Today I thought I would go over situations in my framed oil paintings where I choose to use brushes and/or painting knives. I use artist brushes for most of my work as they produce the finished look that I'm after in my artwork. I can paint thin, thick, very thick or even in between if need be. I can let a passage dry and go back in with a very thin glaze and change the color. I can vary my egdes from razor sharp to "lost and found" and soft. I can use old worn out brushes to produce special effects and I can "dry" brush to produce nice effects as well. But what I really like to do from time to time is to use a combination of brushwork and knifework.

  A good example of this is in  Clipper Ship where I painted the ship including the "rigging" with painting knives and the water, sky, and birds at the top with brushes. Another good example would be Roses where I painted the flowers and leaves with painting knives and the background with large brushes. Sometimes I like to use painting knives to add to the sense of distance such as in Tropical Wave where I painted everything with brushes but painted the rocks on the left with painting knives.
 
  I found that after using this approach I was able to "mimic" the look of painting knives such as in Easter Island where the statues "pop out" at you like in "Clipper Ship" and "Roses" but I did them using the corner of a number 3 filbert brush. I plan on using this technique in the future to really produce the sense of distance that I look for in my work. I might paint the background with brushes without any texture, the next closet layer using the "Easter Island" technique, and what is closest to the viewer with painting knives.

  I hope you found this information on how some of my framed oil pantings were done interesting and as always, I would love to have many posts from you on your favorite painting techniques if you are an artist or to answer any questions you may have on what I've shared with you today. Take care have a great day, and I'll see you again on Friday!