Cheryl O - Creative Painting Adventures

Artisan Water Soluble Oils from Winsor and Newton are recommended. The particular pigments named here are Artisan brand.

Additives

Turpentine is NOT needed, and is not allowed in class. The water mixable oil mediums are optional. Many professionals do not use them at all. If you want to experiment with one of these, the water mixable "Fast Drying Medium" is recommended for making glazes. Some of the other mediums take months to dry!

Brushes and Palette Knives

I prefer the white or brown synthetic square brushes. Recommended are: 4 synthetic 1 cm. square brushes, plus a couple of 1.5 cm square brushes are a good start. For details, two very short round white synthetic brushes are useful. You will also need a 2.5 cm (that's 1 inch) square soft synthetic brush for blending, and a medium sized palette knife with diamond shaped tip for mixing and painting.

Note: Oil painters often buy extras of their favourite brushes (4 or more) so they don't have to clean brushes as often. Better quality synthetic brushes, though more expensive, will last longer and not shed into your painting! I really dislike the traditional hog bristle brushes because they do not hold their shape and tend to shed.

Canvas

All that is essential for starting is one canvas pad. `Fredrix' brand is recommended - there are cheaper ones, but they aren't as nice to paint on. Buy the 12" by 16" size pad, or 16' x 20" if you like to work big. You will need a corrugated plastic board, cut to a couple of inches larger than your canvas pad, to tape your canvas pad sheet onto. This board is essential for oil painters. It makes it much easier to work on, and to transport. (Mercury Art Supplies sells these, and will cut them to size for you for a small fee.) If you prefer painting your pictures on pre-stretched canvas or primed board that's fine, but the canvas pad is still recommended for exercises.

Miscellaneous Supplies

Any white palette (I use wax paper over a piece of white cardboard), 1 sheet of graphite paper (dark gray or black), soft pencil (4B), HB pencil, pencil sharpener, sticky tac or hold-it (better than a kneadable easer), ball point pen, large plastic container for water, shop towels (see note below), small piece of hand soap, 3 ring binder for notes, masking or painter's tape, 12" ruler, scissors, and photos for reference (inspiration!)

About Paper Towels

For a while I had been concerned about the amount of paper towels that are used during painting. Then one of my students showed me some blue shop towels that come on rolls from a hardware store. These are much more absorbent, and can be rinsed out at the end of the painting session and reused multiple times before throwing them away. Much better for the environment, and more pleasant to work with than paper towels.

Mercury Art & Craft Supershop

Mercury Art & Craft Supershop, a London art supply store located at Wellington and Baseline (beside Staples), stocks art supplies for Cheryl's courses. You will find their paint prices excellent, and the staff friendly and helpful.