Best Implement to Apply Texture

If you are applying a heavy texture to your canvas then the best way of applying this – whether you want the texture to be quite smooth or very rough – is to use a cake slice. This one is almost the exact one that I use and you need a very sturdy one so that the handle does not bend (I did have a cheap one but the handle kept bending to the point where it broke) under the pressure of the texture.

Scoop the texture up as if you are going to ice a cake, and apply it in a similar way. You can use this cake slice to apply a lot of texture at once – although if you apply too much it is likely to crack and take a while to dry – or you can just scrape some texture on using the edge – this can give you a dappled effect like clouds for example.

Here is a cut out from a painting where I have just applied some light texture by scraping the cake slice over the canvas before painting and leaving to dry overnight.

Paint was then applied in both straight format from the pot, as a glaze and by dry brushing on top of the light texture.