Supply List and Helpful Hints

Plein Air Oil Painting Tracey Frugoli, BFA, MA [email protected] www.traceyfrugoli.com

Thanks for taking my workshop. I can’t wait to meet you. This is my philosophy on art materials: Getting cheap materials is actually false economy. You are investing in the workshop and your time is valuable. Why waste it struggling with cheap materials? You already have the hurdle of learning something new. I find that, when my students by cheap materials, they feel they have to use them up, and get stuck with an unpleasant experience. I have included dickblick.com (800) 828-4548 order numbers to make ordering easier for you. Although I tried really hard to get the numbers correct, please double check them when you order as they may have changed.

The Short List: 1. Oil colors. If you don’t have oil colors yet, see the info below to help you make a decision as to which way to go. The colors you will minimally need are the three primaries (red, blue, and yellow) and white. For sunsets and nocturnes I tend to use darks that are transparent because they add so much depth and interest to the dark passages. 2. Brushes. Get some good quality brushes. See the info below for what I suggest. Brush sizes vary with manufacturer. There is no industry standard. 3. Canvases. I recommend quality linen canvases preferably mounted on board. You will appreciate linen vs cotton canvas, trust me. We will do several small paintings. Fredrix Archival Linen Boards are an affordable entry level linen. Try 8x10” (dickblick.com #07011-1012) or 9x12” (dickblick.com #07011-1023). If you like to paint larger, feel free to bring a size that you can complete in about 2 hours. There are many great panels on the market. I make my own from Fredrix Fine Weave Acrylic Primed linen mounted on Gator board because I am picky about what surface I paint on. 4. An appropriate “solvent” in a container to clean your brushes. Here are your best options: a. Walnut Oil Medium from M Graham, it is totally nontoxic (dickblick.com 8 oz. # 01573-1005) Can also be used as a painting medium. b. Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits made by Gamblin (dickblick.com 16 oz #004561016). Do not get just any “odorless” solvent. The presence or absence of an odor does not have anything to do with toxicity. Gamsol has the slowest evaporation rate so less goes into your lungs. You will want your “solvent” (walnut oil or mineral spirits) in an air tight container. Try the

Guerilla Painter Stainless Steel Brush Washer (dickblick # 52847-1010) which has a 10 oz capacity so 8 oz of “solvent” (oil or mineral spirits) should be sufficient. 5. Palette of your choice to secure to your easel (Plexiglass, sealed wood, or sealed treated Masonite board) at least 9x12 in size. It can be just a piece of plexi-glass spray painted middle grey on the back. For this workshop I will be using my new “Medium French Resistance” pochade box which has its own mixing area built into the box to which I added two palette extension kits (dickblick #52842-2009). 6. Decent role of paper towels. Select a size is most convenient. You will need some way to collect them as you paint- like a walmart bag. I attach it to my easel with a bungee. 7. Palette or painting knife. Something like Loew Cornell #12 (dickblick.com # 03108-1214) would be fine. 8. Think about some way to get your wet painting exercises home. Box tops from copier paper boxes are really convenient. Wet Ones do wonders to get wet paint out of car upholstery if you use it within about 12 hours. If you are traveling by air you will want to look into better solutions like panel carriers. I stopped using these in an effort to keep things simple. 9. A field easel. Easels are a very personal thing. I have used many styles of plein air easels. Each have benefits and drawbacks. I will be using my new Guerrilla Painter “French Resistance Medium Pochade” (dickblick#52842-1009) box with two palette extension wings. It is easy set up and take down and for paintings under 16x20 it is very convenient. Use the stone bag! Pochade style easels are prone to tipping. The pochade type easels are basically comprised of a wooden box that mounts to a tripod. Typical pochades are EasyL, Open Box M, and Guerrila Box, and the new Strada. French easels are sturdy and fairly cheap, but a pain to set up and they break easily. If you want to add stress to your life, get a French easel. I like my Soltek for large paintings because I found a new palette made especially for it (the Palm Palette), but we won’t be doing any large paintings. See my blog post about the soltek at http://traceyfrugoli.blogspot.com/search/label/palette. 10. Vine or Willow Charcoal (medium stick) for initial sketching on your canvas. 11. Sun block, bug spray, water, wet ones, and a wide brim hat. Don't wear sun glasses (while painting) or bright colored clothes that might reflect onto your canvas. 12. View Finder to frame the scene. This can be two pieces of matte board cut in two "L" shapes and clipped together, a commercial view finder (like my favorite Viewcatcher dickblick.com #049951000), or an empty slide mount. This is a must for composing your subject. 13. Clamp on battery operated book lights for when we are doing night painting – I use two mighty bright book lights that I got from Judsen’s plein air outfitters – one for my palette and one for my painting www.judsonart.com.

14. Small Sketch Pad and your Preferred Pen or Pencil for initial thumbnail sketches of possible compositions. 15. “Grey Scale and Value Finder” (dickblick.com #04947-2500). This is a great tool for judging the lights and the darks. It is cheap too. (Optional) 16. Clamp on Umbrella to shade you and your work (optional). These can just the cheapy ones you can get anywhere in a neutral color-but it must work with your easel. I have the older version of the artworkessentials.com UMK-45 Plein Air Umbrella Kit. An umbrella adds to the easel’s proneness to get taken by wind. So, definitely weigh it down. You could also take the chance that you will find shade and nix the umbrella. These days, I often keep it simple and find shade. 17. Lots of clamps and some bungies (you never know) 18. Camera to take reference photos- even a smart phone will work.

