Portrait/Figure Drawing and Painting
Lyme Art Association
Supply List 2022

*Jack invites students to bring whichever materials he/she is already used to, the following list is just recommendations, and is meant to be informational like a handbook on materials-please use it to get ideas. Any materials, and any brands you bring to the class will be ok. Please note that the first two classes will be on drawing, and the last four classes on painting, but students are welcome to draw or paint in any of the classes. The class is open to any media, the instructor will demo in oils.

For Portrait/Figure Drawing 
(It is up to the student to decide whether they would like to use white paper or toned paper or both, the materials for each are listed below):

For White Paper:
- Please no newsprint.
-the yellow "papermate sharpwriters" disposable pencils (available any office supply/grocery store), and are highly recommended and easy to use and/or,
- drawing pencils 2B, 3B, and or 4B with some type of pencil sharpener (for use on white paper).
-paper pad approx. 16"x20"-18'x24" or single sheets of paper. The Strathmore  "Drawing" Line is very good, series 300 and 400. Generally one should choose "drawing" quality over "sketch" quality.  Consider trying the Strathmore Premium Recycled Drawing Pads, they have a good texture. Avoid "smooth" finish.

For Toned Paper:
*Some Toned Paper Choices:
1. Strathmore Toned Tan Sketch Pad 18"x24", this paper is perfect for portrait drawing, highly recommended. It is very suitable for the carbon pencils or charcoal pencils with the addition of medium vine charcoal (optional) for laying in masses. The Toned Tan is available through Jerry's Artarama, here:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/strathmore-400-toned-sketch-paper-pads


Some other choices:
 2. Canson toned paper. These are also great, they come in single sheets, try 'Felt Grey' or 'Steel Grey'
 3.. Strathmore 500 Series Charcoal Paper in Assorted Tints-Lyme Academy Supply Store has this and it is nice-students use this often in class because it offers a variety of paper colors. Here is the listing on Jerry's, under assorted 18"x24":

   http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/paper/drawing-and-multimedia-paper-and-boards/strathmore-paper-pads-and-boards/strathmore-500-charcoal-paper.htm


-General's Charcoal Pencils 2B, 4B or Wolff's Carbon Pencils 2B, 4B (these are like a charcoal pencil but cleaner [generally for working on a toned paper]). These are best sharpened with a good pencil sharpener that has a new blade.

-General's charcoal white pencil (for use on the toned paper)

For Both:
-a kneaded eraser 
-*optional*-a small hand mirror, used for checking your work as you proceed.
-*optional*-a drawing board. The best drawing board is simply a piece of masonite from Loew's or Home Depot cut to a bit larger than the paper one uses-for example if you are using 18"x24" paper have the board cut to 20"x26". 
-good masking tape (for taping sheets to drawing board-'acid free artists tape' is good)

Important note on above: It is up to the student whether to experiment with the toned paper and the carbon pencils, or to  use white paper and drawing pencils. Please choose which you would use for the Portrait Drawing Session.

  
For Portrait/Figure Painting 
(the class is open to any media, oil painting will be focused on, but the concepts covered apply to any media):

Oil Painting
1. Oil Paints:  It is always suggested to use higher quality 'artists' grade paints and avoid the cheaper student grade paint, but for this class any oil paint brand is ok. The brands I use are M. Graham, Rembrandt,  Michael Harding and Rublev-I believe them to be the best (the richest in pigment). You will have to try them to see what works best for you. M Grahams are made with walnut oil and are unique, they have a silky quality because of the walnut oil and are rich in color, jewel-like, but they have a smaller selection than other brands like Rembrandt or Michael Harding) 

Basic Palette. The basic strategy in the palette is to have a white and a black, and then yellow, red, and blue (the primaries) in between. But since it is difficult to get a perfect primary color, it is advised to have two yellows, two reds, and two blues (really one blue is fine because ivory black when mixed with white is bluish. So a good suggested palette for portraits would be (from left to right):
       
White *a note on whites: White is the most important color on the palette. It gets mixed with every color, and is used up the fastest, you may want to get a larger tube of white. There are essentially two options with white, Lead or Non-Lead. They have different feels to them. You will have to decide which you like, and Lead is toxic so you have to use gloves while working with it.


