2022 Workshop: Painting the Studio Landscape with John MacDonald

Here is a Resource list.

Materials List:

CANVASES:

You may use canvas boards, panels, stretched canvases, or loose pieces of canvas mounted to a rigid surface. Please bring at least five panels/canvases. Because smaller formats tend to allow for more relaxed and quicker painting, the following sizes are recommended: 6×8 / 8×10 / 9×12 /12×16. Please, do NOT bring canvases larger than 16” x 20.” If you wish to use a long, horizontal format, limit the size to 8” x 16.” Square formats are fine. Either gesso or oil primed surfaces are acceptable.

BRUSHES:

I use bristle brushes–flats and occasionally filberts–ranging in sizes from #1 to #12. You may use whichever type of brush you’d prefer—brights, flats, or sables—but include a few large brushes–sizes #10 or above.

SOLVENT:

Because we’ll be painting in the studio, please bring high quality, odorless paint thinner only. Please do not bring turpentine.

     In an attempt to have a non-toxic studio, I no longer use thinner. I’ll describe my method during the workshop.

MEDIUM:

If you’re accustomed to using a medium, bring it along. I use a medium but do not mix it into my pigments while painting. (Please see the List of Resources for more information). I’ll bring enough to the workshop to share if you care to try it.

EASEL:

If you wish to do some sketching and/or painting outdoors, you will need an easel appropriate for plein air painting: a French easel, pochade box, or similar easel, and all the necessary accouterments for painting outside. If the workshop venue does not provide easels, you will be notified before the workshop begins.

PALETTE:

You may bring the palette of your choice to the workshop but please buy the highest quality paints you can afford. Student grade paints are rarely adequate for creating rich or subtle color mixtures.

If you wish to experiment with my limited palette, it consists of:

     Winsor & Newton, Winton Soft Mixing White (a mixture of titanium and zinc)

     Permanent Alizarin Crimson (Winsor & Newton. Any brand will do.)

     Prussian Blue (Winsor & Newton. Any brand will do.)

     Dioxazine Purple (Utrecht brand. Any brand will do.)

     Raw Umber (Vasari brand. No other raw umber is quite like this. Highly recommended.)

     Old Holland Paynes Gray. (Any brand will do. Lamp black is a good substitute.) Recommended.

For more information on the pigments, please refer to the List of Resources.

If you’re flying to this workshop, pack the tubes in a separate container and label the outside of the container with the following:

     “Artist Colors – NON-FLAMMABLE”

Avoid using the words “paint” and “oil” on any label. Do NOT try to carry-on the paint.

PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE

     We’ll be working from photographs and/or plein air sketches.  The photos can be hard copies or digital photos. Photos on a laptop or tablet such as an i-Pad work well. Photos taken on smart phones are too small to use. More information regarding the photos will be sent prior to the workshop.

SKETCHING SUPPLIES:

A small sketchbook and several soft (4B to 6B) pencils.

VIEWFINDER

A very nice, inexpensive viewfinder is “View Catcher,” available from most of the sources listed below.

FRAMES

     As we’ll discuss at the workshop, it’s very beneficial to see our work in frames, even paintings that are still in progress. If you’re driving to this workshop and have available frames in the sizes of your panels, please bring one or two with you. I’ll bring some for those who are flying to the workshop.