How to – Variety in the Marks You Make With Your Traditional Tools

Monday, February 16th, 2026

This is the first video in a series regarding the tools we use and learning how to use them to create more variety in the marks they can produce.  This started as a palette knife only demonstration, but as I realized that the surface I was working with was not conducive to all the variety that a knife can produce, brushes were more and more involved and it morphed into a pressure and tool angle to surface video.  Regardless, there is a lot of good information in this video and should help you work on variety with your tools.  I look forward to expanding upon this topic and soon add a few pictorial demonstrations utilizing the various marks this and the rest of the series will provide.

Leave comments below regarding tools or surfaces you’d like to see demonstrated and I will take all suggestions into consideration as I expand upon this mini series.

 

Featured Video

Featured Posts

Recent Comments

RELATED POSTS

Review: VR Sketch Transfer

Review: VR Sketch Transfer

I hate transferring my sketch. I hate it. Every method I have found is tedious. Projectors and transfer paper lose important small details, and to get out of the way of the projection, I lean and bend in unnatural positions for long periods of time. There's more, but...

Creativity and Well-Being: Creativity Hangovers

Creativity and Well-Being: Creativity Hangovers

It's no secret to anyone that's been following Muddy Colors awhile that I am really deeply interested in the psychology around why people become artists, and how becoming a "professional" "full-time" artist affects that. For example, I've written posts on the...

Short Take: Rim Light

Short Take: Rim Light

During my classes online, I’m asked by students over and over again, ‘show me how I can improve my paintings.’ Besides needing to get better at drawing, paint mixing and application, composition, and value control-- handling light is the most overlooked aspect of...

0 Comments