Lead White:
The best lead white currently available is Rublev Lead White #2 which is made with only Walnut oil and Lead (no fillers)-generally you have to add a little oil to this paint to make it flow properly. There is nothing like it but not required for this class. Here is the link to it online:

http://www.naturalpigments.com/lead-white-2.html

Williamsburg Flake White is the second best lead white available.

Non-Lead White: Williamsburg brand Titanium and Zinc is the best] the Rembrandt Titanium White in linseed oil has a great consistency and is non-toxic and is just as great.

Yellow -Cadmium Lemon Yellow [recommended brand: M Graham]
             -Yellow Ochre [recommended brand: M Graham]
             *optional color 'Gold Ochre' [made by Rembrandt (a very warm yellow ochre)-it contributes a warmth to paintings, but is not required.
  
 Red-Cadmium Red light  [recommended brand: M Graham]    
           -Indian Red [recommended brands: [Rembrandt(1st choice) or Michael Harding, M Graham doesnt make this color]
           -Any Violet Red [recommended: M Graham Anthraquinone red or Permanent Alizarin Crimson (aka Anthraquinone red-Permanent Aliz Crim is same as Anthraquinone) or Quinacrindone Rose. 

  Blue-Ultramarine Blue [recommended brand: M Graham]

 
  Black  -Ivory Black [recommended brand: M Graham]


Optional: Prussian Blue [recommended brand: M Graham] {Ultramarine blue is more useful in most portrait situations, Prussian is useful specifically if there are lots of greenish-blue colors in the setup, or really good for mixing intense darks}


 2. Turpenoid  *Don't get Turpenoid Natural!* (Weber brand in the blue container-as large as you can, 1 Gallon will last awhile, perhaps a year). This is for cleaning your brushes as you paint and it goes in the Silicoil jar with the metal coil.

 3. Silicoil Brush Cleaner Tank- to clean your brushes in. This is a jar with a metal coil ring in it. You fill it will turpenoid to about a half inch above the metal ring. most art stores carry this, here it is on Dick Blick:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/silicoil-brush-cleaning-tank/
  
 4. A Wooden Palette. Not required but highly recommended, because the wood has a good feel to it when painting, and has a middle tone which makes color mixing easier.  You will want to shellac the wood to keep any oil from being absorbed into it. The larger the wood palette the better because it has more room for mixing. *The instructor will bring Shellac for anyone who wants to Shellac their palette.

 5. Palette knife. (for scraping paint off the palette). Recommended to get one that has a bend in it, and a triangular blade. One that looks like this in the following link, 6T for example with the 2 1/8" blade:

    http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/brushes-and-palette-knives/palette-knives/creative-mark-painters-edge-painting-knives-and-sets/creative-mark-painters-edge-knives.htm

  6. a medium. [ If you go to an art store such as Jerry's Artarama you will have many mediums to choose from. One should try different mediums to see what works best for you, any is ok for this class. For use in second layer of painting usually], M Graham Walnut Alkyd medium is a good choice, also just walnut oil is good as a medium (just takes a little longer to dry).
   
  6a. 2 small glass jars - to hold the medium and clean turpenoid-*note: medium and turpenoid will dissolve plastic jars.
 
   7. a panel or canvas to paint on. *you have two options when you paint, either a panel or a canvas. Painting on panels has a long tradition that preceeds the use of linen (and later cotton) by artists. They have a different feel, a panel being smoother and a canvas having texture. 

