Adapted from a 1620 painting manual by Theodore de Mayerne, this priming knife is specially designed to apply even oil grounds to canvas. It makes a smooth surface with no ridges between strokes, and a thinner layer than with a flat spatula style palette knife (about 10% less paint). Unlike a spatula, it’s easy to see where the blade meets the surface, and it’s easy to keep your knuckles out of the paint. And it works just as well with acrylic gesso!

This is a stiff red ochre ground on coarse herringbone linen. Two applications filled the weave completely.