Art with Intention Materials List
Materials Pep Talk
Please don't skimp on materials. Buy a few good materials rather than a lot of bargain ones. Working with old, mucky, or very cheap paints and inadequate, warping surfaces is like trying to create a gourmet meal with dusty, ignored food from your pantry. You will never regret spending a few dollars more for fresh, juicy, high-quality supplies.
We paint in series, so we always end up with some good pieces at the end of the day!
I suggest you print this list and bring it to the art store for advice and feedback from staff.
1. Paper: 3 sheets or more of high-quality 22" x 30" 140 to 300 pound watercolor paper. I recommended Fabriano or Arches. You will be disappointed with cheaper papers. Hot or cold "press" is fine. We will gesso the paper, so heavy paper that won't buckle is best.
Before you come to class, please gesso all the paper with 1-2 coats on one side of the sheet. See notes on gesso below. A thick and sloppy job is fine. Let the paper dry and cut to the following dimensions:
--Cut one sheet into 12 7" by 7" squares
--Cut one sheet into 6 10" by 10" squares
--Leave one or more pre-gessoed sheets uncut, to do with as you wish
Thanks for doing this before class if possible. You can do this in class as well, but you will lose some painting and play time. Optional: You can bring three pre-gessoed identical-sized canvases as well as the paper , but the paper is the most important.
2. Gesso: buy thick, creamy gesso, not liquid gesso. This is also your white paint.
3. Latex or nitrile gloves, buckets, paper towels, scissors, large paper grocery bag for trash. Bring a ruler or yardstick. Wear old clothes!
--Gloves are extremely important. We do sometimes paint with our hands and fingers. It might get dirty! Gloves turn your whole hand into painting tools. Bring several pairs.
--2 big buckets for water. Children's sand pails work. I like gallon buckets from the hardware store. Huge amounts of water let us work freely.
--Viva paper towels are re-rinseable painting tools.
--It's handy to have your own private brown paper trash container.
4. Spray bottle with water (medium to large, with a nozzle), and a bottle of 90% rubbing alcohol, no sprayer needed.
6. Jar of heavy gel medium, glossy. This is an adhesive and a stand-in varnish.
7. Acrylic paints: use tube paints (medium to heavy "body")of a good quality. I like Liquitex and Golden. Choose colors that speak to you. Choose clear bright colors. Feel free to include colors you like that don't appear on this list.
--1 orange, 2 reds, 2 yellows, two blues, one purple, 2 green, and 1 black, 1 gold or copper
--Recommended colors from list above: Cadmium or Bright Red, Quinacridone Rose or Quin. Magenta, Ultramarine Blue, cobalt teal or turquoise, Cadmium Orange, Opera Pink or hot pink, Indian Yellow, Payne's Grey, Golden brand Iridescent Gold Fine Bright, a bright green
--Your white is gesso.
8. Brushes: Bring a few cheap hardware store brushes for gel medium, gesso and varnish... 1" to 3". For your painting brushes, I like synthetic nylon bristles for acrylic. Your brushes should BIG and springy. Push them down and they should pop back. You can find craft nylon brush sets with shorter handles at Michael's or a Mart store that work and are not too expensive. You should have 2 or 3 BIG brushes and one small brush. I like fine art brushes as BIG as possible.
9. The "magic" pencil, Derwent water-soluble 8-B. Optional: water-soluble oil pastel crayons in light pastel colors like pink, lavender, sky blue, peach, lime green. Don't buy a whole set, just individual colors. Try one or two to start..
10. Collage elements: we sometimes use collage elements inside paintings. They are optional.
--Bring some black and white copies in various enlarged and reduced sizes of your own images and photos. Make copies in a copy shop as the professional inks tend to be more stable than your home printer inks. Make several copies of the same thing in different sizes.
--You can also bring plain wrapping paper tissue and a few rice paper sheets to use for texture if you wish.
--We focus on painting more than collage. Bring just a few collage items for fun.
11. Most important: a notebook. Use that beautiful journal you've been saving, use a sketchbook, or just bring a spiral bound school notebook. We use the notebook to develop ideas with Art with Intention writing. Your notebook is your laboratory, workshop, and studio all in one.
12. We paint flat, on tables. No easels, hair dryers, or cell phones in class, please.
Bring a bag lunch for more painting time in your day.
I'll bring special paints and new exciting materials to try, varnish, and mounts to purchase if you wish. Excited yet?
