Painting knife

A painting knife is an artist's tool with a flexible steel blade used to apply paint on the canvas.

It has a pointed tip, lowered or "cranked" like a trowel, suited for painting on canvas. The blade can be of different lengths and shapes : triangular, rectangular or more diamond like.

A painting knife is different from a palette knife which has a straight wide blade and a rounded tip, better suited for mixing paints on the palette.

Knife painters

Famous knife painters are: Titian, Bob Ross, Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Fragonard, Courbet, Impressionnists, Nicolas de Staël, and Riopelle.

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Palette knife

A palette knife is a blunt tool used for mixing or applying paint, with a flexible steel blade. It is primarily used for mixing paint colors, paste, etc., or for marbling, decorative endpapers, etc. The "palette" in the name is a reference to an artist's palette which is used for mixing oil paint and acrylic paints.

Art knives come primarily in two types:

While palette knives are manufactured without sharpened cutting edges, with prolonged use they may become "sharpened" by the action of abrasive pigments such as earth colors.

Palette knives are also used in cooking, where their flexibility allows them to easily slide underneath pastries or other items. See frosting spatula.

See also