June 2010 Challenge

It looks great Callie! Lovely bright spring flowers.

Callie,
I love the colors and I can definitely tell that they are tulips. Nice work, I can't wait to see how you finish it.
Judy

I'm trying really hard not to grab a brush!

you sound just like me. I kept having to resist the brush also.
Judy

Judy, I love your bear! He turned out great!

Sofie, I really like the changes you made in your painting.

Callie, Those flowers are going to be beautiful!

I tried the landscape and found it wasn't quite as hard as the bear. I usually do more impressionistic for landscape background so this wasn't so bad. It was done on a 9 x 12 canvas pad so there are a few ripples in the paper. They'll flatten out once it dries, but Iwanted to get this posted.

I'm still tempted to pick up a brush to smooth some things out. The water was actually quite easy with the knife, because of all the ripples. The sky was harder because I wanted it blended more smoothly, but couldn't with the knives.

Here it is.



Judy

You did good with that one, Judy. It came out great. I learned something when I was scraping mine off to start over again. It leaves a really nice background behind. So if you put your sky colors and clouds on, then use a fairly large blade to scrape the paint off, you'll have a smooth, blended sky. Then you could take your painting knife and build the clouds back up.
I love your water

Wow Judy I love your landscape! Great texture and variation in color!

Judyfilarecki: Well, first off I want to apologize for saying the bear was too difficult--you did a fantastic job! Love this landscape too. Think you might have a real talent with painting with palette knives.
Dayle

Love the water, Judy. You are going to be a knife pro in no time!

Thanks everyone, but I still prefer the brush, although I must admit the knife came in very handy for all the variations in the water. I'll consider using both the brush and the knife the next time I do water. Callie, that is a good tip about he sky. It might also be good for the water in some cases.

Judy

Finished!



Just when I went to take the photo.... I thought maybe I'm not quite done.
Should I put a little more greenery and flower color in the upper left corner?

It's the best pallet knife one yet. It looks good. I like the fact that the left top corner does not have anything. it gives it depth.

Judy

Thank you, Judy! Good point about the sense of depth. I'll let it sit for a few days and have another look.
All opinions welcome

I like it just the way it is. The colors are wonderful and it's very nice and loose.

Any looser and I would have been wearing more paint than that canvas board.
I sure made a mess doing this - but I can't complain since there were no brushes to clean
I still can't decide if I'd like doing this with stiffer paint or softer paint. Anyone have any thoughts on paint consistency?

Good question! I did a search and it appears that a stiffer paint is preferred for palette knife painting.

One of my regular painting buddies (Lee) joined me in the palette knife challenge. It was nice not to have to struggle all by myself Anyway, I wanted to post her painting, seems only fair - since she took on the challenge.
The subject is an old well in front of a B&B in France, Lee took the photo on a recent trip:



(She's open to comments/suggestions)

She did a good job. She even got the feeling of a pattern on the flower pots hanging over the well. You should invite her to join us.
Judy

I was thinking the same thing as Judy! Godd for Lee to take the challenge - it looks like she had fun with the painting.

She did a great job! I love the texture and color variation! Just one little nit pick and that's the ring of the pot at the top on the left looks a little off to me.

Only 2 days left for this challenge. I am curious as to how many of you would ever think about doing another painting totally with painting knives. I doubt if I would, although I would use them selectively for such things a water ripples and mountain texture. let me know your feelings.
Judy

Judy, I didn't do a whole painting with the painting knives, but did used it in the last painting. I painted some of the leaves and trees -- the painting Hidden Reteat I am not sure if I could do a whole painting in knifes, frustated a little, but maybe, just maybe I could....thank you for the challenge.

I also like using the knife because it helps to get all the paint off my pallet, didn't feel like I waisted any of it, scraped it clean.

I am looking forward to the next challenge -- I am trying to incorporate the challenges in my painting weekly....I would have probably never tried to paint with a knife -- I do think that I will use it again but when, I am not sure?

I know I am rattling on and on, I wanted to thank you for the challenges