Description
Students will learn various techniques on how to manipulate palette knives and make a great variety of marks that describe realism without big detail. Information will be shared on paint manipulation/brushwork. Each morning there will be demos and in the afternoon I will spend time with each student helping them through the process. Beginners to advanced students can participate in this workshop.
Supply List:
I order my supplies from amazon.com or Blick.com:
If you buy on-line, pick one of these oil colors, type it’s name in the search bar and keep scrolling down the list for the ones you wish to purchase. Not every store has water mixable oils called Cobra on its shelves so I do on-line orders with my supplies so I am not disappointed.
Cobra Brand is Water Mixable Oils, a true game changer in oils that can be included with the use of regular oil paints. I use my regular oil tube ones too that I have on hand with the Cobra. Cobra are made by Royal Talens (Europe) and perfectly creamy for palette knife use. They can drip, make clean up with water so easy. And if you use regular oils with Cobra, you can still clean up with soap and water to be solvent free. Cobra gets its name from the initials of Copenhagen/Brussels/Amsterdam where the products are produced.
The palette of colors I will use is called the transparent palette, mostly transparent colors which is a nice combo.
1. Transparent Red Oxide
2. Cadmium Red Light ( my only opaque on this list)
3. Carmine (a.k.a Alizarin Crimson)
4. Indian Yellow
5. Cadmium Lemon Yellow
6. Cadmium Yellow Medium
7. Yellow Ochre
8. Ultramarine Blue
9. Thalo Blue
10. Thalo Green
11. Raw Umber
12. Zinc/Titanium white (or one or other but this combo in one tube is nice.
13. Ivory Black, this palette being transparent will be fun to palette knife, scrape and pop colors into, to bring results like stain glass window light effects
14. NOTE: This workshop may be partnered with Royal Talens where they gift products and provide demonstrations.
+One small bottle of Archival Lean Medium. The Archival Lean medium is a fast drying medium for oils and does amazing stuff. Or a small jar of cold wax is a great medium to help the oils dry. Either/or. I can share mine.
+Palette Knives to Buy, the ones I like for painting:
1. Liquitex Brand large Palette Knife, #11, get 1. The #11 is about 3″ and looks like a pie/cake server, is offset so your knuckles don’t scrape into the canvas and it has round edges. I use this one to start.
2. Liquitex small Freestyle. I always have a couple on hand if you can’t find it. The Liquitex small Freestyle is a long, skinny round-edged one. I use this 80% of the time. RGM makes a very skinny one (#41) like a thin sword I got at Binders in Atlanta. Amazon carries it too.
These Liquitex brand palette knifes do not have pointy edges. No sharp points please or plastic ones! We will learn to sculpt the paint!
RGM Italian brand (the pastrello series) makes the same one. RGM makes a yellow handled one that looks like a pie server that I like, all are available on Amazon. (Type in this palette knife info in the Amazon search bar to order). Some on my art friends and students like hardware putty knives.
+Cotton canvases, mid sized, maybe 4. 14×18 or larger to practice with Palette Knife Painting. 20×20 or 16×20, or 24×24 are great sizes. I prefer the tucked in sides that have no cross bars in the middle to bug me. Michael’s or Hobby Lobby has good ones. I like to tape paper to a board too. Easy to handle with technique learning and traveling.
Tablet of Arches for Oils paper or Rembrandt paper for oils in a red pad, the Small pad or larger pad, whatever they have in stock. Great paper for learning oil painting tricks. Amazon has this too. Blue painters tape for the paper to keep it in tact if you decide to try paper.
+One Grey Matters paper palette pad for mixing your colors on this disposable paper tablet. (Please don’t forget this as you need a lot paper palettes for mixing Colors, as I don’t bring enough to share multiples with everyone). These sheets of paper palettes are tossed out when used up. Fab product. Amazon has it. I do use an enamel butcher tray I bought at Michaels’s. It is great for the water mixable oils as it has a side well like a trench for the water.
+Paper Towels and Baby Wipes, a few little Dixie cups or paper plates for water or mediums
1. Any brushes you have on hand. I like squares and ovals. Princeton is a great brand. I like a cheap trim brush from Ace Hardware too.
2. Paper and pencil(s) with a sketchbook, optional, or if you have black or grey tones magic markers for preliminary sketch. Ink-tense brand pens and pencils are nice, or a charcoal stick or some regular drawing pencils you have on hand. I have a lot of water-soluble colored pencils to share or bring what you have on hand. I love the Woodies water-soluble pencil sold on Amazon. Doodles in sketchbook are great way to get your thoughts together. And to make notes.
Coconut oil in a jar from the grocery store to coat our hands before painting and to clean hands while painting.I don’t use gloves as much now since cobra oil paints and coconut oil is so healthy.
Murphys Oil Soap for washing paint out of anything like brushes, leather, clothes, skin. I don’t use hardly any solvents, but will bring a can of the odorless gamsol by Gamblin just in case.
Other:(optional fun products)
www.stencilgirl.com has great stencils. Messermeister bowl scraper for softening edges. It’s rubber and found on Amazon. Mine is in orange. Rubber shapers with handles found anywhere. Or a discarded credit card for scraping. Or a shower rubber window washing tool. I share all of mine. So don’t buy until you use mine.
1. NOTE: I wrote and published a soft bound primer on palette knife and oils that is available for purchase on my website. It’s called “Palette Knife is an Acquired Touch,” It covers everything I teach in a workshop and more. You tap the “buy now” tab on my books page on my website, and the publisher sends it right to you. www.karenweihs.com/books
