Palette knife for beginners – Painting a Daisy with oils

This tutorial helps you to believe that oil painting is not scary. Believe that you can also do it!

We will paint a really small painting with a single daisy on it, but with real oil paints and a real palette knife.

The idea is to make the first step on the way of impasto painting to feel the palette knife, to feel the materials and enjoy them!

And if after this lesson you will feel yourself confident enough to continue, we will create another one painting with daisy meadow.

Both of these artworks are not serious art. Feel the material, the palette knife, they help you to make a step forward and after them you can continue with other subjects using a palette knife.

After that tutorials try my other tutorials, now you can do it!

We are going to need:

Oil paints:

I used Van Gogh, and Cobra, you can also choose another firm but the colors usually all firms use the same. For a palette knife you don’t need any solvents and thinners.

Colors:

Titanium white

Ultramarine

Cadmium Yellow/ Azo yellow

Burnt Umber

Olive green/Viridian green

Azo red medium

Palette I usually use this tear-off palette. It’s very useful.

Palette knife.

It has to be a soft one. You can check it if you try it on a canvas, it has to bend. If the canvas bends, it is a hard palette knife, and doesn’t match you.

Curved form is universal and very useful. Look for this one.

Small canvas, oil paper or panel 8 x 8 inches, 20 x 20 cm