

Continued use will show you how much to spray and how often.  You want to avoid too much water in the palette.

                                                                                                                       - Gold Moon Studio -  

 How it Works

                               Modern  technology  has  aided  greatly  in the  development of   many new, and exciting products.  In the case of the ARGOS Paint Palette, special formulations have allowed for  inexpensive,  yet highly  functional  processes to actually work. 

                            By effectively stopping  moisture loss,  the ARGOS Paint Palette allows a special formulation of modern plastics to keep your paint from drying out, and at the same time  presents a useable palette for color mixing.   Though the palette is designed to use plain water,  you can also use the  various thick  acrylic painting mediums currently on the market which will also work well in this system. 

                            In  hot,  dry  weather,  I often  put a few  drops of  acrylic  flow improver  [which is clear and water-like]  into  each color, which extends drying  time even longer,  but does not effect  paint viscosity.

                           Additionally,  the  design of the  ARGOS  Paint  Palette  (and my favorite  feature)  allows for  super-easy  clean-up!   Paint will  easily  come off palette.   NO annoying  palette scraping,  or tedious  preparations  for the palette.  Reload the  palette with your  paint and the palette is  ready to go again!  Free of the hassle and mess of palette  clean-up!

 The ARGOS Paint Palette system

       - GOLD  MOON  STUDIO -

                  Factoid

    - Argos and Odysseus -

* ARGOS in mythology is the faithful dog of Odysseus, the legendary  King  of  Ithaca.  Argos was also the son of Zeus.  Niobe  was  the  mother.  This Argos  [Argus]  was  also the legendary founder of the Greek city of  Argos.

There are also many other references and uses of the Argos name in both ancient and modern times.  

For this item, we are referencing "Argos, the faithful  dog  of  Odysseus"....not the recent movie releases.

The completed acrylic painting shown above. 

Click lower right-hand corner of image shown above for enlarged view.

   Click image above to view Gary Fish paintings.