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The Palette Knife? The Painting Knife? Which is Which?

I haven't the foggiest.

This Is Sick

(or as my son asks in all seriousness, "What am I going to do with all of this junk when you're gone?)

Tell us about using the palette knife. Are there different kinds for different purposes? What do they do that brushes can't?

Is there a trade-off?

    Sidney Oliver

Sidney, I briefly mentioned how I became enamored with the palette knife in the post about Seeing. The gist is that in an effort to loosen up my painting style, I began painting with a palette or painting knife. For a while, I made a pact with myself to not use a brush and only a knife. Thus, a whole new, exciting world full of possibilities was opened up to me.

I'm not sure of the difference between a palette and a painting knife. One is for mixing paint and one is for actual painting, but painters tend to do both with both. 

Hydrangeas and Shadows

8X8" Oil

What are the advantages of using a palette knife?

• Clean up is a dream. That alone would win me over. It beats scrubbing that paint out of those brushes. Even now I find I am stingy with using too many brushes in any one day. It's a shame to let my work be governed by laziness, but it is.
• The painter tends to paint in a looser manner.
• Paintings seem livelier, decreasing that paint-by-numbers look.
• Colors are easier to mix right on the canvas rather than on the palette. Not that this is a plus, but it's fun to do on occasion to get a different result.
• Using the knife gives the painter a feeling of sculpting as opposed to producing just one more colored canvas.

Yes, one can go the smooth non-textured photographic way, as is evidenced below:

Pears

18X24 Oil

or, using only the palette knife, 

High Country September

20X20" Oil

or mostly brushwork with a little palette knife work:

White on White

36X36" Oil

but how much more fun to combine the two along with some realism and abstraction in something like this:

Abundance

36X36 Oil

Trevor Chamberlain, a wonderful British artist, uses only one palette knife, which I suspect is similar in shape to the one above. He disapproves of the different kinds of knives available referring to them as "fiddly." Trevor is a better painter than I, and I don't think I could settle with just one. Some shapes fit certain areas better than others. Even though half of each painting is painted with a knife, Chamberlain doesn't like the knife work to be dominant because he thinks it interferes with the subject. He covers and smooths out areas with the knife rather than promoting an impasto effect. I understand that concept and I don't necessarily disagree, but, for me, giving up the knife and using it in a limited capacity might destroy my joie de vivre while painting.

Being able to use a knife properly has to do with that certain spring of the knife. Certain knives feel better to some hands. Flexibility is required, but it's a Goldilocks approach. You want one that's just right. My favorite knife brand is off the market. I've found some substitutes, but nothing quite matches that perfect spring.

Sometimes I will be using a brush and, when I step back, the painting looks lifeless. Once I bring out that knife, the painting is taken to a different level. I have realized that my best work includes a combination of brush and knife work. I know you didn't mention this in the question, but I do use my hands and fingers, as well. The greater percentage of the time I paint on Ampersand Art's Gessobord, but once while painting on a large canvas, I feared I was going to lose my fingertips due to the roughness of the canvas. Touch and feel need to be evident in the work. 

When it comes to painting, everything is on the table including a discarded dental tool I once brought home from the dentist. Whatever works, use it, but be wary of relying on gimmicks. You want a painting that is substantial with a little flair, not flashy with no foundation.   Just as in life, balance is required. 

Trust your gut, but make sure it's a trained gut.

Enjoy the process!

   Ruthie Windsor-Mann

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver. 

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Copyright 2019 Ruthie Windsor-Mann All Rights Reserved