Mixing with knife or brush?

[RobinZ]

I learned to paint by mixing many variations of my colors with a palette knife, then picking a bit of this or that to alter as I go, but with a palette knife. I've been watching some t.v. artists (Roger Bansemer, to name one) who put out their colors straight from the tube on their palette, don't mix at all, from those colors but mix as they using their brushes. Roger does this both with oils and acrylics.

To me, that seems like you would get mud or at least I think I would, but his pieces come out beautifully.

How do you mix?

 

[Artyczar]

I do both mixing on the palette and on the canvas. It depends on what I'm working on. If I am applying straight color, I mix it on the palette first (with a knife). Then "dip" the brush and paint with it. If I'm blending, I'll mix the colors on the canvas. I enjoy it that way actually. My favorite might be when using various shades of yellows and purples together, bringing them into dark areas for the "shadows" on a landscape, etc.

 

[stlukesguild]

If I was working with a larger amount of paint I would sometimes employ a palette knife... for the most part, however, I mix my colors with a brush. With my work of the last decade, I often mix larger amounts of paint (acrylic) in a cup and then brush it onto a section of the painting or off to the side until I am satisfied with the color. Frequently, I need several layers of color until I get what I am after.

ps... I might add that the majority of the surface of my paintings is realized with pastel... which is built up in layer over layer. This might play a role in influencing my use of paint in layers.

 

[snoball]

I'm with David. If I'm mixing a large amount of a new color, I use the knife but if it is only a variation in a small amount, I use my brush. A painting has more life if a color is not mixed completely uniform.

 

[16ga]

Mostly knife. I keep reading that mixing paint with your brushes is bad for them but its what most of the youtube artists I've watched do. My guess is that brush mixing looks better on the camera.
I’ll still use brushes to mix small changes in color or if I'm mid painting and to lazy to grab a knife.

 

[RobinZ]

Interesting. Yes, I do both, too, I paid attention to what I actually do yesterday and used the brush more than I thought!

But just putting out 4 to 6 colors on the palette (including white), surprises me.

 

[FloatingDove]

What Sno said, hi Sno! Large amounts with a knife, small mixing with a brush.

 

[Enyaw]

I guess I'm one sided. I only use a knife for mixing and painting.

 

[ntl]

I generally mix on the palette with a knife, not always to a uniform color. I've started placing bits of the minor color next to that pile to dip into if I choose. Yesterday I had a large brush that had a blue mix on it, and swabbed that onto a large area of the canvas just to color it. Then I added complement colors to that blue pile to get a gray and using a knife, slathered that over the same area, adding bits of white to make a large stone "shelf" that surprised me with the results. Many of my paintings are a combination of brush and knife--or knife and brush.

 

[Schuee]

I learned to paint by mixing many variations of my colors with a palette knife, then picking a bit of this or that to alter as I go, but with a palette knife. I've been watching some t.v. artists (Roger Bansemer, to name one) who put out their colors straight from the tube on their palette, don't mix at all, from those colors but mix as they using their brushes. Roger does this both with oils and acrylics.

To me, that seems like you would get mud or at least I think I would, but his pieces come out beautifully.

How do you mix?

I went to a class for beginners, yesterday and we were taught to put the colours on our pallette and to mix them with a brush. It did make for some messy mixes if brushes weren’t cleaned continually. Your pallette knife seems a better way.

 

[Lazarus]

Both works well.

 

[AES]

I use a knife for mixing because mixing with a brush is a great way to destroy them, in acrylic at least. All my brushes are tiny though, so ymmv. I find I also waste a lot less paint, since scraping every last bit off of a knife is easier than with a brush.

 

[Marksmomagain]

Big piles w a big knife, small piles w a small knife.

 

[Hermes2020]

Big piles w a big knife, small piles w a small knife.

Ha, me too! For even bigger piles, sometimes on the canvas itself, an expired credit card. Current cards tend not to work very well after this treatment.