Sgraffito, combs and other texture tools in Easel by Zaweba

Texture is what makes a painting feel touched by a hand. A brush only goes so far. Painters and decorators have long reached for odd little tools to scratch, comb, press and blow paint into shape, and Easel by Zaweba has a drawer of them: sgraffito stylus, comb, graining rocker, squeegee, colour shaper, blending stump and straw.

Each makes a particular kind of mark. Knowing what that is turns them from novelties into proper tools.

Scratching and combing

The sgraffito stylus scratches through a top layer to reveal what is beneath. Sgraffito is an old technique, from the Italian for scratched, used in pottery, plaster and painting. Lay a light colour, then a darker one over it while it is still wet, and draw into the top layer to bring the first colour back as line. It is excellent for grass, hair, fur, patterns and lettering.

A comb drags a row of parallel lines through wet paint. Use it for wood, water, hair, fields and decorative patterns. Straight pulls make stripes, wavy pulls make ripples.

Graining and squeegee work

A graining rocker is the decorator's tool for faking wood grain. In real life you drag it through a glaze while rocking it, and the curved ridges leave the knots and swirls of wood. It is handy for furniture, floors, panelling and anything that should read as timber.

The squeegee pulls paint across the surface in a broad band, leaving it thin in some places and built up in others. It is related to the scraper and gives the same smeared, layered look found in large abstract paintings.

Shaping and blending

A colour shaper has a firm rubber tip instead of hairs. Painters use it to push thick paint around, carve into it and make clean marks in impasto. It also works for lifting paint in fine lines.

A blending stump is a tightly rolled paper stick used to blend graphite, charcoal and pastel. It gives more control than a finger, so you can soften a small area such as the corner of an eye without blurring everything around it.

Blowing paint with a straw

The straw lets you blow wet paint across the surface. A drop of ink or thin paint chased by a straw branches out into thin tendrils, which is a lovely way to make trees, roots, coral, veins and abstract splashes. It works best with thin, wet paint on a flat or slightly tilted canvas.

Choosing and combining

Think about the surface you are describing. Hair and grass want sgraffito or a comb. Wood wants the graining rocker. Abstract layers want the squeegee. Delicate tonal drawings want a blending stump. Branches and roots want the straw.

Most of these tools need wet paint. Do your texture work before the area dries, because dried paint never moves or mixes again. If the drying speed is too quick for comfortable work, slow it with the drying speed slider.

A texture is strongest when it is not everywhere. Use these tools on the parts of the picture that need them and keep the rest calmer, and Easel by Zaweba's texture drawer will make your paintings feel more handmade, not less.