Spatula painting

Short wooden handle painting putty with metal blade. A painting spatula, also called a spatula or a painting knife, is used for various techniques, creating different textures and effects in painting with oil paints and acrylic paints. Excellent for removing paint from containers and jars.

Spatula Painting for oil paints and acrylic paints

A spatula or knife is an important tool for the painter. At first it was used for color mixing only, and only in the 19th century did it become a popular painting tool similar to a brush. For mixing colors the knife is preferable to the brush, since paint may remain on the brush that can contaminate the braces and painting. The knife is easy to mix colors, does a clean job and cleans easily.

The French painter Gustave Courbet was one of the first artists to start using a knife for the painting itself and not just for mixing. Courbet used a knife to lay down layers of paint in his landscape paintings, and many artists adopted the technique in his wake. Another innovation was mixing the paint with the knife directly on top of the painting. The knife allows placing a large amount of paint on the canvas, more than the brush allows. With the help of the knife you can design and sculpt fresh paint and create a three-dimensional texture. In addition, the knife can be used to remove unnecessary paint from the drawing surface, with the help of its thin side you can create thin and straight lines, with paint or engraving.

Artists known for using the knife as a means of coloring, especially under the influence of Courbet, are Camus Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse.

Explanation of color mediators »