Blade & Socks Art Technologies
A technique where paint is removed, not added
The patented oil technique of Elena and Vladimir Illichov: a thick underpainting, a cotton sock, an architectural blade and a kolinsky brush. A painting in a day, with the shadows left as the original underpainting.
Six steps
- 1
A thick oil underpainting on fine-grained canvas, spread with a blade.
- 2
With a cotton sock on the hand, light and halftone are wiped back to a watercolour effect.
- 3
The blade lifts paint in the lights and halftones — the object gains substance.
- 4
A flat kolinsky brush builds the fabric of light and shade.
- 5
Glazing: paint thinned with dammar varnish.
- 6
A small round brush brings the glowing cobweb effect.
Why painters take it up
- Speed: a painting in a day, several times the usual output.
- Strong selection: the image is scraped out of the underpainting, the rest is left unsaid.
- Substance: the blade shows the construction, the sock keeps the halftone tender.
- Range: from watercolour transparency to impasto in a single work.
Learn the technique
Browse courses
The courses are filmed in it; the master classes and mentoring put it in your hands with its authors.