ART281 - Experimentation - Pallet Knife Paintings

Using a pallet knife to paint creates a lot of texture and motion in artwork, due to the shape of the knife and the way in which paint is applied. Having little experience with this technique, I decided to create two artworks that focus on gesture and emotion.

The first artwork was applied onto a porcelain tile, which allowed me to freely blend colours together. Because of this the features of the entity fade into the skin, making it appear as if it is mummified. To also assist me in creating an eerie piece of work, I decided to create this during the early hours of the morning. I believe that because of this setting I was more careful with how I painted, possibly due to fatigue after the day. This inadvertently really added to the artwork in my opinion.

Untitled, acrylics on porcelain tile

This second artwork was applied onto a sheet of A3 paper that I primed with gesso, to prevent any paint from potentially leaking through the paper. You can almost tell that this was created during the day when compared to the last pallet knife painting, evident from the presence of more vibrant colours and a new-found energy. Also unlike the previous work, I created ta background using the sharp end of the knife and gestural strokes. Initially, this artwork was challenging, however I feel as if the end result went successfully. The figure in the artwork comes across as abject and visceral, which was my intention.

Peel, acrylics on Gesso primed A3