Q: I have been keeping my palette loaded with oil paint in
the freezer. It thaws quickly to its original consistency and I am
saving a great deal of paint and money, but is repeatedly freezing the
paint harmful?
A: There are definite drawbacks to keeping your palette in
your freezer. First, changes in temperature may cause oil paint to
become brittle or at least behave unpredictably. Second, it is unwise
to store pigments in a freezer where food items are also kept. And
finally, keeping oil paints in a freezer may introduce foreign elements
such as water and ice crystals into the paint. Instead of saving
leftover paint in the freezer, tightly wrap the palette in plastic wrap.