How To Paint With a Palette Knife

  • October 3, 2008
  • 28,773 Views
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Sometimes painting with a brush can be a pain in the neck. Try painting with your palette knife instead.

You Will Need

  • A palette knife
  • Oil paints
  • Acrylic paints with medium mixed in
How To Paint With a Palette Knife: Hold knife like a brush

Step 1: Hold knife like a brush

Hold the painting knife pretty much the same way you should a paintbrush.

More specifically, hold the knife so it rests atop the inside of all four fingers—not gripped like a baseball bat or a pencil.

How To Paint With a Palette Knife: Glob the paint on the canvas

Step 2: Glob the paint on the canvas

Glob the paint on to the pre-treated canvas or board and start pushing it around.

How To Paint With a Palette Knife: Feel out the surfaces

Step 3: Feel out the surfaces

Get a feel for what the different surfaces—including the edges—of the paint knife can do.

It helps, though isn’t necessary, to work from light to dark.

How To Paint With a Palette Knife: Watch the paint dry

Step 4: Watch the paint dry

Watch how the paint dries. It might sound boring, but it’s crucial if you care about your work.

The toughest time to work over a layer of paint is when it’s wet with a dry skin on top. You can work wet-on-dry, but working wet-on-wet is the most common way to go about it.

How To Paint With a Palette Knife: Wipe your knives clean

Step 5: Wipe your knives clean

Simply wipe your knives clean with a good, lint-free rag.

Don’t be afraid to put a little cleaning solution on the rag to get all of the paint off the knife before dipping it back down.

How To Paint With a Palette Knife: Wait for the paint to dry

Step 6: Wait for the paint to dry

Allow a long time for the paint to dry completely. If you’re wondering if it’s been long enough, it hasn’t.

You can save a few bucks by buying some of your tools at the hardware store.

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Comments (1)

medusa

Hi, just browsing the internet to learn how to paint! The video is stopping and starting again, might be the computer, but could you have a check? I like what I have seen and will be seeing what else there is. Medusa

over 2 years ago by medusa

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