Using a Palette Knife
The palette knife is a relatively under-utilised painting tool. Perhaps this is because there is little commericial logic in its use. Paints are expensive, and the palette knife is not economical when it comes to paint usage. Another expanation is that palette knife use is messy and unrefined. The artist shovels up a glob of paint, and mashes it onto the canvas. Neither the process, nor the end product, is particularly elegant. The texture is rough, while colours are often mashed and blotchy. For artists trained to be delicate, the palette knife is alien to their sensibilities.
While there aren't many recognised masters who used the palette knife, there are some who utilised the power of texture that is the knife's greatest attribute. Vincent Van Gogh is probably the most notable of these masters. Vincent created paintings that were up to 1 cm thick with paint. This thickness gave his pictures a greater sense of physical energy and a palpable surface texture. In addition, the thickness helped abstract the imagery from the real in accordance with his definition of true art.
Although the palette knife is not a great tool for either the elegant artist or the commercial artist, it is great for the artist wishing to impart extra emotion into their work. Whereas a brush needs a degree of control and restraint to create subtle lines, the pallet knife allows the artist the freedom to physically press the paint hard into the canvas, and then mash it around with the full strength of their shoulder in order to produce a kind of emotional storm. While the final product may be rough in texture and blotchy in colour, such characteristics can convey a wide variety of emotions. In addition, the final product is one that can't be replicated in prints or by computer generated art. In an age where computer art is making traditional skills redundant, the palette knife shows there are some things that can't be done on a computer screen.
Ai Shuaishuai
The versatility of the palette knife can be seen in Ai Shuaishuai. For me, it is quite ironic that most people who see Ai Shuaishuai say it is an ugly painting when I personally find it beautiful. Although I agree that is not beautiful in the aesthetic sense, for me, it captures the full spectrum of love’s emotions, and love’s spectrum is one of the most beautiful things in existence. Using the palette knife, I pushed into it emotions of guilt, anger, affection, consideration, longing, bitterness, desire, restraint of desire, sadness, and happiness. Although an aesthetically beautiful picture could have been completed with some fine brushwork, such a picture would not have been able to convey all the emotions that being in love provokes, and therefore could not convey love’s meaning.
Said the Joker to the Thief
The advantages of the palette knife can also be seen in Said the Joker to the Thief. The painting was inspired by the Jimmy Hendrix cover of the Bob Dylan song, All Along the Watchtower. Although I don’t what the song is about, it evoked in me ideas in me about the stratification of society, and all the deception, and confusion that that provokes. The song begins with a joker telling a thief that:
“we have to find our way out of here…there is too much confusion, I can’t get no release. Businessman, drink my wine.”
The song finishes with a description of a princess in a watchtower keeping the view.
The palette knife allowed me to mash in that confusion, so that the man in the image could be the joker, the thief, the businessman, or a suitor for the lady in the watchtower. All different, but all the same.
Roar
Black lines provide physical boundaries that constrain the eye and emotional flow. I started by creating the black outline and then used the palette knife to create an emotional storm in and around the image. Indeed it was a roar, but the roar was restrained; and not just in the physical sense. I don't see the painting as if it were of a caged tiger waiting to be unleased, but that of a bound man with no where really to go.
Self-portrait of an Artist
In Self-portrait of an Artist, I used the palette knife to overcome some of the difficulties with self portraiture. For me, the biggest difficulty is definition. I found it quite difficult to define myself with lines and colours because to do so would be putting boundaries on who I am. It would also signal a certainty in the self which I simply do not have. With the palette knife, I was able to infuse a messy and ambigouis quality that I felt relatively comfortable with.
Lady in a Bar Wearing Red Shoes
In Lady in the Bar Wearing Red Shoes, I used the palette knife to differentiate a lady from the activity of the bar. This is one of the few paintings I’ve done from reality or more specifically, memory. During the evening in question, the venue was flowing with the constant haze of moving bodies. Through that haze I saw a lady sitting on a couch wearing red shoes. The palette knife allowed me to loosely smear hazy memories of people in the bar. I then gave the smears some form and constraint with black outlines. Then I had the lady pushing through them. It is the smearing qualities of the palette knife that allow it work.
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