An affinity with acrylics

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

■ Explore different uses of a painting knife

■ First steps with creating texture with a knife

■ Practise with your chosen knives

Last month we started exploring ways of creating texture. In this issue, we’ll take it a stage further by discovering the uses of painting knives. The painting knife differs from the palette knife in that it has a more flexible blade and a cranked handle. The cranked handle allows the artist to apply paint to the surface without touching the support and the potentially wet paint, with their hand. My preference is for the teardrop shape, two or three inches in length. The pointed end allows small marks to be made, while the blade length allows long, sweeping strokes.

An important rule is always to clean your knives carefully after each