Once you’re comfortable painting with brushes, a fun project is learning how to paint with a knife.
You’re already familiar with a palette knife for mixing and blending paint, but using your knife to paint takes your painting experience to a whole new level.
So let’s dive in…
Types Of Knives
Artist’s knives come in two basic silhouettes, and although either type can be used for painting, there are differences.
Palette Knives
Palette knives are long, straight blades with a handle which are used to mix paint on your palette. They may be made from plastic or metal and have either a flat shape or a slight bend in the blade.
Painting Knives
Painting knives are typically made of metal attached to a wooden handle. They have a deep bend in the blade to prevent your knuckles from smearing paint on your canvas as you lay in the paint. The length and shape of the blade is available in a variety of profiles. Trowel-shaped, diamond-shaped and pear-shaped blades are common shapes and help you control paint application.
A rounded blade ensures you won’t poke a hole in your canvas, while a pointed trowel allows you to scrape thin lines for a sgraffito look. A short blade makes it easy to paint angular strokes and a long blade encourages strong, sweeping strokes of color.
As important as the shape of the blade, the thickness of the metal used to create the blade plays a part as well. If the metal is too thick, it will be rigid and have little spring when gently pressed. A wide blade will be more rigid, while a thinner blade will bend more readily. Although a stiff blade may be good for some applications, the rigid nature limits its versatility.
A blade made with a very thin gauge of metal may be too flimsy to control, so a super-springy blade isn’t a good choice either. Plastic blades don’t have the pliability of a metal blade and may snap with energetic painting.
Choose a blade that feels good in your hand. It should have the right heft and feel comfortable. Make sure the wood is properly finished and the blade fits tightly in the shank.
Holding Your Knife And Applying Paint
If you’ve ever slathered butter into the nooks and crannies of a freshly toasted muffin or spread mayonnaise on a tuna fish sandwich, you already know how to hold a palette knife. Just hold it naturally and scoop up a dollop of paint.
When you apply the paint, you can change the angle to spread a wide, even coat, use the tip to smudge a tiny dot or angle the long edge along the canvas and pull it down to apply a straight streak of paint.
You can scoop up a big glop of paint to add a thick layer of paint or use a small amount to lightly skim the surface of the canvas. Use the edge to scrap away some of your paint or to scratch a line in the already-applied wet paint.
Which Paint Can I Use With A Palette Knife?
You can use almost any kind of paint with a palette knife. The thicker the paint, the more dramatic are your results. A very thick acrylic paint that’s been mixed with texture paste allows you to build up thick, impasto layers of paint, but any paint with a relatively thick consistency can be used.
You can even use a palette knife with some degree of success when painting with watercolor. However, this requires juicy, concentrated paint and a degree of speed, as the paint quickly absorbs into the paper. You can apply a swath of paint with a paintbrush and follow it quickly with a knife to move the paint around or scratch into the paper. The paint will settle into the markings.
Cleaning A Palette Knife
If cleaning brushes is the bane of your existence, then painting with a palette knife will rid you of a despicable task. Simply wipe wet paint from the knife with a paper towel, and you’re done.
If you’ve allowed paint to dry on the blade, you can easily scrape or peel the paint off with a damp towel or another blade edge.
A steel blade may develop rust if left in a moist climate, especially in coastal areas. Keep the blades dry to minimize rust by wiping with a bit of oil to protect the surface.
Next time you’re at a loss for inspiration, grab a palette knife and give this fun and spontaneous painting method a try. You’ll find it breaks you of focusing too much on details and loosen up your work.
