Pastel and Oil Workshop Supply list
Click the links for examples
Soft Pastels - Bring a large variety of colors. A 60 piece set is appropriate. Terry Ludwig, Great American, Schminke, Blue Earth, Unison, Sennelier, Girault, Diane Townsend, etc.
Optional Hard Pastels - A small selection of 12-24. Cretacolor, Faber-Castell, NuPastel (for portraits bring ochres, browns, warm flesh tones and white)
PASTELS
Pastel Paper for wet or dry application: UART Papers and UART Premium Mounted Boards, Lux Archival, Pastelmat, Pastel Premier (no alcohol tolerance), Art Spectrum Colourfix, Sabretooth, Canson Touch.
Pastel Paper for dry application only: Canson Mi Teintes, La Carte Pastel Card
For portrait workshops, bring an assortment of three sheets or more. White or tones in sizes 12x18"or 16x20"
For studio landscape workshops, you may wish to bring a larger-sized surface such as 16x20" or 18x24" in addition to the smaller sizes (listed below) for developing larger works from your studies. Working smaller is best for creating multiple exercises within a few days. 12x16” can be considered a larger work for studio landscape.
For plein-air and studio landscape workshops, focus on smaller-sized papers or mounted boards. Bring a few sizes in white or toned: 6x8", 8x10", 9x12" or 12x16"
Backing board - slightly larger then paper size (foam board, gatorboard, chipboard, drawing board)
Sanded pastel paper scraps for quick color studies. Smallish sizes around 4x6” or 5x7" work great.
PASTEL PAPER
Travel Easel - For those with a pastel box, the Mabef Travel Easel works well.
Travel Tripod - For those with a Heilman Pastel Box, use a tripod such as the MeFoto Roadtrip Classic to mount your pastel box, and a Heilman Easel inserted into your Heilman Pastel Box for a compact, light and efficient setup. Watch my video here to see this easel setup put together.
Optional Pastel Travel Box - Recommended for palette arrangement and travel. Heilman Backpack Pastel Box, Dakota Traveler
EASEL
Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, or mineral spirits and flat brush for pastel washes
Acid Free Artists Tape 1” - (white or black)
Paper Towels, wet wipes - for cleaning hands
Small Sketchpad for thumbnail sketching
Tombow Dual Brush Pen Grayscale Set for Thumbnails
Soft pencil (2B-6B) or Ebony and kneaded erasers
OTHER
For portrait workshops, bring a selection of 3-5 reference photographs
For studio landscape workshops, bring a selection of 5-10 reference photographs to a two or three-day landscape workshop. This will allow me to help you pick appropriate references for painting. Landscape photographs should not focus on figurative or animal subjects. They can have small people within the landscape (for example someone rowing a boat) or animals in the field in the distance (like cows grazing), but the scene should emphasize the landscape not be a genre image, which becomes a different set of challenges to paint.
For plein-air landscape workshops no reference photos are needed
REFERENCE PHOTOS
Camera for portrait workshops with model- for taking photographic reference of the model. Digital SLR or Mirrorless Cameras with interchangeable lenses are excellent for full control of light. iPhones take wonderful pictures as well in good light.
CAMERA
Optional Gloves in a Bottle - Skin Cream for protection
Optional blending Tools - Use depending on your preference. Tortillons, stumps, brushes, rubber blending tools
Optional Single edge razor blade - for sharpening hard pastels to a point
Optional Sandpaper sharpening block
OPTIONAL
Click the links for examples
Oil painters may continue to use the palette of colors they are familiar and comfortable with. I will share mine as an FYI. It is not necessary to purchase my paint colors.
My preferred canvas - Classeins #13 double oil-primed portrait linen. I love it mounted on panel as well. SourceTek canvas panels are very nice.
My oil palette - Permalba white, cadmium lemon, cad yellow, yellow ochre pale, cad orange, cad red(or cad red light), alizarin crimson, terra rosa(optional), transparent oxide red(instead of burnt umber), ultramarine blue deep (rembrandt), cobalt blue light (rembrandt), viridian, and ivory black(optional). I generally have 13 colors on the palette. Other colors I alternate on my pallette: cad yellow light, cad yellow pale, transparent oxide brown (rembrandt), cerulean blue, chromium oxide green. I prefer windsor and newton, rembrandt, and gamblin oil paints.
Painting medium - is up to you. It is not necessary to use a medium. I often use a medium composed of 1 part stand oil to 5 parts mineral spirits. I have also like to use walnut oil as an alternate to stand oil. It’s very clean and smooth with a slow drying time.
My Brushes - I use Bristle filberts of all sizes. Silverbush grand prix is very good. Rosemary Brushes also makes a wonderful product. The long-haired filberts are nice too. I use long filberts and flats made of soft mongoose or sable. One or two small sable rounds for details are very helpful. One Bristle fan brush for knocking down reflection/glare.
Palette knives - are very nice both for painting and scraping out unwanted paint. I use italian painting knives in the long diamond shape, a variety of sizes. The small ones are excellent.
Other - Mineral Spirits, paper towels, mahl stick or cane for steadying the hand. Charcoal, sketch pad for thumbnail sketching.
Camera for portrait workshops with model- for taking photographic reference of the model.. Digital SLR or Mirrorless Cameras with interchangeable lenses are excellent for full control of light. iPhones take wonderful pictures as well in good light.
Optional- Artists Pocket Color Wheel, Artists Gray Scale & Value Finder
Easel – bring a travel easel like a Tripod Field Easel or French Style Easel
Reference Photos
For portrait workshops, bring a selection of 3-5 reference photographs to a two or three-day portrait workshop.
For studio landscape workshops, bring a selection of 5-10 reference photographs to a two or three-day landscape workshop. This will allow me to help you pick appropriate references for painting. Landscape photographs should not focus on figurative or animal subjects. They can have small people within the landscape (for example someone rowing a boat) or animals in the field in the distance (like cows grazing), but the scene should emphasize the landscape not be a genre image, which becomes a different set of challenges to paint. .
For plein-air landscape workshops no reference photos are needed