Painting and Palette Knives and How To Use Them

Painting and Palette Knives

When you hear “painting knife,” you immediately think of oil paint, but painting and palette knives can also be used with acrylics. Because acrylics dry so fast, you don’t get the muddy mixing of colors you sometimes get with oils.

Palette and Painting Knives

There are many uses for painting and palette knives, no matter what medium you use.

Speaking of mediums, painting knives are great to use with thick gel mediums to create wonderful textures in your work.

I have a post on how to use acrylic mediums if you would like to experiment with them.

These knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are not exactly “knifeish” (new word. Hey, I’m artistic) in that they are usually dull.

Painting and palette knives can be made of plastic, wood, or metal. You don’t need to purchase a dozen different knives. You only need the basic shapes in a few different sizes to accomplish most techniques.

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The Difference Between Painting and Palette Knives

Most people use the term palette knife for any knife they use for painting. A painting knife and a palette knife are actually two different things as I explain below.

It really doesn’t matter what you call them as long as they work for you, but I thought I would explain the difference just for reference.

I know of an artist who doesn’t own a knife but instead uses old credit cards cut in various shapes. The only real rule you need to follow in painting is “do what works for you.”

Palette Knives

Palette knives are generally used for mixing paint on a palette, although they are sometimes used in the painting itself. These knives usually have a flat handle or a handle with a very slight bend.

I prefer metal blades, as they have a bit more “spring” and are easier to clean.

Palette knives are great for scraping paint off a glass palette or for mistakes in your painting. They are mostly used for mixing paint on your palette.

Painting Knives

Painting knives have more of a bend on the handle. This makes it easier to keep your fingers out of the wet paint on your surface.

You can get a variety of textures and effects with painting knives, as described below. Remember to clean them after each use because a knife with dried paint built up on the edge is of no use.

Again, I prefer metal knives because they are much easier to clean. Wipe them after each use and wash them when you are finished painting.

Make sure they dry thoroughly before storing.

I have had a few that have gotten rust on the blade. If paint dries onto the blade, you can sometimes scrape it off with a sharp knife, but usually, acrylic paint is easy to wash off metal knives.

Painting Surface

A palette knife or painting knife can be used on almost any surface. If you are using a lot of thick paint or doing the piece entirely with knives, a Masonite board or canvas board might be best.

A stretched canvas can still work with a painting knife, but if you use a lot of paint, it tends to weigh the canvas down, and it can sag, and the paint may crack over time.

Any firm surface will give you the best results. Doing an underpainting first to stain the canvas or board will give you the best effect.

This underpainting will show through when you scrape off paint in certain areas.

Think about the overall composition of your painting when deciding on a color for the underpainting.

Generally, an earthy tone works best, but again, it depends on the type of work you are doing.

Paint

Thick paint works best with painting knives. I tend to paint in thin glazes of color, and so I use fluid acrylics.

While you can use a palette knife or painting knife to spread the paint, you will not get the texture you want.

Thick, heavy body paint or paint mixed with a texture medium is the best paint to work with knives.

You can achieve wonderful textures for rocks, mountains, foliage, or just about anything with a knife and thick paint.

If you aren’t sure which type of paint to buy, you can check out my post on how to choose the right acrylic paint.

Techniques with Painting Knives

There are various techniques you can use with a painting knife to achieve the desired effect in your artwork. Practice some of these to see how they work with the various knives and how changing the angle will give you a different effect.

         Lines:  Scrape a little paint onto the edge of your knife and dab it onto your canvas. This can make a thin line for things such as a fence, windowsill, or tree.

You will need to reload the knife frequently as you are only using the edge. I actually find the angled palette knife very useful for this technique.

Scraping: A sharp, pointed blade can be used for scraping in a technique called sgraffito, which is taken from an Italian word meaning “to scratch.”

Scraping or sgraffito is used when you want to scrape the paint away from a mistake or scrape paint to expose some of the underpainting.

You can also use it to scrape in a tree trunk or other thin object. Use a small knife on its edge to gently scrape the paint away from an area.

Wipe the knife after each scrape to prevent the mixing of colors.

Dabbing:  You can use a knife with a rounded tip to dab on dots of color or to build up texture. Dip the tip of the knife into the paint to pick up a small amount of color and then gently dab it on your surface.

Sweeping:  A long blade produces sweeps of color, such as putting snow on mountain tops.

This technique can also be used to spread paint across a wide area to create a body of water or field or to blend two colors directly on your surface.

Use the long edge of the knife to grab paint from your palette and “sweep” it onto your surface, similar to spreading jam or butter on bread.

Make sure your knife is clean. Dried paint on the knife can leave ridges or grooves in the paint.

There are no rules for applying paint to a surface.

Grab a few knives and some paint and experiment with different marks and techniques. Take notes as you experiment so you can reproduce the different effects in your painting.

I have Parkinson’s, so I make some wonderful “happy mistakes” when I use a painting knife on my really shaky days. Creativity is limitless.

If you have questions, you can leave them in the comments below. You can also join our free Facebook group, Trembeling Art Creative Corner, where you can ask questions, post your work and get to know some fantastic artists from all genres and skill levels. 😊

Thanks for reading