The following is just FYI if you need it: Oil Paints: I like buttery oils. I am always trying out new colors but usually my palette consists of a warm and cool of yellow, blue, red, and green as well as some greys as convenience colors. Watch Gamblin Colors free video on navigating color space to understand the pigments that go into your colors and how they can be useful. www.gamblincolors.com Colors I use in the Gamblin Artists Oil line: ! Hansa Yellow Medium (dickblick #00401-4713). (alternate is M.Graham’s Azo Yellow dickblick.com # 01573-4453 or Gamblin’s Cadmium Yellow Light dickblick #00401-4073) ! Golden Ochre (dickblick.com # 00401-9033). (alternative is M Graham Yellow Ochre (dickblick.com # 01573-4043). ! Cadmium Red Light (dickblick #004013093) (alternative is M Graham Naphthol Red dickblick.com # 01573-3603). Colors that I use in the M Graham line: ! Anthraquinone Red (dickblick.com # 01573-4913) (Alternative is Alizarin Crimson Permanent. Gamblin’s is dickblick #00401-3063) ! Ultramarine Blue (dickblick.com # 01573-5233) ! Manganese Blue Hue (dickblick.com # 01573-5813) (alternative is Cerulean Blue, Gamblin’s is dickblick #00401-5163) ! Titanium White-Alkyd (Rapid Dry) (dickblick.com # 01573-1023) If you intend to paint a lot get the 150ml size. Colors that I use from the traditional Rembrandt Oil Color line are: ! Sap Green (dickblick #00417-7093) ! Viridian Green (dickblick #00417-7103)

Optional colors that I find very useful in the M Graham line: ! Azo Green (dickblick.com # 01573-7453) Love, Love, Love me my Azo Green☺ ! Yellow Indian (dickblick.com # 01573-4163) Optional Colors I like from the Gamblin Line: Permanent Green Light (dickblick #00401-7313) Portland Cool Grey (dickblick# 00401-2643) LOVE! Portland Warm Grey (dickblick#00401-2653) LOVE! Mediums: ! Gamblin’s Solvent Free Gel (dickblick #00456-1804) Oil Brushes: I have switched from animal hair brushes to synthetics for ethical reasons (No, they don’t just shave the animal). I did quite a bit of research and have tried many of the synthetics on the market. I have found that with minor adjustments the synthetics are just as good, or better, than the animal hair brushes. I use Filbert shaped brushes for the bulk of my painting. My favorite brush is Princeton Best Synthetic Bristle Brushes Series 6300FB. Size 2 is a nice small brush (dickblick # 05359-1002), 4 is a good medium size (dickblick #05359-10040), and size 8 is nice larger brush (dickblick #05359-1008). A super small (size 00 or 01) medium soft synthetic round is nice for some details at the end. Princeton Art & Brush company 6600R “2/0” round is my new favorite (dickblick # 06836-7020). The Escoda 3175 series size “0” is really nice (#06862-1000 dickblick.com). I also like Winsor and Newton Monarch round in “00.”

For Brush care and cleaning: After a few days of heavy painting, I use a brush soap. The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver “studio cake” dickblick.com # 05702-1004) is my go to brush cleaner. Do not store your brushes upside down in a jar, this will bend them. When the brush is wet after cleaning, lay flat on a slight incline so that the water flows away from the brush ferrule thereby protecting the glue that holds the fiber in.

Other: A barrier cream protects, to some degree, against absorbing harmful chemicals into your skin and also helps at clean up time. I like Daniel Smith’s Cactus Brand Protective Cream (Item# 506 010 003 danielsmith.com). It is environmentally friendly and not tested on animals. There is also Invisible Gloves. (Optional) !

Recommended Books: “Fill Your Oil Paintings with Color” and “Landscape Painting Inside and Out” by Kevin Macpherson are great plein air books. And for great artists to inspire you: “Visons

and Voyages: The Paintings of Susan Lyon” (www.Susan Lyon.com); !

Recommended Websites: www.scottburdick.com filled with demos and info. Gamblin Oil Colors www.gamblincolors.com filled with all kinds of info on materials. View their free video on Navigating Color Space. This is a beginning to understanding color mixing.

Sources for art materials and info: Jerry's Artarama 800-827-8478 or www.jerrysartarama.com Artists Supply Warehouse 800-995-6778 or www.aswexpress.com Dick Blick Art Supplies 800-828-4548 www.dickblick.com Genesis Art Supplies 800-037-4278 www.artsupply.com Daniel Smith Art Supplies 800-426-6740 www.danielsmith.com Sedona Art Supply www.sedonaartsupply.com Artisan Sante Fe 800-331-6375 www.artisan-santafe.com Paint manufacturers: gamblincolors.com, mgraham.com, winsornewton.com, talens.com View finder www.viewcatcher.com Soltek easel www.soltek.com EasyL pochade boxes www.artworkessentials.com Source Tech www.canvaspanels.com Judson’s Plein Air Outfitters www.pochade.com Open Box M www.openboxm.com Panelpak panel carrier www.panelpak.com/ Palm Palette (for soltek easel) www.palmpalette.com Raymar Boards www.raymarart.com