"Pegando Espatulazos" Meaning?

Question

I've come across "espatulazos" twice in reference to artist Manuel Viola. The first instance of it was in the piece I'm trying to translate:

"...las revistas ilustradas le hacían en las fotos pegando espatulazos al aire..."

and then again while I was looking about online:

"... Antonio Saura, definía así su estilo: “Sus espatulazos amplios, sus...

Anyone have any idea what it means?

Thanks!

Answer 1

It can mean a forceps or pincer: They were snatching at bits of air?( waving their arms about?).

For the paintings I think it is a technique , painting with a palette knife or spatula?

These are merely thoughts.

Open to improvements.

I'll give you one for that annie. It makes complete sense to me. - 0095ca4c, Feb 1, 2014

That makes sense. I don't know much about Spanish, but I do know that artists use a small knife to spread paint. It gives the picture texture. - Ghosthawk, Feb 1, 2014

It could be; apparently "espátula" means "palette knife", so maybe "espatulazo" is related...and actually, looking at some of his work it does look like he could have used the palette knife. - theycallmethewanderer, Feb 1, 2014

Thanks for following this up, interesting. - annierats, Feb 2, 2014

Answer 2

"His wide knife strokes". As in palette knife, a big one given the -azo suffix.

I imagine pegar espatulazos is a particular artistic technique, like "applying large/bold knife strokes."

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 2, 2014

Answer 3

Antonio Saura es un pintor, "pegar espatulazos" quiere decir "pintando"

Antonio Saura is a painter, "pegar espatulazos" means "painting"

I don't know that it's as specific as simply "painting"...that second quote expanded a bit is: "Por su parte, su colega de El Paso, Antonio Saura, definía así su estilo: “Sus espatulazos amplios, sus pinceladas generosas, reflejaban un caos..." - theycallmethewanderer, Feb 1, 2014

No se como traducirlo al ingles exactamente, pero significa "pintar" bueno se refiere a su pintura a como él pinta - Neox, Feb 1, 2014

Espatulazos y pinceladas es lo mismo, los espatulazos son con la espátula (palette knife) y las pinceladas con el pincel (paintbrush) - Neox, Feb 1, 2014

Thanks Neox, now it's all clear. - annierats, Feb 2, 2014

Answer 4

Espatulazo is a technique painters use to create paintings. So espatulazo is a brushstroke, but in this case a spatula is used instead of the brush. Espatulazo: a stroke given with a spatula. Pincelada: a stroke with a pen or brush.