It is often interesting to others to see the tools used by artists for achieving the paintings that are so interesting to them. I work with two palettes (only one at a time, of course), which I hand-hold. I am a lefty, so I hold the palette in my right hand when I paint. Each of these is a thin, mahogany, plywood palette--one in a larger, rectangle shape, and one in a smaller, kidney-shape, most often associated with the "normal" palette shape for most artists.
These are each polished like fine furniture, and all without having applied any sort of a formal, "finish". The sheen and patina on these palettes has evolved through nothing more complicated than the simple squeezing out of paint onto the palettes, and then using them for mixing. When finished, I just scrape off the remaining paint with a putty knife, and then, using no solvent, simply buff the residual paint film off, with a paper towel.
After a few dozen cleanings after the end of each painting session, the sheen of the naturally-created patina begins to appear.
