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A R T M A T E R I A L S L I S T
ABOSLUTE BEGINNING WATERCOLOR CLASS
with Robert Leedy
CoRKSHOP, CoRK Arts District
Saturdays,
August 28th - October 2nd
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
W A T E R C O L O R P A I N T S
Purchasing art supplies can get expensive. If you are buying watercolor paints for the first time and you are on a budget, look for student grade sets to save considerably. With that said, student grade watercolors are inferior to professional, artist grade watercolors and can affect your paintings. Purchase watercolors in 15 ml or 5 ml tubes if you are not purchasing a set.
I use a mix of manufacturers in my palette. Winsor & Newton paints set the industry standards but are somewhat expensive as are Holbein, another good brand. M. Graham and Daniel Smith’s line of watercolors are less expensive.
If you are on a tight budget, Koi or Cottman student grade sets are the only student grade watercolors I would purchase. I have been told that Koi are the better choices out of the two – and they are less expensive. If you buy a student grade set, most likely you will not have the colors below so, just paint with the ones provided. You can always supplement with professional, artist grade tubes purchased separately if you like.
*Essential colors
*Aureolin Yellow, Hansa Yellow Light, Lemon Yellow, or Winsor Yellow
*Cadmium Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Indian Yellow, or New Gamboge
Cadmium Orange or Pyrrol Orange
*Cadmium Red, Cadmium Red Medium, or Pyrrol Red
*Permanent Alizarin Crimson or Carmine
Imperial Purple, Permanent Violet, or Quinacridone Purple
*Ultramarine Blue or French Ultramarine
*Cerulean Blue
*Phthalo Blue GS or Winsor Blue
*Cobalt Blue
• Sap Green
• *Phthalo Green BS, Winsor Green or Viridian
• *Burnt Sienna
• *Burnt Umber
P A L E T T E
A good plastic palette with separate wells for pigments and a roomy mixing area is also essential. Make sure there are as many wells as you have tubes of color. Jones, Stephen Quiller, Robert E. Wood or Richeson are good brands.
Plastic Watercolor Palette
If you purchase a set from Koi or Cottman, these will most likely come with a palette. The mixing wells in the palette will most likely be small and in that case, a butcher tray might be a good add-on.
B R U S H E S
Sable hair brushes, especially Kollinsky Sables are the best watercolor brushes made. They are truly wonderful brushes yet are also usually very expensive. Good brushes will do your painting a world of good but keep in mind that an expensive brush doesn’t always mean that it is a good one.
As a relatively inexpensive alternative, look for good quality synthetic or synthetic blend brushes and make sure that the retailer suggests them specifically for watercolor.
Robert Simmons produces a good line of brushes called Simply Simmons. They are inexpensive yet terrific brushes for the price.
• #4 or #6 Round
• #8 or #10 Round
• #12 or #14 Round
• 1” Flat
• A rigger or liner brush is also nice to have but not required.
P A P E R
Quality is very important in respect to paper. I recommend Arches 140 lb. Cold Press paper. Other good manufacturers are Winsor Newton, Fabriano, Killimanjaro or Lanaquarelle. Watercolor blocks are convenient because it is not necessary to tape or staple the paper to a board. They are also handy for travel or plein air painting. They come in many sizes, weight and surfaces such as Hot Press, Cold Press and Rough. Make sure you are buying 140 lb. (300 gsm) COLD PRESS and nothing smaller than 10” x 14”. Common sizes are: 12” x 16”, 14” x 20” and 18”x 24”. If you are buying a block by Arches, make sure it has a green cover which is the correct weight and surface.
Buy Arches or Fabriano 140 lb. Cold Press Paper - single sheets of 22” x 30” or smaller blocks. Hot Press and Rough are also available but Cold Press will be easier for you to work on as a beginner. If you buy single sheets of paper, you can tear them down into smaller sizes. I can show you how to do that in class.
S U P P O R T
If you are painting on a watercolor block, support is in the form of the block itself. If not, you will need a drawing board or some similar form for support. Always make sure your support is larger than the paper size you intend to work with.
E X T R A N E E D S
• #2 pencil (I use a mechanical pencil. Look for a 7mm or 9 mm with HB lead.)
• pencil sharpener (not needed if you purchase a mechanical pencil.)
• kneaded eraser
• plastic containers for water Cottage cheese or Tupperware-like containers are good. A quart-sized plastic ice cream container is another good one.
• plastic spray bottle – for water; select one that has an adjustable nozzle.
• large natural sponge (this is a MUST-HAVE!)
• Bulldog clips – only if you are not using watercolor blocks.
• Frogtape – the green or blue masking tape found in the paint department at Home Depot or Lowe’s. It is used for taping down the watercolor paper to the board OR delineating the picture area if you wish to do so. If you can find Artist’s Tape at an art supply store, it is better simply because it is white and does not interfere visually.
• paper towels – for wiping and cleaning your palette as well as blotting large areas of paint. Viva seems more suited for watercolor.
• Kleenex in small, travel packets – for blotting, picking up runaway paint and more subtle absorbency uses. You will use a lot of these.
O P T I O N A L S U P P L I E S
A viewfinder – very helpful while composing and drawing. You can also make one by cutting a rectangle into something like matboard – just be sure to make it proportional to the dimensions of the paper you are painting on!
A portable brush holder – to protect your investments! These can be the roll-up, placemat types or the folding kind with elastic straps for securing the brushes.
Masking fluid – I prefer to use it rarely and sparingly but it is often a good tool to have.
Small, cheap brushes – if you choose to use masking fluid. Never let masking fluid come in contact with your good brushes!
A digital camera, iPhone, or iPad - for painting ideas and photographing your work. If possible, edit your images in a computer editing program and print out to bring to class.
A large canvas bag - to carry all of this stuff in.
S O U R C E S
L O C A L
I always like to give local retailers my business! No shipping charges either.
Ponte Vedra Arts & Crafts
288-1 Solana Road
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 32082
pvaandc@yahoo.com
(904) 473-5171
(They offer a 20% discount to my students - mention that you are in my class.)
Reddi-Arts
1037 Hendricks Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida 32207
(904) 398-3161
(Ask for a discount - mention you are in my class.)
O N L I N E
Cheap Joe's Art Stuff, Inc.
(800) 227-2788
www.cheapjoes.com
Jerry's Artarama
(800) 827-8478
www.jerrysartarama.com
Dick Blick Art Materials
(800) 828-4548
www.dickblick.com
I look forward to painting with you! Please contact me via phone, text, or email if you have any questions.
Robert Leedy
robertleedy@mac.com
(904) 401-2904