From the Artist: I have always wanted to try knife painting, but kept postponing, thinking that I should do brush painting well first before trying anything else. This project has made me pick up the knife! I don't know whether I have done it in the right way, but I enjoyed applying thick blobs of paint and smoothening it on the canvas.
I chose this bougainvillea because I thought it could be easier to do, and could look good as well. The hands and flowers, I did directly with the knife. But the background/floor, I did a wash first, and then applied knife thinking that it might create a feeling of distance.
From the Painting Guide: There is something to be said for mastering one painting tool at a time, and thus sticking with a brush for some time, but then that you might end up preferring a knife to a brush and wishing you'd tried it earlier... which is why I think everyone should give it a go!
There is no real "right way" to use a painting knife though I have listed some options in my article Mark Making with a Painting Knife. All that matters is whether you're happy with the kind of marks you're making with the paint, with the result. Looking at your bougainvillea, I think you ought to be. It has a lovely painterly feeling, a sense of texture to the leaves and flowers. I think the hands have some lovely things happening with the color and way the paint is applied, but need a little more shading to make them less flat.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Shape of the Canvas: I'm not entirely convinced by the landscape format of this composition, which is emphasized by the strong horizontal shape of the green leaf on the left but then cut at an angle by the line of the hands. I feel there's too much background, which is threatening to overwhelm the subject. Hold up your hands, using your fingers to make a viewfinder, try various alternative crops of the painting, and see what you think.
I chose this bougainvillea because I thought it could be easier to do, and could look good as well. The hands and flowers, I did directly with the knife. But the background/floor, I did a wash first, and then applied knife thinking that it might create a feeling of distance.
From the Painting Guide: There is something to be said for mastering one painting tool at a time, and thus sticking with a brush for some time, but then that you might end up preferring a knife to a brush and wishing you'd tried it earlier... which is why I think everyone should give it a go!
There is no real "right way" to use a painting knife though I have listed some options in my article Mark Making with a Painting Knife. All that matters is whether you're happy with the kind of marks you're making with the paint, with the result. Looking at your bougainvillea, I think you ought to be. It has a lovely painterly feeling, a sense of texture to the leaves and flowers. I think the hands have some lovely things happening with the color and way the paint is applied, but need a little more shading to make them less flat.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Shape of the Canvas: I'm not entirely convinced by the landscape format of this composition, which is emphasized by the strong horizontal shape of the green leaf on the left but then cut at an angle by the line of the hands. I feel there's too much background, which is threatening to overwhelm the subject. Hold up your hands, using your fingers to make a viewfinder, try various alternative crops of the painting, and see what you think.