Acrylic Painting A white surface is preferred as acrylics are more transparent than oils. Plastic or ceramic plates can be practical, however a simple ‘stay-wet palette can be made thus: obtain a cheap plastic watercolor palette with wide mixing ‘dips’ (50mm is ideal) cut small pieces of thin kitchen sponge to fit, moisten, then put a piece of copy paper over that, cut to fit the ‘dip’. Acrylic colors squeezed onto that wet copy paper will stay wet for hours.