Palette Knife Mastery – 3-Day Workshop with Rod Moore

Moore Art Gallery, Cooroy

Discover the freedom, texture, and expressive power of painting with the palette knife. In this three-day workshop, acclaimed artist Rod Moore will guide you through a focused and transformative exploration of palette knife techniques to create bold, atmospheric landscapes rich with depth, movement, and emotional presence.

Across the three days, you will learn how to use the knife not simply as an accent tool, but as your primary instrument for building structure, layering colour, and shaping the surface of the painting. Rod will demonstrate his approach step-by-step, showing you how to simplify complex scenes into essential shapes, mix clean, vibrant colour, and apply paint with confidence and intention.

You’ll work with thick, luscious paint, sculpting light and form directly on the canvas. The emphasis is on looseness, expression, and allowing the knife to do what the brush cannot, creating edges that dance, surfaces that catch the light, and marks that carry energy and direction.

This workshop is suited to both developing and experienced painters who want to break free from tight, overworked brush painting and move toward a fresher, more confident approach. You’ll leave with a series of finished works and, more importantly, a solid toolkit of knife techniques you can carry into future paintings.

Spaces are strictly limited to maintain a supportive, hands-on learning environment.

Here is just some of what we will cover:

* Choosing the right palette knives and understanding their uses

* Mapping the big shapes using value and temperature — quickly and effectively

* Building texture and depth through controlled layering

* Mixing clean, powerful colour directly on the palette and the canvas

* Creating movement and atmosphere without overworking

* Suggestion vs detail — letting the marks tell the story

* Bold mark making with knives, scrapers, and other edge tools

* Developing form, light, and narrative in contemporary Impressionist landscapes

* Working confidently and fearlessly with thicker paint and decisive strokes

This is a studio-based 3-day workshop held at Moore Art Gallery in Cooroy.

Rod will also share insights into his newest body of work and how palette knife technique is being used in contemporary impressionist practice today.