Painting with a Palette knife.

When it comes to painting, there are many different ways to paint and things to paint with - brushes, palette knives, fingers, cloth, a leaf you picked up from your yard, the list goes on and on...

Being a self-taught artist, I can get frustrated, especially when I attempt to follow along with a video (YouTube or one I've bought), only to end up with something that looks nothing like the intended painting.

To me, the whole point of making art, is to have fun, and make something that you/yourself enjoy. I say that because when I try to create art that I think other people will like, I'm stressed out while I'm making it, and then disappointed when no one else seems to/or definitely doesn't like it. Both of which defeat the purpose of creating art, and often leads to many a good artist giving up before the found their "ART" legs.

I'm saying all of that, to say this... I was scared to try painting with a palette knife. Really scared. The one thing that helped me out, was the idea that if I didn't like it, I could always just paint over it.

What a simple and yet freeing notion - If I didn't like it, I could simply paint over it.

Below, you'll see my very first painting with a palette knife.

And below it, my most recent painting with a palette knife.

Both are paintings I love.

Paint the Town Red

Although the background was created using a sort of "Flow Painting" technique, and I teased out some of the clouds in the background with a small paint brush, and parts of the water as well, the buildings and their respective reflections were painted with a palette knife.

I really enjoyed making this painting - so much so - that my excitement from this experience spilled over into other areas of my life.

~*~

Love is in the Air

I loved learning to paint the trees with a palette knife. I actually had so much fun with them, I'm not sure I'll ever want to paint another tree with a brush again.

Most of this painting was created with a palette knife.

The people; however, were made with a paint brush... maybe one day I'll test the waters on making people with a palette knife... maybe...

~*~

If you want to learn to paint, the best advice I can give you, is find something to paint on - preferably something that is okay for you to paint on - seriously, please don't practice on someone else's property - (don't ask how I know, I'm just saying.)

Also, make sure to protect your work area. I can't count the number of times I've been fussed at because paint somehow managed to get from my work area onto someone else's something or other - I can't count that high - I'm just saying protect yourself.

So, get that piece of something, (Protect your work area to include anyone else's stuff) and start painting... just have fun with it. The more you practice, the better you'll get and then oddly enough, the more fun you'll have.

#PaletteKnife #Getoveryourfear

Sending you Peace and Love,

Lorie ;D