A compact, well-designed folding palette that delivers considerably more mixing space than its closed size would suggest. The Royal & Langnickel Essentials RD320P is a white plastic folding palette with 25 individual mixing wells — enough to hold a generous working range of colours and mixtures simultaneously without the wells running into each other — that folds flat for storage and transport, making it practical for studio, classroom, and location use alike.
The white surface is the essential quality in any mixing palette — it allows accurate colour assessment as you mix, ensuring what you see in the well is what you get on the paper or canvas, without the colour cast that a grey, wooden, or tinted surface introduces. The 25 individual wells keep colours separated and organised, preventing accidental contamination between colours and allowing a full working palette to be set out at the start of a session without running out of space. The wells are deep enough to hold a useful quantity of paint without drying out too quickly.
The folding design is the practical advantage over a flat palette — the two halves fold together to enclose the wells, protecting mixed colours and unused paint between sessions and making the palette compact enough to carry in a bag without risk of spilling. For watercolour painters in particular this is a significant practical quality — watercolour can be re-wetted after drying, which means a palette of mixed colours can be sealed, carried to a new location, and re-opened ready to use with minimal preparation.
Suitable for watercolour, gouache, acrylic, and any water-based paint. Made by Royal & Langnickel, a US art materials manufacturer founded in 1948.
Wells: 25
Colour: White
Format: Folding — closes flat for storage and transport
Suitable for: Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, and water-based media
Why is a white palette important?
A white mixing surface allows accurate colour assessment — the colour you see in the well matches the colour that will appear on white paper or canvas. A tinted, grey, or wooden palette introduces a colour cast that makes accurate mixing difficult. White is the standard for watercolour and gouache work in particular.
Can mixed paint be saved between sessions?
Yes — the folding design closes the wells, protecting mixed colours between sessions. For watercolour, dried paint in the wells can be re-wetted and used again. For acrylic, dried paint cannot be revived and wells should be cleaned between sessions.
Is it suitable for watercolour?
Yes — the 25 individual wells and white surface make it particularly well suited to watercolour painting, where a generous number of wells allows a full working palette to be set out and individual colours to remain uncontaminated.
How many colours can it hold?
25 — one per well. In practice most painters use some wells for single colours and others for mixtures, giving a flexible working layout across the full 25 spaces.
