Painting and Palette Knives

Painting Knife — A blunt knife with a slightly flexible steel blade and no sharpened cutting edge. It is used in place of a brush for applying paint colors, paste, pigments, and so forth directly onto the canvas or painting surface. Between the handle and the blade there is usually a large crank, to keep the artist's hand off the paint surface. Painting knives come in a multitude of styles, shapes, and sizes.

Palette Knife — A blunt knife with a very flexible steel blade and no sharpened cutting edge. It is primarily used for mixing paint colors, mediums, additives, paste, pigments, and so forth directly on the palette before applying them to a surface. The palette knife is symmetric, like a kitchen spatula, but often with a slight crank between the handle and the blade.