Palette Knife Painting Demonstration

This demonstration shows how I use a palette knife to blend colors together in the sky. The palette knife is also handy for giving variety to the colors in the trees.  I place thick impasto paint with my palette knife over wet paint to build up layers of different colors.  I switch to a brush to show the light coming through the trees.  I let the brush strokes show.

Impasto just means thick paint, and it can be applied with either a palette knife or a brush.The surface of the painting becomes an important feature of the work.  I love the buttery texture of paint straight from the tube and I am sensitive to the solvents many people use, so I learned to use oil paints without solvents.

Palette knife painting has many advantages - it's fun, it can be done without any solvents, and it makes for a very interesting painting.  So use your palette knife for something other than mixing paint!