The Ubiquitous All-purpose Palette Knife
When I first saw this palette knife in the hands of Richard Schmid a lightbulb went off. Years later, I have found this knife to be the most useful tool ever. I can rapidly mix my colors and paint with it, and it is substantial enough to scrape a wet or dry passage of paint down to the underlying ground. I prefer this knife because the blade is metal, wedge-shaped, and has an ‘off-set’ handle. The blade itself is about 1 inch wide at the base and about 3 inches in length. The width allows me to mix a lot of color quickly and the tip makes short work of applying a highlight. The length allows me to laid down an incredibly sharp line or crisp edge on the rare occasion I need one, far thinner than any rigger can create. I use this knife to mix my neutral light tints, such as flesh and snow, which keeps those delicate colors clean, and I use it to scrape off the inevitable failure when they occur. And yes, I abuse this knife constantly. I drop it often and clean my palette with it at the end of the day. (Or a week later, to admit the truth…ha!) And yes, the offset handle keeps my knuckles out of the paint – a constant hazard for me. These knives are so cheap I give them away in my workshops.
I have even sharpened the edge of the blade like a chisel, to give it the ability to cut through a crusty paint film without digging into the ground below. You can read about it here
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