Here are some supplies you will need to bring to class.
• Surfaces to paint on:
Here is a link to a cardboard-like surface that is inexpensive, takes little space, and is a nice tan color for a medium-value ground. It is perfect for use in one-session paintings. http://www.judsonsart.com/pleinair/pc/Judsons-Carton-Board-10-pack-29p226.htm
It is sized with epoxy and ready to use with oil paint. You can put on a thin layer of acrylic gel or matte medium to make it less absorbent. This support can be taped to a board for painting.
If you like to stretch your own canvases or prepare your own panels, feel free. Prepared panels and canvases keep things simple and save time. Pre-primed canvases can be found at Blick, Utrecht, etc. They come in varying grades, from basic student grade to professional quality. The gessoed masonite panels come cradled and uncradled. I strongly recommend the cradled panels. They are easier to clamp into the easels we use. And they are easier to handle for being photographed, when wet. Prepared supports are worth the money for the time they save.
Try toning your support in advance for a neutral, medium-value surface. (Starting on a white ground can throw off the values, causing us to key everything too light)
If using oil paint to tone, apply it diluted with turp, no oil, and allow it to dry before beginning your painting.
• Size: I recommend small paintings and big brushes, to encourage simplification of the image. Approximately 8”x10” or smaller is a good size, but the easels we use cannot hold panels smaller than 11x14”. Here is a way to work around this: Take an 11x14 inch board of masonite, plywood or similar material. Place strips of self-adhesive Velcro on the board. Place pieces of Velcro on the back of your smaller canvas or panel, on the corners, then affix the painting support to the larger board. That will allow you to clamp the painting support firmly in the easel.
• Palette: Approximately 12x16” or equivalent.
Avoid palettes with a white finish. The white can throw off the values when mixing paint, causing us to key everything too light.
Better choices are palettes with a neutral, medium value surface, such as:
• Safety-glass with a gray vinyl backing.
• A plexiglass palette painted on the back with neutral, medium value gray. Latex, acrylic or spray paint will work.
• Paper palettes are easy for classroom use. They now come in gray.
• A wooden palette that has been prepared with several coats of medium (4 parts turp. to 1 part stand oil) and allowed to dry between coats.
A solid palette — wood, glass or plexi, lets you get more physical when mixing without tearing the paper.
• Palette knife: A palette knife is necessary for mixing paint. A knife with a blade about 3 or 4” in length and 1/2” wide is good for general use. Knives that bend where the blade attaches to the handle are easier to use. You can also buy smaller, triangular painting knives, which are fine, but make sure you get a large one for mixing paint.
• Solvent: Only ODORLESS turp is allowed at Mass Art.
Try Gamsol or Thin-X
• Paint Medium: In our one-session classroom paintings, medium is not so important. It becomes more important to mix in a drop of medium when mixing paint if you are doing a painting over several sessions. There are many recipes for medium and also commercially made versions. You can start with a basic recipe of 1-part stand oil to 4- or 5-parts thinner. Empty plastic shampoo bottles (8-12 oz.) work well for mixing and storing your medium.
• Palette cups: Small metal cups (one for medium, one for thinner/turp). You can purchase cups that hook onto your palette. Some have screw-on caps.
• Brushes: Here are some that are good to start with: Natural bristle brushes, one ½ inch, one ¾ inch. Try filberts, brights and rounds. Each will give a different type of mark. Experiment. If you have not painted in oil with sable brushes, try it. If you are buying only one sable brush, try a bright. About 3/4 inch wide, for sable or bristle, is a good place to start.
• Viewfinder: Used to help with selection. I recommend an adjustable gray plastic one called a Viewcatcher. I will have them at our first session
• Small notebook or sketchpad and soft pencil for thumbnail drawings.
• Rags Paper towels are frowned upon at Mass Art
• Soap: A bar of soap to wash brushes
• Disposable bag: To put soiled rags in before disposal.
• Paint: Try to avoid buying inexpensive colors that are called “hues,” or “student grade (Winton),” as in cerulean blue “hue,” or cadmium yellow “hue.” Get the real thing. The results will be better and more permanent. Medium-price paints, like Utrecht, Gamblin or Winsor &Newton, are fine. Old Holland and Williamsburg paints are good and expensive. Here is a suggested list of colors for a basic palette.
Indian yellow
cadmium lemon
cadmium yellow (medium)
cadmium yellow deep or cadmium orange
cadmium scarlet (Winsor & Newton)
cadmium red deep
cadmium green pale (Winsor & Newton)
permanent sap green
Here is a link to a cardboard-like surface that is inexpensive, takes little space, and is a nice tan color for a medium-value ground. It is perfect for use in one-session paintings. http://www.judsonsart.com/pleinair/pc/Judsons-Carton-Board-10-pack-29p226.htm
It is sized with epoxy and ready to use with oil paint. You can put on a thin layer of acrylic gel or matte medium to make it less absorbent. This support can be taped to a board for painting.
If you like to stretch your own canvases or prepare your own panels, feel free. Prepared panels and canvases keep things simple and save time. Pre-primed canvases can be found at Blick, Utrecht, etc. They come in varying grades, from basic student grade to professional quality. The gessoed masonite panels come cradled and uncradled. I strongly recommend the cradled panels. They are easier to clamp into the easels we use. And they are easier to handle for being photographed, when wet. Prepared supports are worth the money for the time they save.
