Paint

Please get at least 37 ml tubes. I would recommend Windsor and Newton or Gamblin which make high-quality paint. If you are looking for a more economical choice that is still relatively good quality, both of these brands offer student-grade paint via Winton and Gamblin 1980 respectively. Make sure you don’t buy water-mixable oils!

Required Tubes

• Ultramarine Blue 

• Cerulean Blue Hue

• Dioxazine Purple 

• Viridian

• Sap Green

• Lemon Yellow

• Cad Yellow Medium

• Naples Yellow

• Cad Red Light

• Alizarin Crimson

• Burnt Sienna

• Titanium White

Optional/Recommended

• Zinc White

• Yellow Ochre

• Quinacridone Magenta

• Burnt Umber

Painting Surfaces

We will start by priming watercolor paper with acrylic gesso and working on that. We will also prime Masonite to paint on a firm surface, and stretch and use one canvas to work on.

You will need:

• Watercolor Paper Pad

  • Size – either a larger pad 16x20 and we will cut it down as needed or a little smaller, 11x14 minimum

    •  Often we will work on about 9x12 or 11x14 size and use the scraps for testing paint or sketching

  • Can buy tape-bound paper or watercolor block to keep pages from warping

  • Arches is great quality paper for painting on. Can be bought in sheets or smaller sizes in a pad but is expensive.

  • Strathmore has good-quality watercolor paper

• White Acrylic Gesso

  • I like Utrecht, Liquitex is also good

• 2 pieces of Masonite/Hardboard

  • 9x12 to 16x20 in size - you decide, we can talk first session of class

• 18” and 24” Stretcher Bars (2 of each)

• Canvas

Palette 

You have the option of working on either a glass palette or using disposable paper palettes. Glass is better as you can scrape it easier because it’s a hard, stable surface, so I encourage choosing glass, but you can decide what works best for you. For a glass palette you can buy the materials below and we can assemble it in class. 

• Glass Palette 

  • Any piece of glass will suffice 16x20 inch is a good size (will fit in a locker) (Home Depot)

  • Piece of white foam core to support palette (Michaels) or purple foam (Home Depot)

• Or Palette Paper

Brushes & Knives

For oil painting, it is best to use a firm brush, either with natural or synthetic bristles. It is good to have a variety of brush types and sizes. If selecting brushes individually, below is a good starting set of what to get. A long handle is preferred for oil painting. 

•  #12 Flat

• #2,6 and 8 Filbert

• #8 Bright

• #4,6 Round

Or you can look for packs that have a variety. Princeton usually has somewhat economical choices that are good quality. Some of their lines that are for oil painting are linked below. Sometimes I prefer to go to physically go to the store to purchase brushes so that I can feel how firm they are and see the size in person.

• Princeton Aspen Series 6500 Synthetic Brushes and Sets

• Princeton Dakota Series 6300 Firm Synthetic Hair Brushes and Set

• Princeton Ashley Series 5200 Natural Bristle Brushes

• Princeton Real Value Series 9100 Synthetic White Taklon Brush Set

Also please buy a 3-inch house painting or chip brush for gesso (Home Depot)

Your palette knife will be used to mix paint and at times apply it in a precise way. You need at least one, but I’d encourage you to purchase 2-3 to experiment if possible. 

• Good starting size: Blick Painting Knife - Medium Long Trowel, 13

Medium & Solvent

• Stand Oil for making medium

  • Utrecht makes solid quality and more economical. This bottle is larger than you need, so it could easily be shared with another student or two.

• Gamsol for cleaning brushes and making medium (500 ml)

• Jar to store Gamsol

  • Silicoil Jar is nice because spring allows you to clean brushes against it

  • Or you can use a clean glass jar with a tight lid (like a salsa jar) – it can be helpful to put some rocks in the bottom

• Another jar for the medium (about a 6-8 oz jar is fine)

• Palette Cup for holding medium (or a tiny jar/lid that you already have)

Other Supplies

• Artists Tape – color doesn’t matter but 1” good

• Brush Soap 

  • The Master’s Brush Cleaner is my preferred choice for preserving brushes

  • Dish soap works fine too 

• Pencil/eraser/notebook for drafting ideas

• 1 roll paper towels

• Saran wrap (good for saving paint on the palette, could be shared between students)

• Apron or gloves (optional)