Home made dry/texture palate questions

[DerBarchen]

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone had try making a dry brush palate at home, the kind that Artis Opus uses for his drybrushing. I've found cheap alternatives for both the brushes and the brush dampener but I've not had much success with making a texture palate.

 

I bought a cheapo wooden palate and carved some groves/shapes into it to texture it but my big problem is that paint dries on it super fast so I don't have the amount of working time Artis Opus does in his videos.

 

My two ideas for solving it is either basecoating the entire thing black and hoping thats enough to separate the paint from the porous wood, or to give it a matte varnish for the same reason.

My question is which of those seems more likely to work. I'm worried the matte varnish might create Too much of a seal and then I won't be able to use the texture in the palate to test the drybrushing.

 

Help and comments appreciated!

[Sgt.Sangha]

Prime it with a primer you normally use