      (Size:  for this class  14"x18 to 18"x24" is a good portrait range.  Any quality canvas or panel is good for this class. But in general linen is better than cotton duck. And with panels, the acrylic primed gessoboards are good.  Linen canvases are hard to find (there is a whole process to making one's own canvas, we will not have time to cover it in the class but it is an enjoyable process to make your own canvases or panels). Below are some links to some possible choices for both preprimed canvases, and panels):

          for panels: 

The Ampersand company makes great acrylic boards, you don't need the cradled ones-get the ones called 'Gessoboard' and not 'clayboard' or 'hardboard'-there are many sizes available, 16"x20"-18"x24" is a good option:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/ampersand-gessobord-panels

I have used the Jack Richeson panels and I can recommend them highly, they have them in white, but their pretoned ones are interesting as well, try 'umber', here:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/jack-richeson-toned-gesso-hardboard-panels

note* Jerry's website doesn't have the white gessoed panels for Jack Richeson, but they allow you to put your own tone on.


          for canvas: 
*any canvas ok, there is a whole art to making your own canvases as well (not recommended for this class, but for informational purposes the highest quality portrait linen available is Claessens Double Oil Primed Linen Roll #13 Extra Fine Texture, available by the roll here:
http://www.jerrysartarama.com/claessens-oil-primed-linen-rolls-fine-texture

There are good quality oil primed pre-stretched linen canvases available on the Jerry's Artarama . They tend to be very expensive and arent required but for informational purposes here are some examples:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/odessa-stretched-linen-canvas-medium-extra-fine
 
 I recently tried the Fredrix belgian linen Nature core paint boards, and found them to be very good, and just right for doing a portrait study:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/fredrix-nature-core-paint-boards

 
 8. brushes. Any brushes ok for this class, in particular long-handled 'filbert' style in a variety of sizes. The search for just the right brush is a personal choice, often times just buying a new brush at the art store that looks good is the only way to find what works. Here are my favorite brushes:


* Highly recommended* are the brushes made by Silverbrush brand called 'Bristlon' series 1903
they last the longest  and are the most versatile, found here, recommended sizes #2, #3, and #4 (a couple of each, Series 1903 Filbert-wash them after use): 

    http://www.jerrysartarama.com/silver-brush-bristlon-all-media-brushes

Nice to have also are (not required but nice for detail):
Winsor & Newton University Brushes Series 233 (these are red, short-handled, and rounds) #2, #4, and #5 are really good for detail.

  http://www.jerrysartarama.com/winsor-newton-university-brushes 


    Any combination of synthetic and bristle brush ok for this class, other good brands are Winsor and Newton, Princeton, Robert Simmons, etc. Trying different brushes is a good way to see what works-I usually try to buy a new brush each time I go to the art store.


   9. Master's Brush Cleaner and Preserver small container-this is for making the brushes last as long as possible, especially the Silverbrushes, you should clean them with this after each painting session.

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/masters-brush-cleaner-and-preserver

   10. roll of papertowels 

   11. pencil (the instructor will demo a technique for drawing the subject lightly in pencil and then spray-fixing, *the instructor will bring the fixative, it is Krylon Workable Fixative*)

  12. Krylon Workable Fixative. (not required but nice to have-instructor will have this)
 
  13. disposable latex gloves [recommended to just get these at any any grocery store like Stop & Shop or Walmart, they come in packs of ten usually, for handling art materials like cadmium or Lead paints and turpenoid] 

       

     A note on art stores: 

Jerry's Artarama consistently has the best selection and best prices, they carry most of the things mentioned above, here is their website:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com , they ship very quickly.

 Jerry's Artarama store is located:  1109 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, CT 06110  (860) 232-0073, here is their website:

http://www.yourartsupplies.com/

 Dick Blick has a very extensive selection: http://www.dickblick.com/ 
     CT location: 341 Cooke St, Plainville, CT 06062  (860) 747-5551 

 Michaels and AcMoore (located both in New London, CT)  are great for finding art supplies as well. They do not carry many of the brands of paints or brushes mentioned above, but are great for finding things like Turpenoid, drawing boards, paper pads, etc.

    *For things like paper towels, mechanical pencils (Papermate), gloves, Walmart might be the best option, or a good supermarket (Stop & Shop).