Best Painting Knives and Palette Knives
Looking for the best painting knives to elevate your acrylic artwork? This guide reviews top beginner-friendly painting knives that offer precision, versatility, and durability for creating texture, bold strokes, and unique effects. Whether you’re a hobbyist, student, or aspiring painter, we’ve hand-picked knives that are comfortable to use, easy to clean, and built to handle heavy-bodied acrylics. You’ll learn what to look for in terms of blade shape, size, flexibility, and overall value, plus tips for choosing the right knife based on your painting style and projects. Create with confidence using the perfect painting knives for acrylic techniques.
Our Picks
PICK #1 — Best Overall Painting Knife
Product: Liquitex Classic Painting Knife Set
This knife set is the one that makes you look at everything else and go, “Oh, that’s cute.” It’s durable, balanced, and flexible enough to spread thick impasto one minute and scrape back to reveal triumphs (and hide mistakes) the next. Think of it as a Swiss Army blade that decided to paint.
Best for: Acrylic painters who want a go-to knife that can do it all
What we like: Great balance, solid quality, versatile shapes
What to know: Not a single included tool that collects dust—seriously
PICK #3 — Best Stainless Steel Knife for Heavy Texture
Product: Royal & Langnickel Master’s Studio Stainless Steel Painting Knives
Meet the knives built like tiny swords for acrylics: stiff, sturdy, and capable of carving bold texture with authority. If you love thick gels, impasto, and sculptural paint, these will feel like extensions of your artistic will.
Best for: Painters who favor heavy texture and structured strokes
What we like: Robust stainless steel, ergonomic handles
What to know: Less flexible—great for texture, not delicate glazing
PICK #2 — Best Budget Palette Knives Set
Product: U.S. Art Supply Palette Knife Set
This set is the one you buy first and then secretly wonder how you ever lived without it. Lightweight, inexpensive, and surprisingly stiff—these knives give beginners a no-nonsense intro to mixing, applying, and scoring paint without flopping around like a confused spatula.
Best for: Beginners and casual painters who want variety without commitment
What we like: Affordable, multiple shapes, dependable performance
What to know: Not pro-grade, but punches way above price
PICK #4 — Best Flexible Knife for Smooth Blends
Product: Mont Marte Flexible Palette Knife
This palette knife bends just enough to make mixing a joy and smoothing subtle gradients effortless. Its flexibility gives you control over thin layers, creamy mixes, and detailing that’s just shy of brushing.
Best for: Blending, mixing, and delicate application work
What we like: Flexible yet stable, excellent for smooth transitions
What to know: Not ideal for heavy texture—this one is a whisper, not a roar
Your Questions, Answered
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We focused on versatility, control, and feel. Painting knives aren’t one-size-fits-all, so we chose options that cover the most common techniques—impasto, blending, detailed work, and everyday mixing—without forcing you to buy a dozen single-purpose knives.
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Painting knives usually have a thicker, angled blade designed for applying paint to canvas. Palette knives tend to be flatter and more flexible for mixing. The terms get used interchangeably, but the difference is mostly in blade shape and stiffness.
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If you love variety in texture and effect, yes. Different angles and blade shapes let you push, pull, scrape, and smooth paint in ways a brush simply can’t. But if you want one reliable workhorse, a classic medium-sized knife is a solid place to start.
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Not always. The jump in price usually buys better balance and stainless quality, but many budget sets perform exceptionally well especially early in your journey. Spend more once you know exactly what shapes and stiffnesses you prefer.