The Best Palette Knives for Painterly Experimentation
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Essential to any oil or acrylic painter’s practice is a great palette knife, or spatula. Artists employ them to combine colors, pastes, and other materials, and they can also be used to apply paint to canvas, with different sizes and shapes producing different effects. Even watercolorists can use them to scratch back into a work. Note that a painting knife—often with a curved neck or handle to keep the artist’s hands free from the painted surface—is technically a different tool, specifically designed for applying pigment to support, but painting and palette knives can be and are used interchangeably. The blades’ tips can be blunt or sharp, allowing for a wide range of strokes, textures, and gradations. A good palette knife can open up a whole new world of formal experimentation for any painter, regardless of their medium. Below, browse our favorites.
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ARTNEWS RECOMMENDS
Liquitex Freestyle Painting Knives
From acrylic paint maker Liquitex this line of affordable, well-balanced, and solidly built spatulas and painting knives comes in a variety of shapes, from rounded, wide tools to long and slim ones, and in two sizes. Each features a stainless steel blade securely affixed to an ergonomically designed handle that provides a satisfying and comfortable grip. The blades are free of burrs and provide an excellent balance of flexibility and strength so you can move heavy-bodied paints with ease. They’re also sharp so you can get right under your paint to scrape away layers if that’s the effect you’re going for.
Buy: Liquitex 109903 Painting Knife, No. 3 $15.49
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RGM Large Painting Spatulas
Made in Italy, these spatulas offer a much larger blade surface than others on the market. This makes them ideal for artists who use big, gestural strokes to create texture and other dramatic effects. Made of tempered stainless steel, the blades are anchored via solid brass ferrules in bubinga wood handles, which are highly resistant to snapping. The handles are handsome and smooth, with subtle ridges to guide your hand into a comfortable position. At the end, find a hole for hanging your tool up to dry. Choose from nine shapes.
Buy: RGM Large Painting Spatulas $18.47
ANOTHER OPTION
Lineco Micro Spatula
This little tool was designed for bookmakers who need to work glue into tight spaces, but it’s a surprisingly useful device for painters, too. Featuring two blades—a tapered tip at one end and a flat, narrow rectangle at the other—this spatula is ideal for poking, smoothing, and prying into areas the average spatula can’t reach. You’ll also be able to scrape and lift pigment away with ease and control, thanks to the tool’s springiness and precision. Made of rustproof stainless steel, this two-in-one spatula measures just ¼ inch at its widest and 7½ inches long.
Lineco Micro Spatula
TOP OF THE LINE
Holbein MX Series Painting Knives
For professionals, the knives in Holbein’s MX series are pricey but exquisite. Made in Japan from a single piece of stainless steel, each knife achieves the delicate flexibility that allows almost brushlike strokes while staying structurally sound and durable. Every knife has an exact 12-degree neck angle and a blade thickness of just 0.1 millimeter, allowing artists to perfect their technique with precision. The thin edges can also be used to paint fine lines or scratch into the paint. Five styles are available, each one offered in two degrees of flexibility for the utmost customization and control.
Holbein MX Series Painting Knives
ALSO CONSIDER
RGM Idea Line Painting/Palette Knives
RGM’s Idea line has commendable solid-metal options, ideal for working with products and materials that might damage a wooden handle. What’s more, they’re dishwasher-safe and easy to clean once your work is complete. For a versatile style that will get you far, we recommend the useful 35/8 which features an elongated teardrop blade shape.
RGM Idea Line Palette Knives
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1. Liquitex Freestyle Palette Knives Set
Acrylics stalwart Liquidtex’s versatile set of traditional knives are highly recommended. The six small stainless steel blades are perfect for detail work and feature smooth edges. They’re heavy enough to be strong without being heavy or inflexible. Flexibility is one of the things that sets these blades apart—you have some give while applying paint to your surface. They work equally well for many media including acrylics and oil paints and resist corrosion. Plus, they come connected on a ring for easy organization.
Liquitex Freestyle Palette Knives Set
2. RGM Italian Plus Painting Knife Set
RGM makes exceptional painting knives in Italy, and their Plus line features extra protection from corrosion so that you can keep using them for years. The nickel-plated carbon steel is sturdy but has excellent flexibility. The handles are a handsome hardwood and the solid brass ferrules keep everything reliably in place. With handground blades, the level of craftsmanship is even more apparent. If you like these, they have over 250 models for every use or style imaginable.
RGM Italian Plus Painting Knife Set
3. Royal Brush Plastic Painting Knives
This set of 36 plastic painting knives in six different styles by Royal Brush is ideal for students and painters learning the ropes of the craft. The various tools are color coded in vibrant shades, so they’re easy to distinguish from one another. Great for mixing acrylic and oil paints, these painting knives are unexpectedly durable and long lasting. Young artists don’t need to worry about scratching themselves with a sharp metal edge with this plastic set, so experimentations in painting can begin from a young age. With such a substantial quantity, you and your students won’t soon run out of knives for painting, mixing, and more.
Royal Brush Plastic Painting Knives
4. RGM Idea Line Painting/Palette Knife
RGM’s Idea line has commendable solid-metal options. The knives are light-weight and durable so you can spend hours working with them. What’s more, they’re dishwasher-safe and easy to clean once your work is complete. Since these tools are designed to be used as both palette knives and painting knives, RGM is providing one-stop-shopping with this high-quality product. For one versatile knife that will get you far, we recommend the useful 35/8 which features an elongated teardrop blade shape.
RGM Idea Line Painting/Palette Knife
5. Holbein Spatula
Osaka-based Holbein’s artist spatulas are truly something special. This spatula has quite a long blade that measures 180mm (about 7 inches), which is good for large-scale painting and getting good coverage. Each spatula is hand forged in Seki, Japan, a city known worldwide for making top tier knives and, historically, swords.
Holbein Spatula
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