Pure Flow....

If the awareness, cultivation, and expression (sharing) of Chi energy is the fundamental life force behind creative practice then the relationship to one's tools (palette, knives and brushes, etc...) and mediums (paint, pastel, ink...etc...) is essential.  The palette knife, like the samurai sword, is the immediate extension of ones awareness, focus, and application in the moment.  The paint or any medium is quite literally the manifestation of creative intent, Chi, taken form.

When a guitarist (or any musician) takes instrument in hand the potential for creative vibration is directly transferred from the mind/energy through the body to the finger/pick and into the string....the micro variations in physical application radiate through the musician into and through the instrument...outward to the observer/participant/appreciator.    The palate knife (brush, sponge, rag...), then, like the guitar pick, is the means of transferring Chi directly onto the surface plane.  Sound vibration is the creative life force of the musician made manifest...visual vibrations emitted from the surface to the viewer via the interaction of the wide spectrum of mediums (paint, color, gels, etc....) and light is the creative Chi of the painter made manifest.

Enter Jerry's Artarama, the fun house (or tool shed, however you prefer to look at it :))) where I went to wander the aisles of creative potential!  My intent was to pick up an array of palette knives to begin exploring the range of expressive marks and painting methods inherent in each.  Mission accomplished.  There are knives for mixing paints, scraping paints off of the surface plane, and knifes for troweling paint on.

[Caution semi-educational marketing blurb ahead...] 

The Ultimate Painting Knives!

These Italian-style painting knives are made from polished stainless steel, tempered to provide just the right amount of give for the perfect painting response. Each blade is fixed into its wooden handle with the aid of a brass collar, and the comfort-grip handles feature a deep walnut stain for beauty and durability. 

With 60 shapes to choose from, you're sure to find the perfect style for every painting endeavor. Each series "T" knife features an offset, trowel-shaped blade, making it easy to work the knife into the painting. Series "F" knives feature a traditional, flat blade perfect for mixing. Series "S" knives feature scraper blades for shaping, contouring and scraping designs into your compositions, or for removing color.

Oh Joy....!  Who knew?!  Tossing the plastic palette knives I used the other day to enter the world of paint sketching into the archival pile of "art toys" I thrilled to the touch of these knew blades... They immediately made their function known when I held them.... The real deal.

I picked up a couple of sponge applicators to explore as well....

An intuitive purchase I didn't expect was to upgrade my mixing palette.  Like the plastic palette knives I had lying around, I had grabbed a small plastic travel water color palette that I was using to mix colors.  If paint, mediums, and colors are the direct physical manifestation of Chi energy...then the paint palette is the mixing cauldron, the crucible, within which experimentation and recipe's for paint consistencies and color are worked out....where all paint will manifest before being loaded to the knife/brush and transferred to the surface plane....with this appreciation I invested in a Golden Panda Porcelain Palette Treasure. 

[Caution semi-educational marketing blurb ahead...] 

Classic Butcher's Tray Palette - Measuring 11.8" × 15.75" × 2" high, this impressive tray is smooth at the bottom and is heavyweight so it won't move about when you are painting. Much better than metal coated tray palettes this is made to professional standards. Use it for virtually any media from watercolors to oil colors. 

  

The result of having the right tools in hand this evening was a revelation.  Sponge applicators were the right tool for laying down a color field, while the palette knives danced and sang as colors were mixed and strokes practiced right in the mixing tray....Immediate feedback on color mix and stroke potential.   

After my first session using these new tools I discovered that the combination of palette knives and mixing tray is exactly that....a treasure.  In using them for the first time the world of color exploration opened up.  Mixing colors has the feel of blade to whet stone energy transferred directly to paint...potential made manifest, a quickening of anticipation as paint is loaded onto the natural blade for the intended mark....and painting happens... pure joy!  Two hours evaporated like the early morning mist on a spring lake.  New color combinations were explored and internalized...the feel of the new knives was experienced and applied. 

Pure flow!  :)))