Palette knife painting - suggestions?

[Marc Sabatella]

For those of you who do a lot fo palette knife painting - do you have a favorite surface to work on for it? Any other suggestions? I accidentally forgot my brushes heading out in the field to paint today, and was already set up quite a ways from any art stores I knew about by the time I realized it, so I just did my first palette knife painting. It actually came out reasonably well, I think, but I didn't particularly enjoy the experience. Especially at first, the paint was *way* too slow going down. I'm using MGraham paints, no solvent. I tried both a smooth gessoed board and a canvas board. The latter seemed marginally more receptive, so it's what I went with, but it took forever to just get the barest outline of my painting down.

Once I got past that, though, it went pretty quickly. I had the painting as finished as I wanted it in roughly the same hour and a half I almost always spend. And the texture worked for me - I find the knife "strokes" less obtrusive than brushtrokes can be if I use too large a brush.

[Mario]

Please, post the painting...now, that you've got us waiting with a panting breath!
I am reading a book by Charles Hawthorne...were he cautions painters to not take brushes out of doors but to take painting knives....putty knives, anything but a brush.:angel: :evil:

[artbabe21]

Originally posted by Mario
I am reading a book by Charles Hawthorne...

Hawthorne on Painting??? Isn't it a complete GEM?????? And so reasonable!! :)

[Ruth]

I found that even a slightly textured surface, such as canvas, is better for knife painting. I tried using smooth panels and the paint slipped around and lifted off with every touch of the knife. Very frustrating. I use Larry Seiler's technique of massing in the big shapes with a rag, very quick and easy, then painting with the knife over that. Larry has some demonstration articles here on WC, I think in the En Plein Air forum, very helpful.

Ruth

[JamieWG]

Originally posted by Mario
Please, post the painting...now, that you've got us waiting with a panting breath!
I am reading a book by Charles Hawthorne...were he cautions painters to not take brushes out of doors but to take painting knives....putty knives, anything but a brush.:angel: :evil:

Mario, in the same book he says:

"The palette knife gives you the feeling of working in a new medium.......that's its only virtue....There is danger of becoming enamored of the palette knife technique."

Jamie

[Ant Carlos]

Hello, Marc

It happened to me once, but not that I had forgotten my brushes. I was just in the mood for a palette knife trip and did my first and only painting without brushes and out of my classical style.
I used only one palette knife, numbered 4, which I think is quite large. All I can say is it was fun, but I don't know if I could have the control all the time.

Here is the result btw:
Dancers, 11,7" x 16,5"

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/26-Nov-2003/30789-dancers.jpg

Good luck to you.
And please post something :)

Kind regards,

Ant

[Wayne Gaudon]

I think the author wrong on this one.

"The palette knife gives you the feeling of working in a new medium.......that's its only virtue

Bull .. it has many virtues .. clean paint, no cleaning, ease of use, etc.

....There is danger of becoming enamored of the palette knife technique."
... very true.


Marc .. the knife is a lovely thing and the next best thing is rags.

:D .. Of course, that is only my opinion.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/26-Nov-2003/5946-enew.jpg

[Marc Sabatella]

OK, here is the (slightly fuzzy - sorry) image of my first palette knife painting:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/26-Nov-2003/29333-knife.JPG

The day started out about as cold & drab as you see it here, and I think the palette knife "look" goes well with that. The sun actually came out half way through, so I spent the rest of the painting session trying *not* to chase what I was seeing but to instead hold on to what I originally saw.

Funny people should mention Hawthorne. A friend who was out painting with me (in pastel, so I couldn't just borrow a brush :-) was telling me he had just been reading that book too, and it was making him really think about color differently. He also mentioned the palette knife advice.

Thanks for the rag suggestion. Makes a lot of sense. When I realized I had no brushes, my first thought was that I would do a rag painting, or even a finger painting, before suddenly remember about palette knives.

And I sure like the painting "Ant Carlos" posted! Seems to me if you're going to do a palette knife painting, you might as well do a palette knife painting, if you know what I mean.

[FOX]

Originally posted by JamieWG


Mario, in the same book he says:

"The palette knife gives you the feeling of working in a new medium.......that's its only virtue....There is danger of becoming enamored of the palette knife technique."

Jamie
There is danger of becomming enamored with anything and/or anybody. :)

[Dana Design]

Has kind of a cathedral feeling to it ala the Moorish arches of the trees.

Nice, Marc!
Dana