In your efforts to loosen up your paintings by using such brush alternatives as old credit cards, you may be suffering from "brush withdrawal".  Here are some ideas to help you through the transition:

#1.  Pick a catchy name for your credit card:  I used an expired AAA (American Automobile Assn.) card and though of renaming it my Amazing Art Applicator or my Almost Abstract Art card.  You could name your old VISA card something like: Very Important Smooth Applicator.   The sky is the limit here (not just the top of the painting).

 

#2.  Make some credit card brushes:  Here are a couple of those little cards that you get from places like Blick; I found these in my wallet when I located my old AAA card.  A small saw cut in the end of a 5/16"  by 12" long piece of hardwood dowel did the trick.  Some super glue to hold it in place and voila: a card brush that looks semi professional and a new meaning to "flick your BIC"-- now it is "flick your BLICK" when you apply the paint.  Here is the front side of the cards:

 

Now look at the back side of the cards.  I wonder if you lost these out painting and someone put them in the mailbox, if they actually would get returned to Blick.  I also wonder what Blick would think of this: "Good Advertising" or maybe "How dare you!"

 

 

#3.  Buy some paint shapers that look like brushes, or make your own script brush substitute:  Here are some different color ("colour" for the Kiwis) shapers; they kind of work like palette knives, but the silicone rubber tips make them much more flexible and they work more like a brush.   The bottom object is a bald (lost its hair) #1 DaVinci brush, and I drilled the end out with a 1/16" drill to shove party toothpicks into the ferrule.   These are pretty cool to paint with, AND, YOU DON'T HAVE TO CLEAN THEM, JUST TOSS THEM!  Be careful not to put the end with the paint on it in your mouth, it really gives you weird looking teeth.

 

#4.  Just learn how to use your palette knives a little better:  That's my plan!  Comments very welcome.   Stu

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Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on May 17, 2013 at 21:29
Thanks Jessica. Unfortunately, I don't think any of these little tools are patentable, but it was fun to make them, try them out and write this blurb. Stu
Comment by Jessica Futerman on May 17, 2013 at 19:31

Very entertaining!  But if you patented some of these ideas, you could probably make a fortune!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on May 9, 2013 at 12:37
Thanks for your comments Ann. Actually the card worked pretty well, and I gave it a try outdoors; other than being messy and getting paint all over my hands and brush handles (need to use more paper towels!) I thought it worked well for applying color cleanly. What I really do need to do is use my palette knives more. Stu
Comment by Ann Turner on May 9, 2013 at 9:59

Thanks Stu ! A little humor is always appreciated. Made me smile . . . made me laugh !  I used the key card from the room on my painting trip to Monterey as a painter tool. I thought it would bring me luck since I carried it around with me during the convention nd it was exposed to alot of hours of information ! :)

Comment by Silvana M Albano on May 1, 2013 at 8:53

Wow Stuart!!!! I'l follow your advice! :)

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