Workshops
acrylics and suggest the following for a
minimum:- one round #7 or #8, WC one
quarter inch flat and one half inch flat.
The photo to the right shows two types of
half inch flats. The long bristle brush is a
one stroke brush the shorter bristle one is
ordinary. I prefer the one stroke.
air tight box from an art supply store.
They will keep your acrylics from drying
out and also the mixes you set up will
be usable when you open the box. I
cover the bottom of my box with wet
paper towels and then place my glass
palette over them. There should be
about a 1/2 inch margin of paper towel
around the glass. This will keep your
paints useful for weeks. Photo of my
well used palette to the right
size. This size is small enough to finish in a few hours. Or if you wish you may purchase a
paper canvass pad. They come in a 9x12 size and contain 10 paper canvass sheets.
These are very good for experimenting with and they are cheap. I take them for sketching
when I travel.
You will need a water bucket, masking tape, pencil and sketching paper. Also you need
cloths for wiping your brushes etc.
I like Liquitex paints, but other artist quality paints are also good. The colours I suggest are
Titaniium White*, Cadmium Yellow*, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red*, Alizarin Crimson,
Diaxazine Purple, French Ultramarine Blue*, Cerulean Blue, Burnt Sienna*, Sap Green.
The cadmiums are a bit more expensive and you may want to use a cheaper alternative
suggested by your art dealer.
*If you want to conserve your dollars I suggest these five colours as basic.
WHERE TO PURCHASE:d
Opus has good sales every month with different items specially priced. You can also go
back east to shop at Currys on line: www.currys.com or 1 800 268 2969. They would have
the best prices, but you pay $10 for shipping and you have to wait for delivery.
Often artists like to bring photos of subjects they would like to paint. Please do.
generally agreed that watercolours are the most difficult. That is the medium I have used
for most of my work. Oils is lovely to work with but generally requires a space where you
can leave your work. It smells and takes time to clean up.
I think that acrylics is the easiest medium for beginners. Much of painting involves
choosing and designing a subject and this can be more readily attacked from different
viewpoints in acrylics. Acrylics dry quickly so you can layer your work. Brushes clean
easily with soap and water. You can travel with them almost as easy as watercolours. You
need not stay with acrylics for all of your painting career, but it is excellent for entry level
people I consider entry level to cover the first 50 paintings. Some very excellent artists for
example, Robert Bateman and Robert Genn work exclusively in acrylics.
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