Try toning your support in advance for a neutral, medium-value surface. (Starting on a white ground can throw off the values, causing us to key everything too light)
If using oil paint to tone, apply it diluted with turp, no oil, and allow it to dry before beginning your painting.
• Size: I recommend small paintings and big brushes, to encourage simplification of the image. Approximately 8”x10” or smaller is a good size, but the easels we use cannot hold panels smaller than 11x14”. Here is a way to work around this: Take an 11x14 inch board of masonite, plywood or similar material. Place strips of self-adhesive Velcro on the board. Place pieces of Velcro on the back of your smaller canvas or panel, on the corners, then affix the painting support to the larger board. That will allow you to clamp the painting support firmly in the easel.
• Palette: Approximately 12x16” or equivalent.
Avoid palettes with a white finish. The white can throw off the values when mixing paint, causing us to key everything too light.
Better choices are palettes with a neutral, medium value surface, such as:
• Safety-glass with a gray vinyl backing.
• A plexiglass palette painted on the back with neutral, medium value gray. Latex, acrylic or spray paint will work.
• Paper palettes are easy for classroom use. They now come in gray.
• A wooden palette that has been prepared with several coats of medium (4 parts turp. to 1 part stand oil) and allowed to dry between coats.
A solid palette — wood, glass or plexi, lets you get more physical when mixing without tearing the paper.
• Palette knife: A palette knife is necessary for mixing paint. A knife with a blade about 3 or 4” in length and 1/2” wide is good for general use. Knives that bend where the blade attaches to the handle are easier to use. You can also buy smaller, triangular painting knives, which are fine, but make sure you get a large one for mixing paint.
• Solvent: Only ODORLESS turp is allowed at Mass Art.
Try Gamsol or Thin-X
• Paint Medium: In our one-session classroom paintings, medium is not so important. It becomes more important to mix in a drop of medium when mixing paint if you are doing a painting over several sessions. There are many recipes for medium and also commercially made versions. You can start with a basic recipe of 1-part stand oil to 4- or 5-parts thinner. Empty plastic shampoo bottles (8-12 oz.) work well for mixing and storing your medium.
• Palette cups: Small metal cups (one for medium, one for thinner/turp). You can purchase cups that hook onto your palette. Some have screw-on caps.
• Brushes: Here are some that are good to start with: Natural bristle brushes, one ½ inch, one ¾ inch. Try filberts, brights and rounds. Each will give a different type of mark. Experiment. If you have not painted in oil with sable brushes, try it. If you are buying only one sable brush, try a bright. About 3/4 inch wide, for sable or bristle, is a good place to start.
• Viewfinder: Used to help with selection. I recommend an adjustable gray plastic one called a Viewcatcher. I will have them at our first session
• Small notebook or sketchpad and soft pencil for thumbnail drawings.
• Rags Paper towels are frowned upon at Mass Art
• Soap: A bar of soap to wash brushes
• Disposable bag: To put soiled rags in before disposal.
• Paint: Try to avoid buying inexpensive colors that are called “hues,” or “student grade (Winton),” as in cerulean blue “hue,” or cadmium yellow “hue.” Get the real thing. The results will be better and more permanent. Medium-price paints, like Utrecht, Gamblin or Winsor &Newton, are fine. Old Holland and Williamsburg paints are good and expensive. Here is a suggested list of colors for a basic palette.
Indian yellow
cadmium lemon
cadmium yellow (medium)
cadmium yellow deep or cadmium orange
cadmium scarlet (Winsor & Newton)
cadmium red deep
cadmium green pale (Winsor & Newton)
permanent sap green
viridian
alizarin crimson
ultramarine blue
dioxazine purple (or another purple or violet)
cerulean blue (Utrecht) or cobalt blue
cobalt teal (Gamblin)
raw umber (To be used only when doing paintings in grisaille. Once we begin using a full palette, remove raw umber)
foundation or titanium white (120-200ml)
(colors in bold are recommended when painting the figure)
Here are a few colors that can be useful for mixing some of the intense colors we will face later in the semester. I don’t recommend them as part of a basic palette; they should only be used when the colors in the setup can’t be mixed with the basic palette.
Pthalo blue
Pthalo turquoise
Perylene red
Perylene crimson
Quinacridone red
Quinacridone violet
Avoid earth colors this semester. Note that I have included raw umber on your list of colors. Use this only to mix blacks for the first two sessions. After those sessions, remove raw umber from your palette. I have not included black paint on the list; that will give you a chance to find out what kinds of rich blacks you can mix.
alizarin crimson
ultramarine blue
dioxazine purple (or another purple or violet)
cerulean blue (Utrecht) or cobalt blue
cobalt teal (Gamblin)
raw umber (To be used only when doing paintings in grisaille. Once we begin using a full palette, remove raw umber)
foundation or titanium white (120-200ml)
(colors in bold are recommended when painting the figure)
Here are a few colors that can be useful for mixing some of the intense colors we will face later in the semester. I don’t recommend them as part of a basic palette; they should only be used when the colors in the setup can’t be mixed with the basic palette.
Pthalo blue
Pthalo turquoise
Perylene red
Perylene crimson
Quinacridone red
Quinacridone violet
Avoid earth colors this semester. Note that I have included raw umber on your list of colors. Use this only to mix blacks for the first two sessions. After those sessions, remove raw umber from your palette. I have not included black paint on the list; that will give you a chance to find out what kinds of rich blacks you can mix.
