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MATERIALS GUIDE FOR OIL PAINTING CLASSES |
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Overview
This list is intended as a starting point in acquiring artist materials for oil painting. If it seems bewildering to you, you are not alone! If you all ready have paints and brushes bring them along to the first class. Some paints are not recommended for fine arts purposes and certain brushes and other equipment are not satisfactory for this style of painting. However, we can go over what you have and make adjustments as necessary. I have gone into quite a lot of detail to familiarize you with a few of the painting items I like and need for my painting style. I try to keep it as simple as possible. There is a huge assortment of materials available on the market today. I believe that fine art deserves fine equipment and cheap, messy, or second-rate materials will produce inferior paintings. However, there are many student grade materials on the market, as well as lower priced professional equipment. Plan to spend about $150-$200 on setting yourself up for a basic oil painting class if you have nothing (excluding easels and other equipment like tables and chairs.) Oil paints last indefinitely in the tube, and most of the equipment I have suggested here is not too expensive. There are many discount catalogs available and most of the major suppliers have websites as well as paper catalogs. We have only a few stores that sell professional art supplies in Tampa, but fortunately they are both very good. The Internet is an excellent source of supplies. If you do not wish to buy any supplies for my classes I have a materials fee of $12.00 per class, that works well for most beginners who want to try painting but are afraid of the costs. |
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Palette Wood is preferable. Any shape, any size. Seal with several coats of polyurethane, (preferable) Tung Oil or clear shellac, or rub numerous coats of good quality linseed oil into the palette before using it. You can darken it with stain, or let it darken naturally over time. Some people paint on masonite palettes, which is OK but I find them very dark. They also absorb a lot of oil. It would be better to paint a piece of masonite with glossy paint. This way you can give it any tone you like. Grey would be preferable.
Fairly recently I have started to make my own palettes. They are stained grey and have 3 coats of polyurethane. Of course they are embellished with my “logo”. I loan them to students and also sell them for $10.
Second choice is glass or clear acrylic that can be placed over a gray paper or placed on a table. Don’t use paper peel off palettes, or other white palettes. It is extremely difficult to deal with that bright white and to judge your values as the painting progresses. I don’t like the feel of paint sliding on glass or plastic, and prefer the feel of wood under my brush. It allows me to have more control when loading my brush. |
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Colors I prefer Windsor Newton Artist Oil Colors but they are more expensive and not necessary for classroom work. Grumbacher, Rembrandt, and Gamblin are fine too. Most paint manufacturers have a line of student grade oil paint, Winton by Windsor Newton, Academy for Grumbacher and so on. There are many manufacturers, almost all have their good points, and in the end paint is a matter preference and “feel”. Student grade paint is much cheaper than professional lines of paint and will work fine for starters. I have found that cheap paint and some brands and colors of student grade paint will not mix true colors and once mixed they appear quite muddy. I can recommend one inexpensive brand of paint; “Georgian” by Daler Rowney. I really dislike both the appearance and quality of water soluable paints.
Most of the colors I recommend are fairly standardized among the big name manufacturers, but specialty colors are frustratingly different among the paint companies. If you choose to use student grade tube colors you will find a confusing assortment of names on the tubes. Most student grade colors have the word “Hue” as part of it’s paint name. So “Cadmium Red” is finer and more expensive than “Cadmium Red Hue”.
If you are a newcomer to art and artist supplies it would be a good idea to ask for help in a Art Supply Store, especially if you want to use less expensive type of oil paint. It is also a good idea to shop around. Two different manufacturers in two different catalogs on my desk at this moment sell Cadmium Red; one goes for $37.50 per tube, for top of the line - best quality paint, while Cadmium Red from the other, which is acceptable quality, is only $7.49 and the cheaper Cadmium Red Hue from the same manufacturer is only $3.19!
Please do not buy colors that are named as “flesh” or “sky blue” – there is a bewildering assortment of colors available and experimentation is costly and risky. The following color selections are time-honored suggestions. I am not opposed to using many other colors and regularly do so myself. I use burnt sienna and raw umber often – but I do not suggest that beginners should use these colors because they require experience to keep them from becoming muddy, and the purist impressionist painters seldom used dark earth colors. Sometimes I use black but when I teach I suggest students do not use it. Buy 37ml size tubes, unless you intend to do a lot of painting. You will use lots of white and so you can buy a large tube of Titanium white if you like. I usually come to class with a tube or two of my favorite colors that I have not listed here, and will give you some to try if I think you need a squirt of magenta or sap green to make your painting better.
The impressionist palette is based on the 3 primary colors. Most of the impressionist painters had a warm and cool primary on their palettes, and this is a good place to begin.
Cadmium yellow light (Lemon Yellow) or Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue Cadmium yellow medium (or Hansa Yellow) or Cadmium Yellow Hue Yellow Ochre Cadmium Red Light or Cadmium Red Hue Alizarin Crimson Cobalt Blue or Cobalt Blue Hue French Ultramarine Blue Titanium White
Optional: Viridian Green (get a green if you can afford it) Cerulean Blue or Cerulean Blue Hue (definitely not necessary, but nice if you can afford it) Winsor Red, Grumbacher Red or Napthol Red (it is nice to have several reds) Raw Sienna (I can’t paint without Raw sienna) Naples Yellow (lead based paint. This is a substitute for white) Cadmium Orange or Cadmium Orange Hue (it is nice to have orange but not necessary)
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Brush Wipes (Blue Paper Rags)Scott Paper Company makes a blue paper rag on a roll that is excellent for brush wiping, which is a must in this type of painting. You can find it in the automotive sections of Benny’s, BJs, Wal-Mart's, and other types of department, hardware or paint stores. Brawny has shop towels and they are available in supermarkets. Cloth wipes are OK but I find that these blue rags are better even than cloth. They do not cost too much, last a long time and are much superior to paper towels which will create more of a mess than they wipe up.OPTIONAL SUPPLIES Small jar of Artist grade linseed oil. Use this to season your wood palette. Occasionally It’s mixed with paint, but only if the paint is very stiff and thick. I never add linseed oil to my paint.
