- Palette knives. These are essential in achieving the textural impressionistic vibe I’m going for. I like to call it a necessary “crutch” because I’m inherently a detail freak, so utilizing palette knives keeps me loose and untethered.
- String. My use of string came about out of necessity. With my textured painting and my refusal to use a brush, I found that slapping a paint-laden string for some of my tree branches was the best way to get the paint down into all of the crevices. The unpredictability of this technique also lends itself to some excitement.
- Dual-tipped silicone nail tool. Thanks to painting my grandmother’s fingernails, I discovered the perfect implement for dotting paint that a palette knife can’t do. Its pointed and flat-ended tips are perfect for those smaller spaces.
- Ink brush. Although I’m overall anti-brush for my textural landscapes, a cartridge-loaded ink brush comes in handy for adding finer tree branches. Dark, but somewhat transparent, this is just one of those “icing on the cake” sort of embellishments that helps with depth while marrying well with the rest of my painting, the goal being that you don’t really notice that ink is on the material list.
- Rubber gloves. Preventing a problem before it’s a problem is wisdom. So instead of taking a scrub brush and scouring all the skin off of my fingertips after a painting session (with the intention of removing paint from them), it makes sense to instead protect them in the first place. —
See more from the artist: www.MONgallery.us