Supplies

Canvas & Palette

Brushes

Oil Paints

Medium & Solvent

Oil Palette Map

Downloadable Version

SUPPLIES

When making supply choices, save your pennies by purchasing economical brushes and canvases, but try not to scrimp when it comes to purchasing your paints – professional quality colors will give you real power in your color punch!

If you’re just learning and not ready to invest fully, student grade brands are fine, but splurge at least on a few of your favorite colors. I recommend Ultramarine Blue Deep, your Transparent Oxide Yellow by Rembrandt, Cadmium Yellow Light, Titanium White, and Ice Blue by Richeson.

You can find all my favorite brands for paints and many of my supplies on my Nancy's Favorite Things Page here. For the SG700 3/4 inch flat brushes the best place to find them is at this link: Buy here...

CANVAS OR PANEL

The demonstrations in your lessons can be painted on cotton stretch canvas or on panels. The panels I use are Ampersand gessobord flat panels. The sizes you'll use during this class include: two 20X20 size, four 16X16 size, and one 14X14 size painting. Any panel brand will work fine, and any cotton stretch canvas will work fine. I order my panels from the Dick Blick web site.

I use a variety of surfaces to paint on, from regular stretched cotton canvas to Ampersand gessobord panel. If you use cotton canvas, be absolutely sure to treat it with two thin layers of acrylic white gesso in a good professional brand such as Golden or Art Alternatives, and let dry about four hours between coats. Don’t let the label fool you - cotton stretch canvas almost always needs more gesso! I order my stretched cotton canvas from Amazon.

Occasionally, I will pre-treat the surface of my canvas or panel with an acrylic color by Golden: Titan Green Pale (Golden). This is optional.

BRUSHES

My fav – the ¾ inch flat Royal Soft Grip SG 700 - buy several of these, they’re cheap! Make them last longer by conditioning them with a few drops of baby oil each day after cleaning. Buy here... and inexpensive 2 and 3 inch flat craft brushes for blending. This is optional.

One Royal Sabletek by Langnickel L95010 Number 14 Bright. Buy here...

OTHER SUPPLIES

Standing or tabletop easel – any brand will do!

Viva Paper Towels (I am not paid to endorse these, but they really should name a wing of the Viva Corporate Headquarters Building in my honor!)

Palette Knife

Paper Palette (I love Richeson Gray Matters Paper Palette. Buy here...)

Oil Paints

OPAQUE COLORS

Titanium White

Cadmium Red Light

Cadmium Yellow Light

Ice Blue (Richeson Shiva Series)

Brilliant Yellow Light (Richeson Shiva)

Cadmium Orange

TRANSPARENT COLORS

Transparent Orange (Gamblin)

Permanent Rose

Viridian

Payne’s Gray

Alizarin Crimson

Cobalt Blue Light

Sap Green

Ultramarine Blue Deep (Rembrandt)

Transparent Oxide Yellow (Rembrandt)

Transparent Oxide Red (Rembrandt)

Indian Yellow (Winsor & Newton)

Dioxazine Winsor Violet

Magenta (Winsor & Newton)

OPTIONAL FUN COLORS

Caribbean Blue (Old Holland)

Quinacridone Violet (Gamblin)

Transparent Red Medium (Rembrandt)

Medium & Solvent

FOR OIL PAINTING

What does Medium do?

It makes your paint glide, and makes it juicy.

What does Solvent do?

Solvent strips paint, erases paint, and cleans paint off your brushes.

Be sure to always use containers with lids that are leakproof for your medium
and solvent when painting.

MEDIUM

You can find Archival Lean Medium by Chroma, my favorite, at Dick Blick (click here). Another great choice is one-half solvent and one half refined linseed oil (mix well). You only need about an inch of medium in a small container when painting.

If you are unable to locate Archival Lean Medium by Chroma, you can also use half Refined Linseed oil and half solvent, mix them well.

For your medium container, I recommend the little glass jars that pimientos come in, or a small 2-inch diameter hard plastic container for your medium. Your medium lasts longer if you don’t touch your brush to the bottom of the medium container when you use it. You can pour your medium right back into the medium bottle when you’re done each day, and seal it safely with plastic wrap over the top before screwing the cap back on.

SOLVENT

Good solvent choices available in the United States include Gamsol, Turpenoid, and Mona Lisa. You can find most brands at your local art or craft store, or online. A great container for solvent is an empty 1-pint Talenti gelato container with a kitchen scrubby in the bottom to serve as a screen.