Please don't skimp on materials. Buy a few good materials rather than a lot of bargain ones. Working with old, mucky, or very cheap paints and inadequate, warping surfaces is like trying to create a gourmet meal with dusty, ignored food from your pantry. You will never regret spending a few dollars more for fresh, juicy, high-quality supplies.
We paint in series, so we always end up with some good pieces at the end of the day!
I suggest you print this list and bring it to the art store for advice and feedback from staff.
1. Paper: 3 sheets or more of high-quality 22" x 30" 140 to 300 pound watercolor paper. I recommended Fabriano or Arches. You will be disappointed with cheaper papers. Hot or cold "press" is fine. We will gesso the paper, so heavy paper that won't buckle is best.
Before you come to class, please gesso all the paper with 1-2 coats on one side of the sheet. See notes on gesso below. A thick and sloppy job is fine. Let the paper dry and cut to the following dimensions:
--Cut one sheet into 12 7" by 7" squares
--Cut one sheet into 6 10" by 10" squares
--Leave one or more pre-gessoed sheets uncut, to do with as you wish
Thanks for doing this before class if possible. You can do this in class as well, but you will lose some painting and play time. Optional: You can bring three pre-gessoed identical-sized canvases as well as the paper , but the paper is the most important.
2. Gesso: buy thick, creamy gesso, not liquid gesso. This is also your white paint.
3. Latex or nitrile gloves, buckets, paper towels, scissors, large paper grocery bag for trash. Bring a ruler or yardstick. Wear old clothes!
--Gloves are extremely important. We do sometimes paint with our hands and fingers. It might get dirty! Gloves turn your whole hand into painting tools. Bring several pairs.
--2 big buckets for water. Children's sand pails work. I like gallon buckets from the hardware store. Huge amounts of water let us work freely.
--Viva paper towels are re-rinseable painting tools.
--It's handy to have your own private brown paper trash container.
4. Spray bottle with water (medium to large, with a nozzle), and a bottle of 90% rubbing alcohol, no sprayer needed.
6. Jar of heavy gel medium, glossy. This is an adhesive and a stand-in varnish.
7. Acrylic paints: use tube paints (medium to heavy "body")of a good quality. I like Liquitex and Golden. Choose colors that speak to you. Choose clear bright colors. Feel free to include colors you like that don't appear on this list.
--1 orange, 2 reds, 2 yellows, two blues, one purple, 2 green, and 1 black, 1 gold or copper
--Recommended colors from list above: Cadmium or Bright Red, Quinacridone Rose or Quin. Magenta, Ultramarine Blue, cobalt teal or turquoise, Cadmium Orange, Opera Pink or hot pink, Indian Yellow, Payne's Grey, Golden brand Iridescent Gold Fine Bright, a bright green
--Your white is gesso.
8. Brushes: Bring a few cheap hardware store brushes for gel medium, gesso and varnish... 1" to 3". For your painting brushes, I like synthetic nylon bristles for acrylic. Your brushes should BIG and springy. Push them down and they should pop back. You can find craft nylon brush sets with shorter handles at Michael's or a Mart store that work and are not too expensive. You should have 2 or 3 BIG brushes and one small brush. I like fine art brushes as BIG as possible.
9. The "magic" pencil, Derwent water-soluble 8-B. Optional: water-soluble oil pastel crayons in light pastel colors like pink, lavender, sky blue, peach, lime green. Don't buy a whole set, just individual colors. Try one or two to start..
10. Collage elements: we sometimes use collage elements inside paintings. They are optional.
--Bring some black and white copies in various enlarged and reduced sizes of your own images and photos. Make copies in a copy shop as the professional inks tend to be more stable than your home printer inks. Make several copies of the same thing in different sizes.
--You can also bring plain wrapping paper tissue and a few rice paper sheets to use for texture if you wish.
--We focus on painting more than collage. Bring just a few collage items for fun.
11. Most important: a notebook. Use that beautiful journal you've been saving, use a sketchbook, or just bring a spiral bound school notebook. We use the notebook to develop ideas with Art with Intention writing. Your notebook is your laboratory, workshop, and studio all in one.
12. We paint flat, on tables. No easels, hair dryers, or cell phones in class, please.
Bring a bag lunch for more painting time in your day.
I'll bring special paints and new exciting materials to try, varnish, and mounts to purchase if you wish. Excited yet?