FREE LESSON; How the palette knife unlocks bold confident paintings!

Published: Sun, 10/24/21

How learning the palette knife helps you unlock bold, confident paintings!

Have you ever noticed ( enviously) artwork that seems to ooze confidence, immediacy and energy? Not to mention an abundant application of paint that appears luscious to the eye?

Chances are the artwork was created with a palette knife, which behaves very differently to a paint brush when used as a painting tool!

The above attributes are simply the territory you gain when you learn how to use this wonderful tool.

I developed my usage of the palette knife over 30 years of painting. I keep coming back to it because it's fun and immediate. I get quick results.

I noticed that using the palette knife helped my confidence with laying down the paint with brushes as well, because I became so much bolder and decisive a painter.

I've distilled my learnings that I have been teaching over the last 20 years so you can fast track your painting results using the palette knife and another mystery tool in my newly launched Blooms Freestyle Cream Roses Online Workshop.

I'd like to share here how the palette knife can change everything when you paint, and take a quick look at where the usage of it comes from.

You'll be an expert on this in 5 minutes or less!

ABOVE; THE PALETTE KNIFE CAN BE USED WITH ACRYLIC OR OILS.

BELOW; A PAINTING I CREATED FOR CHARITY A FEW YEARS AGO IN BRISBANE USING ALL THE LEFT OVER PAINT FROM MY STUDENTS FINISHED PALETTES AND GENEROUS LASHINGS OF MORE PAINT APPLIED WITH THE PALETTE KNIFE, AFTER A WORKSHOP. WORKING WITH THE PALETTE KNIFE IS QUICK & IMMEDIATE & EXCITING!

Check out my new Blooms Freestyle Cream Roses Online Workshop here

Once upon a time, the palette knife was a tool used simply for mixing colours on the palette. Remember artists used to grind their own paints so this probably helped to get the lumps out too!

Then gradually, over time, there were artists who from Renaissance times, could simply not resist to smudge the paint onto the artwork directly from the palette knife, here and there. Suddenly the palette knife became a painting tool. And just like that it was the start of the paint brush getting the flick!

French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was the first artist to use the palette knife as a painting tool in a major way liberating painting from brushes alone.

Prior to Courbet, usage of the palette knife was a highlight here, a discreet paint application there. Not for Courbet. Courbet was already a rule breaker declaring his interest to paint reality and real life social drama rather than the historic and religious subject matter of the day. A totally admirable passionate dude and worth reading about.

Check out the paint action in this Courbet painting shown here; THE WAVE, which is in the Musee Des Beaux Arts in Lyon, France. Courbet expresses the subject matter with the palette knife creating a whole new expressive dynamic and texture. We feel the raw power of the ocean in this painting thanks to the fresh raw application of the paint. The foam of the waves sits on the uppermost layers as fresh untampered marks, very different to how his contemporaries were painting with their pointy fine brushes and smooth painting finish.

Courbet was a true genius giving himself permission to work in this immediate way and in doing so created a whole new range of painting effects that seemed to energize the paint with movement rather than hold the subject captive and stiff. This new approach worked perfectly to capture the grandeur of nature.

If you isolate a section of the wave foam part of the painting it looks like an abstract painting.

Courbet would influence generations of artists to come including the French Impressionists and Post Impressionist paintings.

IMAGE COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA WHO HAS A FABULOUS ARTICLE ON GUSTAVE COURBET WORTH READING TO GAIN A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE LIFE WORK AND THE IDEALS OF THIS ARTIST

By Gustave Courbet - Œuvre appartenant au Musée des Beaux-Arts de LyonConsulter la fiche d'oeuvre sur le site du musée > http://www.mba-lyon.fr/mba/sections/fr/collections-musee/peintures/oeuvres-peintures/xixe_siecle/courbet_la-vague, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47551317

THE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERING PERSONALITIES OF THE PAINT BRUSH AND THE PALETTE KNIFE

As an artist of over 30 years who paints with brushes and palette knives, and loves them both, it's my observation that these two very different tools have two very different 'personalities' in the way we can use them and the effects gained.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT PAINT BRUSHES

PROS- The paint brush lays down the colour completely differently to the palette knife. It comes down to the fact that the artist with a brush in hand;

has many chances to carefully craft his work when building the paint layers with the paint brush so the artist can fuss as much she/he likes
can change his mind and tweak and change the art along the way
can enjoy a feeling of CONTROL because changes can be made
is able to apply small mounts of paint if need be or a lot of paint
can make gradual or sudden changes to the artwork
can finesse the artwork to a high level of finish and reality
enjoys a leisurely pace and gradual creation
can predict the outcome of an artwork

CONS- As an artist I love the paint brush. However the paint brush can also;

make you a slave to detail
give your inner critic too much opportunity to get involved with notions of achieving punishing perfection
keep us feeling in awe ( and smaller and insignificant than) hundreds of years of painting tradition because a paint brush in our hand links us instantly to history and the greats, & lofty notions of museum masterpieces as being the real art.
be slow work comparison to keeping up with how many ideas that could be made into art
make your hourly rate a lot lower depending on how many hours you end up putting into a painting and what it sells for.
be predictable

The palette knife is the opposite.

