Palette knife painting

The painting knife, or palette knife, as it is often called, has been a part of painter's tools for many centuries. Originally, it wasn't used to apply paint or to produce impastos but to mix pigments, to superimpose one layer of paint over another to modify it appearance or to remove excess paint from the canvas. Consisting of a curved handle and a flexible steel blade, its shape is comparable to that of a small trowel. It was during the Renaissance that the palette knife began to be used for something other than its original purpose and that artists started to use it to paint. Before that, painters sought to create a realistic and therefore smooth result. But artists such as Rembrandt, Titian or Fragonard noticed that scraping paint to create impasto helped to create eye-catching texture, relief and light.

Gustave Courbet is well-known for having brought palette knives back into fashion in the 19th century, a pivotal period when the art of painting, and art in general, underwent many changes and transformations. He was followed by the Impressionists and the modern painters (Monet, Van Gogh, Turner, etc) who used it to create thick impastos. Impressionists were particularly keen on this tool which was well-suited to the way in which they sought to represent light realistically, as our eyes see it. The invention of the easel and paint tubes allowed them to leave their workshops and to paint outside, enabling them to depict the shimmering reflections of water and the ever changing nature. They applied paint quickly in small thin strokes on the canvas and created texture using the knife. To create this effect, they used oil paint and acrylic, working them as little as possible so as to ensure their thick, dense appearance.

On Artsper, find works by Aude Herlédan and Judith HM, amongst others who have transcribed the use of the palette knife in unique ways in their contemporary practice!

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Palette knife painting

L'arbre penché vers la neige - Paysage enneigé semi figuratif

bal masqué au village

Overview

Problèmes de temps

Au dessus des nuages, le ciel est toujours bleu...

Eau, transparence

H2o

Eau et reflets

Bleu du ciel

Nature et chuchottis d'herbes folles

Reflet arbre, pergola de verdure

Nature, des herbes et du vent

Le temps d'un bouquet

Masked Mischief

Arbre saule, Frisson du paysage

Ciel , tout le ciel est nécessaire

Nature, des herbes et du vent

Transparence

Le jardin d'Éden

Phenix

Wi-Fi

Bird 2

Bird

Snow party in the Champs Elysée

Gold & Pink LV

Colorful parrots

El Sol

El Fuego

Osiris, Anubis, Horus

Offrande du Pharaon suivi du Dieu Thot

Une plage en hiver

Arcades

Rêve et voyage Fantastique d'un Enfant

Wave

Mist

Aurora

Diva au violon

Livres

La pêche à pied

Coquelicots N°6 violet

Edenline

Passion palette

Good old Schnitze

Roter Gesang - red song

Kaukasischer Gesang - Song of Kaukasus

The beauty of sunset. 3 impasto oil paintings

Toskana, Vinci.

Jamais sans toi

Lemon Still Life II

Aircraft Carrier in the Pacific 1944

American in Paris

Rose Octobre

Arbre rose

Victoria

La Pompadour

Là où commence le rêve

Musiciennes en temps de Covid

Coral Reef with Red Fish

Deep Ocean Coral Reef

Sunset design

Danseuse de flamenco 2

Ktizo

Mes petits bonheurs A

Come back to me

Terre brute

Yellow with pink