Creating excitement and texture with palette knives!
by Carol Swinney
The best expression of an artist’s creativity is ultimately an evolution of artistic interests and abilities. Many artists can look back to their youth and remember when they knew they wanted to be an artist or when they felt they had talent. Usually, after being encouraged by their parents, teachers or others, they began their long journey of creative discovery. We try many different mediums, tools, classes, workshops, etc. during the formative years in an attempt to determine what artistic pathway we will take. The path I chose, to become a palette knife painter, evolved slowly and purely by chance. In the early 1980’s I happened to visit a gallery displaying work by Bill Freeman, a well known, western, wildlife and landscape artist. I detected something exciting and different in his pieces and discovered that he had done all his work with a palette knife. Since Bill lived in Jackson Wyoming, my home state, I looked him up and inquired if I could study with him. He agreed and invited me to paint with him on location both at his Jackson home and in the desert areas around Scottsdale, Arizona. Since Bill painted exclusively with palette knives, this was the tool he expected me to use while painting with him. I remember watching him use the knife and became fascinated by the different knife strokes, the variety of interesting edges and the unusual effects he could achieve. I studied the way he was holding the knife, the way he pushed or pulled the paint around, and how lightly or heavily he pressed the knife to the canvas. My first experience with using the knife was to copy one of his paintings as closely as I could by examining his strokes and colors. This was difficult but I enjoyed the challenge and was encouraged enough to continue on with the knife. Looking back, I realize how long it has taken me to achieve good knife handling skills but also realize that it is a frustrating tool that I will always be trying to master. Becoming a palette knife painter and a “plein air” painter both happened at the same time as Bill and I always went out and painted landscapes on location. During this period, I met Greg McHuron, a well known landscape brush painter, and studied with him almost as much as with Bill. From Greg I attribute a lot of my design abilities, color sense and values. Both Bill and Greg started their work outdoors and if necessary, finished up in the studio. I painted so much on location that I couldn’t imagine, at that time, painting any other way. Today I paint less than half of my work in the studio and the rest is done from life, or en plein air. Most of my outdoor work is done in some of the most spectacular locations in the western United States. Finding a good painting location is usually no problem, however, simplifying the composition is a little more difficult. I usually sketch just the basic outlines of what I want to paint. The lines are only meant to guide me on the major shapes of my composition. The details appear later by the variation of edges and colors created by the knife. I usually spend no more than two hours painting on location. If I’m painting a large piece, I will go back the next day at the same time and try to finish it on location. More often than not I can get enough information during this time to complete the painting from memory in the studio, or wherever I find good outdoor light. I usually take reference photos for later use in the studio if more detail work is necessary.For me, one of the keys to mastering the knife is learning how to manipulate the paint with an infinite number of strokes to produce the desired effects. For example, certain elements of a painting such as water, rocks or trees require different approaches, from using a very light touch to pressing the knife heavily into the paint and moving it in a variety of ways. Another example would be, when painting the sky, without clouds, I use my 2 ½” knife and “scrub” the paint into the canvas in circular motions. I then blend the colors by taking the edge of the knife and scraping off most of the paint in an upward motion. This eliminates the texture but leaves the mixture of colors so it looks like real sky. In contrast, when painting the foreground, I apply the paint thick and form it with the edge and back of my knife. In order to create the illusion of the many different grasses, stems, leaves, and twigs, I use the tip of the knife to “draw” different strokes through the paint to make natural looking shapes. My objective is to use texture to give an authentic appearance to a particular object or area in my composition.In order to capture the most desirable lighting, painting on location requires a certain amount of speed. The knife works well for me as I am never washing brushes or worrying about muddy colors from residual grays left in a brush. I use a lot of paper towels to wipe my knife clean as it is important to me to always know exactly which colors are on my knife and I know I’m using the colors I intended to use. Sometimes it is necessary to scrape the paint off areas that have already been painted so the newly applied colors are not mixing with other colors underneath. The palette knife is a great tool for altering or adjusting incorrect areas in a painting quickly, therefore it is easier to make necessary corrections. I feel very fortunate today to have worked through many years of frustration along with hundreds of hours of practice to become proficient at painting with a knife. The palette knife technique is unique and has a bold, fresh look that sets itself apart from brush paintings. It has worked for me so well that I look forward to trying new subject matters, more impressionistic styles and different size knives with confidence! If you have the desire to paint with a palette knife you must be willing to work through your aggravations and the temptation to go back to your brush. If you dedicate yourself to painting with a knife, then you can achieve your own unique palette knife style with rich texture and colors.