What the palette knife can do for your painting

ABOVE; This hydrangeas painting was created mostly with the palette knife and painted from life in my studio. It was a much faster process than painting with brushes which was ideal when the hydrangeas were not going to last longer than a day or so in summer weather. Of course I paint hydrangeas in intense detail with brushes as well using my Blooms Painting Method and that gives me a totally different very stunning outcome but with many more hours involved. I love both approaches. It's great to have two ways to respond to my inspiration & subject

THE PROS & CONS OF WORKING WITH PALETTE KNIVES

PROS- Once you get behind the palette knife and learn how to bust some moves it has many benefits including;

The palette knife gets much faster results typically than the brush
Allows you to move through your ideas and opportunities in the studio more quickly
Produce a lot more artworks because it's typically faster to create
Because it's faster to create the process is exhilarating
The palette knife does not lend itself to fussing and making lots of changes so it forces you to be bold and decisive which shows up as confidence in the artwork
Your inner critic gets less of a look in because you are focussed in the NOW of where to place the paint next
The Palette knife helps to break bad habits such as being stingy with the paint because you have to use a lot more paint
Palette knife art celebrates the textural quality of the paint itself
Painting with the palette knife adds interesting mark making
No two artworks created with the palette knife will look the same
Create thicker paint applications with the palette knife
Works best for acrylics or oils
Using a palette knife can break addictions to getting caught obsessively in the painting details ( anyone feeling guilty?!)
Lends itself to painting as process and having fun with experimenting
Feels like you are the creator
Gets impressive exciting results
Contemporary look
Semi-abstract look
Ditches the details

BELOW; I'm not the only one to be enamored with the delights of creating paintings with the palette knife.

Matisse, Pissaro, Van Gogh, and Cezanne used it too. This painting of peonies was painted from life capturing feathery peony blooms and suggesting the shapes rather than having to paint every little detail. I ditched perfectionism for spontaneity and colour, energy and movement.

Can't wait to learn how to use the palette knife? Click here for my new class!

Okay, to be fair I have to talk about the CONS as well of the palette knife. If there are any possible aspects to be aware of here they are;

Fussing over laying down the paint or making a mark won't work because it can ruin the freshness and spontaneity of the paint application. If you are a fusser and can't make up your mind usually, you will end up changing this habit!
A knowledge is needed of how to build the painting for palette knife painting otherwise your work can look ill informed and babyish but to be fair the same goes for paint brush painting
Can be messier than painting with brushes
Less control than for paint brushes when it comes down to the fine detail
Less predictable results ( could be a positive!)
Not as finished and detailed outcomes as per paint brushes but bold and dimensional
Typically uses more paint than when you paint with brushes

Can you learn the palette knife quickly?

Absolutely you can learn the palette knife quickly. In my new Blooms Freestyle Cream Roses Online Workshop pack I show you in video how to use the palette knife, how to practice it, what not to do, and I also show you one other unexpected mystery tool you will find out about in the program, in my BLOOMS FREESTYLE PALETTE KNIFE LICENCE training, all included. There are warm up exercises too.

Yes I'd love to learn how to paint with the palette knife. Take me to your course!

You will also need to know how to structure your painting. Don't worry I cover that too so it's FAIL PROOF.

I also recommend the best type of acrylic paint to choose for the job so you can't go wrong. And as well as drawing sessions learning to see and to simplify shapes, you will be in great shape to paint boldly with your palette knife and my other mystery tool BEFORE starting the 6 fully guided painting sequences to create your stunning cream roses paintings.

Learning the palette knife can actually liberate you with how you use your brushes as well because it will definitely make you a bolder painter.

There is nothing like creating several paintings in an afternoon and enjoying seeing what comes out of the process.

I hope you enjoyed my palette knife chat and I hope to see you in BLOOMS FREESTYLE class! All the details are at the button below.

Now is the best time to join me.

We have live sessions scheduled and panting reviews online.

AND the current launch price is the best price it will be because once I add the recordings from the scheduled Live Blooms Zoom workshop session online included for you, (where I teach you how to create a painting from scratch applying impasto texture with your palette knife), the price will increase from the launch price to the full recommended retail price.

You get everything when you join now and you get to save. And enjoy tuition on 7 paintings!

Click Here! For full details of the Blooms Freestyle Cream Roses

A payment plan is available if you contact my assistant Janneke at [email protected]

Love and paint brushes,

Jacqueline Coates

Blooms Online