When we think of oil paints, we automatically think of brushes. Artist Ken Gore, however, applies his paint with knives – not just ordinary kitchen knives but the specialized tools known as painting knives. “I use a knife,†he said, “because I can do with it what I want to do.†He uses a brush only at the beginning, to lay on his turpentine underpainting – to be sure the design is right before he starts to lay on the paint. “Otherwise, where would I start?†he said. But brushes always gave me trouble.â€
Gore says that he always had problems in art school. He studied with George Rich, a fine painter who had a loose style and painted everything with one-inch brushes, even getting fine detail in a 9 x 12 inch painting. Gore spent two years studying with Rich in art school, and another six years studying on Saturdays and Sundays. However, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t seem to control his brushes when it came to laying on color.
During his studies, Gore struggled with brushes continually, getting more and more frustrated. Rich provided a variety of models for the students to paint from, and one day the model was a little girl with pink skin and a pink dress against a pink background. The class was scheduled to work with the model for 12 hours spread out over several days and, Gore said, “as usual I got down to the last hour of the last class with about 48 dirty brushes in my hand and everything going wrong.â€
Gore says that his main trouble was that he had no discipline. Rich often told him that only four brushes were all he’d ever need – one brush for light warm colors, one for dark warms, one brush for light cool colors and one brush for dark cools. But Gore didn’t seem to be able to follow this advice and dirtied dozens of brushes as he tried to get the look he wanted.
Finally, he was down to the last hour allotted for the class, and his painting was a mess. “I had nothing to lose,†he said, “so I picked up a palette scraper – no kind of tool at all – and began to horse around with it.†He immediately discovered he was getting effects he couldn’t get with a brush. In that one hour, he managed to save the picture. He thought, “If I could do that at the end of a painting session, why not try it at the beginning?â€
Rich had been watching his student “fooling around†with the palette scraper. He brought over a French-made painting knife and put it before Gore. “If you’re going to work that way,†said Rich, “at least use the right tool.†And he walked away.
From then on Gore used painting knives exclusively. He moved from painting still life and figures to landscape work, where he could swing the knives to create grand sweeps of land, trees and water. He prefers painting from nature. “That’s where I get inspiration. I like to do ‘em, pack ‘/ em and bring ‘em in,†he said. Later, in the studio, he makes the final adjustments on each painting.
“In my opinion,†said Gore, “art is the only place left where you can still be free. Free to paint as you want as long as it pleases you, without worrying about whether it pleases anyone else!â€