PALETTE KNIFE PAINTING

Foresr Glow, Acrylic palette knife painting by Laura Watmough

Those little knives are a bit tricky to use!
I picked a variety of white plastic palette knives to experiment with. The metal ones are coming in my Richeson Art supply order but I thought I would work out a few kinks before hand.

First off, I am painting in acrylic. Yes, not my favorite media, but a little can go a long ways and I am definitely going to go through a few tubes. I will graduate to oils once I have an idea how the knives perform.

My other dilemma was how much medium to use? I prefer light moulding paste and heavy gel mixed. I tend to mix  on the palette which means there are always inconsistencies. The approximate percentage is 30% gel, 70% moulding paste. This keeps the painting from weighing a ton! Heavy gel really means heavy....

My discoveries:

•  acrylics can be used straight, without mediums, especially in the first thin coating of the canvas/board and the final layer that is just accents.
• a variety of different paint is a must- heavy body AND regular AND almost fluid.
• FORGET DETAIL. This is all about visual impact. If detail is what you are going after, select a LARGE canvas!
• I prefer board over canvas- easier to scrape off paint, easier surface for making edges and no fear when using the 'sharp' edge of a palette knife.
• other tools work just as well or better for certain effects-combs, paint pushers, cardboard, brushes, stamps etc. I can see myself collecting an assortment of' 'junk'  just to get certain marks on the painting!!!
• Not every painting will be 'good'. I repainted on entire board three time from top to bottom. If it doesn't work, wait about 3 days, sand vigorously, then start again. This will appeal to  the penny pincher in all of us. Nothing wasted!

Who is interested in giving this a try? If you have dabbled with palette knives, can you add to the hints and tips?