a. WS07 - Paint What Scares You
Two-Day Workshop | Registration opens 1/19/2026 12:00 AM EST
Step out of your comfort zone in this workshop by tackling subjects that are unfamiliar and "Scary" to approach. Figures, Faces, Reflections, Architecture: which one is your challenge or avoidance? Students will bring a small variety of photo references to expand the subject matter in their painting, and Nancie will guide you through the fear!
NOTE FOR ALL IAPS WORKSHOPS: You must bring your own portable easel, and a board to support your paper. The room will be set with chairs which can be moved around to suit your preference. You can stand at an easel and use the table for your supplies, or you can bring a table easel and sit to work. Rubbing Alcohol will be provided for the students' use.
IMPORTANT: Please bring a plastic or cloth sheet to place under your easel, or table, to protect the hotel's carpet.
Suggested Supplies:
A nice array of good quality soft and hard pastels (not pastel pencils).
An organized pastel box is recommended, and a full pastel plein air setup is ideal.
If needed, I have 4 Signature Richeson pastel sets of 80 each, which I can ship to you in advance so you have time to remove the papers and sort them by color/value. Color keys are on my website under “teaching”.
Mounted sanded surfaces or a rigid board on which to tape the sanded paper. Sizes: 9x12-16x20, whatever size you’re comfortable with. Bring 1-3 sheets, per day, depending on the speed in which you paint! I prefer UART 400 (avail. from Dakota Pastels)
Vine charcoal
Waxed paper or glassine and painter’s tape to wrap finished pieces
Rigid board to sandwich your finished work for transport
Wet wipes. I recommend the facial cosmetic ones (Costco sells in bulk)
A #6 bristle fan brush. I stock the following: my 4 Richeson signature pastel sets of 80 ($225/box or 2 for $400), hard pastels ($29), #6 fan brush ($12), if you need to purchase any of those items.
I sell the full Sienna Plein Air System (on my website) and can have that shipped to you from the vendor.
For studio workshops:
Photo reference—get out with your camera, especially on sunny days! Please select photos YOU have taken, not pulled from the internet. And choose reference that is not your usual subject matter—challenge yourself in this workshop! I also have a variety of subjects that I’ve photographed across the US, Europe, South America and China if you’d like to use mine for reference.
Printed photos preferred (4x6, 5x7) rather than working from phone or IPad so that the temptation to zoom-in is eliminated.