Palette Setup

[patindaytona]

Can you all tell me your approach to setting up paints ready for the canvas?
I can't afford to set out a ton of tube paints. I've gone through alot of ideas on palette strategies, but never adhered to any of them.
Again, i want to maybe try this: Pre-mixes   along with the pure tube colors used in those mixes (small dabs only so i can use tiny amounts if i want to use variations of those pre-mixed colors)
This is where it gets out of control for me....once, i start putting the brush into the mixes they spread and become quite a mess on my palette.
If i could only try to use one side of each pile (one for a warm variation perhaps and the other side for a cool variation if it came to doing that).
But these are words...it's so hard to control. I just keep squeezing out paint by the ton. I waste alot of it.

[Leana]

Pat, I use a very limited palette and the palette I use will depend on the subject matter.  I arrange the colours according to the colour wheel...just in a straight line starting with white, then yellow, red, blue...and so on.  When I premix colour strands, I will put them on my palette in a row from top to bottom (underneath my limited palette) and leave enough space between colour strands so they don't intermix and leave enough space if I need to do inpromto mixes.  At the end of the day if I find my palette is starting to look too messy, I will move the colours from my palette, keeping them in the same order, to a big piece of glass.  Clean off the palette and move the colours  back, all ready for the next painting session. I always try, most of the time, to work methodically...but what works for one artist, might not work for another. Hope this helps. 

[ImBatman]

Pat, I have 4 tile pallets. If I run out of room on one, I just set it aside and mix the new colours on a second tile etc.

Batman.

[patindaytona]

Batman, I have a couple and i kind of do that also.
Leana, i started using a limited palette at one time too, but that idea didn't last too long. I am going back to it though. Once i started buying couple of the earth colors i got confused. It's so easy to just start grabbing a fast brown like that. Once you loose concentration, you're not mixing carefully anymore.
It reminds me of running ...so fast that you're loosing your balance. Having and sticking to a method really makes you feel like you are accomplishing something and you probably are in many ways. Organized palette...organized mind.