April – 4 -2025
1. Paints
To all my classes, in all media, I advice to choose quality over quantity. Unless you are very experienced painter, please stay away form large sets of colors, even though it’s tempting to buy “deals” from craft store. Also I am not really particular about colors you choose, so if you have palette of colors you are very familiar with – work with them. If you are just getting started with oil painting and need some guidance – here is my very basic palette I mostly work with.
- Transparent red iron oxide by M. Graham (you can replace it with burnt sienna)
- Ultramarine blue by M. Graham (must have for me)
- Cadmium Yellow Light Hue by Grumbacher
- Cadmium Red Light Hue by Grumbacher
- Cadmium Orange Hue by Grumbacher (totally optional)
- Permanent Rose by Winsor and Newton
- Titanium White by M. Graham
2. Brushes
- one small brush for signature and small details (preferable sable or sable-like synthetic) – I like riggers by Rosemary. Any other med-stiffness rigger will be fine.
- variety of flat synthetic brushes, with variety of stiffness form med-soft to hard, from 3/8 in to 1/2 in. I personally like Princeton, series Umbria, Angular bright, bright. It also depends how large you usually work. For small work I use small and medium-sized brushes.
- bristle brushes for initial work and texture later.
3. Surface
For this class I will be using small panel, 8in x 10in, acrylic primed. If you don’t want to spend on supplies or simply tight on budget, here are some alternatives:
- oil primed centurion linen panels (although they are not so cheap)
- ampersand panels
- Arches oil formulated paper
- gesso-primed canvas pads (not paper, real cotton canvas, you can find them at Blick)
- gesso-primed stretched canvas (but avoid very cheap stuff sold by sets)
4. Additional materials (some are optional)
- table top easel or standing easel if you prefer standing
- paper towels of your choice
- small palette knife of your choice.
- airtight box for paint leftovers (to place it in the freezer after work)
- palette of your preference. Normally I use glass 12 in x 16 in palette with mid-gray paper underneath. But unfortunately, it may give glare on screen so in the class I will use pad of grey disposable.
- if you are using glass palette, razor scraper (you can find them on amazon) will be handy.
- solvent of your choice if you are using one. I’m not always using it, if I do, it’s usually outdoor. But for time restriction of the class, I will use Citrus Essence from Chelsea. Just be ware it has strong odor (yet somewhat orange-like, so be sure to have good ventilation).
-alkyd walnut oil medium (optional).
- another non-toxic option for paint thinning and brush cleaning is paint thinner from Sennelier. The name is Green for oil. You can also find it on amazon and at Blick. It has no smell and non-toxic).
- protective gloves
- apron to protect your clothes
- magnetic clips to hold stuff – I always have them and use often, especially while painting outdoor.
And if you’d like to paint along with me - please have the reference printed out or have it ready on your device (ipad, tablet etc) and maybe sketch out lightly the drawing to get yourself a bit ahead.
And please keep in mind it’s just what I personally use and like and it’s not mandatory at all. And if you feel you have what you need – just use it and don’t feel obligated to buy anything.
Happy shopping and see you soon in the class,
Julia
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