Tips to Palette Knife Painting a Cityscape

Palette knives are not just used for mixing colors but you can also use them to give your artwork some stunning effects. Some artists have even replaced paintbrushes with palette knives altogether.

A Cityscape Painting can be a challenging task using a palette knife rather than a paintbrush, yet from sweeping strokes to refined details they provide a realistic yet subtle look to your art.

Apart from the texture details the palette knife provides, there are other benefits of using them as well, from the ease to clean to not having to worry about the edges blending as the knife has a knife that can be used to paint lines and edges.

There are some points to consider before painting a cityscape with palette knives:

1.      To make a cityscape painting, you need a firm surface to work on to make sure that when a stroke of paint dries, it doesn’t crack. Make sure you are using hard yet smooth canvases, you can use Ampersand paper.

2.      Make sure your under painting color is white as to not to affect the hues of your original cityscape painting.

3.      It's better to first mix the colors on a palette before applying them on the main canvas when using palette knives. The paint consistency is very different when you use a knife instead of a brush. To make sure you’re hue is exactly how you would want it, mix the colors separately before applying them to the painting.

4.      Use the tip of the knife to paint the edges and lines of the building, lampposts, or even the water line for the lake if your artwork will have it.

5.      You need to be very careful using knives, the difference in consistency can come in handy when you are making different swirls and thick textures but one wrong stroke and all your work can go waste.

6.      Choosing the right size of knife is very important, large knives are used for large areas of your art, if you’re painting the sky in a Paris Cityscape Painting then use large knives and give thick strokes for the sky, the same goes for painting the sea or any water body.

7.      When you need to add details, take a small portion of paint and create details for the grass or windows or to showcase light falling on an object. Use the tip of the knife to add the details. Just dip the tip in the paint and start making magic.

8.      Take the help of random cuttings be it expired credit cards as they are solid enough to be used for details. They are especially great when you are painting geometrical shapes as an abstract effect; use the different shapes and cuttings to apply custom shapes of paint to your Abstract Cityscape Painting.

 

Read More: EASY STEPS TO PAINT YOUR FIRST ABSTRACT ART

9.      Painting details in cityscapes can be challenging, to highlight the varied space between the sky and trees, use the edge of your knife and make up and down strokes to create an edge that separates the two from each other.