How to Use Palette Knives: Painting a Spring Meadow

Photo: ARTMiE

Painting with palette knives is a technique that many artists have come to love. Others still can't get into it, even after years of creating. Here at ARTMiE, it was love at first sight. What about you?

How to Use Palette Knives

Each of us may picture something different when we hear the word palette knife. These tools come in many shapes, creating all kinds of effects as you paint.

Photo: ARTMiE

If you’re a beginner learning how to use palette knives, here are a few tips:

• Hold the tool’s handle so the blade points toward the canvas at a slight angle (about 45 degrees).

• It’s best to apply the paint with the lower part of the palette knife.

• The mark you make depends on how you move the loaded palette knife across the canvas surface. You’ll get the hang of this movement with practice.

• Remember to clean the blade before applying a new color.

• And finally, don’t give up. Practice and time are the best teachers. Don’t hesitate to experiment, paint, and enjoy yourself!

Photo: ARTMiE

Now that you know the basics of working with a palette knife, it’s time to get creative! You can take inspiration from our video, where we used a few ARTMiE palette knives and acrylic paints to paint a spring meadow on canvas.

How did your spring meadow turn out? Show us what you made!
We’ve mentioned before that thick, creamy paints work best for painting with a palette knife. These include el Greco paints, which we used in the video. Interesting effects also came from palette knives shaped like teardrops, drops, and from knives with various cutouts.

Choose from our selection and get creative!

Lea