Materials List for Beginning Oil Painting     August 2009

                                   Instructor, Susan E Doster

Amounts indicated are approximate and estimate a minimum needed. As is often the case, purchases in bulk can be cheaper.

1.) Mineral spirits—enough to fill one jar for brush cleaning

2.) Turpentine, pure gum spirits --- approx 1 cup

3.) Artists’ Painting Medium (75 ml, Winsor & Newton, available at Hobby Lobby);

     Or equivalent prepared medium product;

     Or similar concoction with which you are comfortable;

     Or I can show you how to make a simple beginning medium. For this medium, bring

       the following three items to class…a.) Turpentine, pure gum spirits--- approx 1 cup,

                                                                b.) damar varnish--- approx ½ cup,

                                                                c.) linseed stand oil---  approx ½ cup

4.) Oil paints --- Winsor Newton is fine. Grumbacher Academy brand may be cheaper. There are many other decent brands. You do not need all paints to be of the same brand.

         (I) All you’ll need for first phase of class:

                                     Titanium white (Flake white preferred, but not essential, more $)

                                     Ivory black

                                     Raw umber

                                     Burnt umber

                                     Raw sienna

          (II)Additional colors, for second phase:

                                     Cadmium red light (or Cad. orange, or Vermillion)

                                     Ultramarine blue (or Cobalt blue, or French ultramarine blue)

                                     Cerulean blue (or Cerulean blue hue, for a lot less $)

                                     Yellow ochre

                                     Alizarin crimson (or Perycyline maroon)

                                     English red (or Venetian red, or Baroque red)

5.) Brushes --- There’s no standard numbering system for sizes, so here are some suggested descriptions of brushes.

        Please note: When selecting brushes, be careful when touching them because many are dipped in glue preservative for shipping. Their hair may easily break unless rinsed well in water before bending or using.

Oil brushes come in four basic styles: brights, flats, rounds, and filberts.

Brights are like flats, only brights have shorter bristles. I do not foresee you’ll need  brights. Like brights, flats also are squared off on the end. Flats have longer bristles than brights. Filberts, are also flat but end with a curve along the top. Rounds are rounded and come to a fine point on the end.

In general, the more brushes you have, the better. Through using them, you will come to understand the different capabilities of each brush.

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To begin, try to have the following brushes:

(I.)Bristles (usually light tan, made from boar bristle, coarse texture)

              (A.) 3 flats and/or filberts ---  small, about ¼”; medium, about

              3/8”; larger, about ½” to 5/8”

              (B.) 2 rounds --- smaller ; larger, about ¼” or so, at neck

                  (II.) Sables (usually brown, made from sable hair, soft texture)

• 2 to 3 flats or filberts --- about same sizes as bristles
• 2 rounds --- smaller, usually called a “0” or a “1”; larger, perhaps a “4” or so

(6.) Palette --- I recommend a small wooden one, but larger will do fine, as will glass, or a disposable paper palette pad. Before first use, treat wood palette with linseed oil.

(7.) Canvas boards, gessoed panels, and stretched canvases:

       All of the above will suffice for your initial paintings. I recommend for Phase I to use cheaper surfaces, such as canvas boards (available at Hobby Lobby such as Fredrix brand, though any will do)

       Have 2 or 3 in a couple of sizes, such as:

                16” X 20”

                11” X 14”

Note: If you buy prepared canvas or panels or boards, and they are on an acrylic ground, which most are locally, then you can use acrylic paint to tone one of your canvases. For this, please buy a small jar or tube of ivory black acrylic paint. Using an approx 3” wide cheaper house-painting brush, and with water to thin paint, brush side-to-side across canvas lightly (thin paint a lot). Allow white of canvas or gessoed board to show through a bit. Do not use any pure black, but aim for the effect of a mere veil of gray color.

(8.) Easel --- the museum has afew available

(9.) Personal work light ---recommended as an additional light source. Try to get a bulb to suffice for daylight, such as the Daylight 200 (a 42 watt natural color bulb from Feit Electric, purchased at Menards). It is best to bring your own light fixture (cheaper clip-on style will do) and an extension cord.

(10.) Paper towels and some rags --- For rags, I prefer old flannel fabrics, cut into 5” squares. 

(11.) Soft vine charcoal --- extra soft vine charcoal is also good

Also, regarding supplies, I have thought of one item which I need to add to the list. You will need something to hold your turpentine, your mineral spirits,and something to hold your paintingmedium. Small jars with tight-fitting lids will work for this. I especially recommend a small jar to hold the mineral spirits, justan empty glass jar with metal lidfrom the kitchen works well. You could do the same for the other two, but I recommend you buy two small containers which I know Hobby Lobby and elsewhere does sell. these should cost a couple of dollars, no more than $5.00 at the most. The kind I use are a very strong white plastic and have black lids. Their unique and very useful feature is they clip (with a metal clip on the bottom) onto the palette. Their lids fit tightly so I can use the same medium and Turpentine from painting session to session. If you cannot find these, then go with any small jar, as described.