How to Draw a Palette

A palette is one of the most important tools for an artist, but it can also be a great subject for drawing. In this step-by-step tutorial, we will show you how to draw an artist’s palette with its characteristic shape and blobs of paint on its surface. We will also show you how to give this simple object basic volume using simple techniques.

In our previous drawing tutorials, the team of Drawingforall.net showed you how to draw a pencil, draw a pen, and draw an artist’s brush. These are some of the main tools that almost every artist needs.

How to draw a palette step by step

Step 1: Draw the palette outline

This drawing tutorial will be very simple, and it also begins very simply. First, draw the outer contour of the palette and add the oval thumb hole near one side. Give the palette an asymmetrical shape. The thumb hole should look like an oval and lie in the same plane as the entire surface of the palette.

Step 2: Add thickness to the palette

Add a second line along the lower edge to show its thickness. Connect the two contours with short lines at their ends. Draw another curved line inside the thumb hole for the same purpose.

Step 3: Draw the paint blobs

Now draw the blobs of paint with smooth, irregular lines around the outer part of the palette. Arrange them around the perimeter and leave a large empty area in the center for mixing colors. Do not try to make all of them identical in shape or size.

Step 4: Add shadows to the palette

Imagine that the light comes from above and to the right of the object. Following this lighting scheme, add hatching to the left sides of the paint blobs and draw the cast shadows. The side surface of the palette and the surface inside the thumb hole receive less light than the top surface, so shade these areas as well.

Even a simple object like an artist’s palette has volume. In fact, it is not just a flat surface but a three-dimensional form with top, bottom, and side surfaces. The thumb hole also creates additional visible surfaces. In addition, this object can be positioned differently in space and follows the laws of perspective.

Here we showed you how to depict the top surface correctly and convey the thickness of the object. You also saw how to create volume simply by adding shadows to the side surfaces.

Now you can create a composition consisting of art supplies, which, by the way, is quite characteristic of classical still lifes. Draw a brush next to the palette. You can also sketch a pencil cup and draw pencils inside it. You can also draw a pen and other art supplies inside the cup or lying next to the palette.