Soap type Brush Cleaner from the art store. Or you can use bar soap like Ivory or Fels Naptha, or liquid dish detergent. I do use the Art Brush Cleaner because it conditions the brushes and they last a little longer. Clean up brushes with soap and you will be surprised at how much paint is still in the brush after rinsing in the turpentine!
Paint Box or tote for your gearArt stores sell wooden paint boxes with a place to store your palette, and in some cases they come with a palette. They feature compartments for paints, brushes and tools. They are not cheap! (Stay away from boxes that come with the paint and brushes, you will buy colors and brushes you might never use.) Fishing tackle boxes are plentiful in places like Wal-Mart and the Plano brand box is excellent for paint boxes. You may want to improvise a tote of some sort for your gear, but bear in mind you will have to transport your palette, which you might not want to completely scrape down after class if you plan to work on your painting at home. A palette full of wet paint can become a hazard in your car! I am using a plastic tool tote which works perfectly well, and is quite inexpensive. Boxes, canvas bags, or special plastic totes for fishing gear are great and easy to find in most hardware and department stores. You often can improvise a plastic box that will take a wet palette. For you handy folks devise a box with a device that holds your palette against the floor of the box, or against other supplies. Glue a short piece of wood to the top which will be enough to keep the palette from flopping around when the box is carried. I made the palette box shown on the left.
Easel A sturdy metal folding easel can be a great investment for painting. They typically cost between $50 and $60 and can be used at home or on location. I often see them on sale for half price. This kind of easel has telescoping legs, and can be used for watercolors, pastels, drawing, and oil painting. It is my favorite. A “French Easel” folds into a small parcel and is a wonderful addition to painting gear. Usually it features a drawer for paint and a wet canvas may be carried on it conveniently. Usually these are fairly expensive—$200 or more. but you can find them for a lot less these days. The French Easel pictured here was purchased in Italy 40 years ago and has seen a lot of miles. Fighting a wobbly easel is exhausting.
Jars I advocate having two jars with lids. They don’t have to be very large—I like the Paul Newman Salsa jars, it has a wide mouth but is small. I use one of them while I’m painting for rinsing my brushes. When I am finished I pour off the paint laden solvent into the second jar, and let the gunk settle overnight. I then decant the solvent back into the main jar and use that until I am finished for the day. This way I save money on solvents and when the gunk jar is really gooey I cap it and throw it away, instead of pouring my turps down the sink, which is a big no-no! Bring one with you to class, leave the second one at home and when you get home, clean up your brushes and attend to your solvent jars.
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Brushes You can not have enough brushes! Buy inexpensive or moderately priced brushes because you will be doing a lot of scumbling (scrubbing) in this method and it wears down brushes quickly, although this is not always a bad thing. I prefer filberts as I like the look of the stroke, but you may prefer to use rounds, flats or brights. Buy bristle brushes for painting and small rounds in synthetic (cheaper) or sable (expensive) for detail work.
If you think it’s a minefield with the colors, wait until you deal with brushes. There are hundreds of different brushes, each with a different number, manufacturers, types, and techniques. I want you to keep it simple at first, so buy these brushes:
1. A #2, #4, #6 bristle filbert for oil painting. Oil painting brushes have long handles. 2. A #2 and #4 round, synthetic or sable type for detail work—make sure it has a long handle.
For my style of painting you do not need expensive sable brushes or other specialty brushes. Keep it simple at first. |
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Turpenoid Available in pint, quart or gallon containers. It must be used in class because it is odorless. Please make sure you buy the odorless kind—there are several brands of Turpenoid—look for Weber brand in the blue and white can. It is expensive, but I ask you to buy it because many people, including me, are sensitive to the smell of regular turps. It’s available in pints, quarts and gallons and may be recycled. Allow the sediment to settle in one jar overnight then pour off the clear liquid for the next painting session.
Charcoal Buy a small quantity of soft vine charcoal. You will need only a few pieces of charcoal.
Palette Knife Buy the kind that is bent in the middle. For scraping your palette, and sometimes your painting. There are many types on the market, I like the blunt end, bent in the middle type. These are not designed for applying paint to the canvas. Ask for a palette knife not a painting knife and don’t buy plastic.
Canvas Select stretched canvas, 11 x 14, 12 x 16 or, 16 x 20. More advanced students may want to work on 18x24 canvas for a Painting Intensive Week. Cotton canvas is cheaper than linen and fine for student work. Fredrix brand Red Label is fine. Gallery wrapped canvas is more expensive. I still like old fashioned frames! Don’t work on canvas panels or other cheaper alternatives. I usually have extra canvases for sale to students. They are priced higher than the average art store! |
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PROFILE | CLASSES | HOME | CONTACT ME | BRACKMAN | LINKS | EVENTS Portraits • Landscapes • Symbolic Still Life • Still Life • Monotype • Watercolor • Egg Tempera • Feeling Series • Student’s Gallery • Drawing • Giclee Prints • Digital Reproduction • Purchase Paintings |
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PROFILE | CLASSES | HOME | CONTACT ME | BRACKMAN | LINKS | EVENTS Portraits • Landscapes • Symbolic Still Life • Still Life • Monotype • Watercolor • Egg Tempera • Feeling Series • Student’s Gallery • Drawing • Giclee Prints • Digital Reproduction • Purchase Paintings |