Right here in the gallery, we carry:
Professional Grade Solvent-free Paints by M. Graham & Co.
Canvas Boards and Larger Stretched Canvases
Wash Jars
Grey Palette Paper Pads
Mediums
Krylon Archival Spray Varnishes
Coming Soon: Brushes
For many other supplies I’ve assembled a shopping list for you at Jerry’s Artarama. Search student supply lists for “Susan Hanna” if the link fails.
PAINT: All classes use the same PAINT colors. You need ALL 7 colors. During your lessons, you will improve your composition skills, learn new techniques, cultivate proper care of materials, and use a palette including only Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Lemon Yellow, Permanent Alizaron Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, and Ultramarine Blue.
Choose a palette KNIFE: plastic set or single metal. You need a trowel shaped one. Metal ones are more flexible and easier to use.
CANVAS: I recommend no smaller than an 11 x 14 canvas board. But you may choose a larger size or stretched canvas. For home use, I suggest using a flat, canvas panel and using masking tape to tape it to a slightly larger piece of sturdy cardboard. This will allow you to keep paint off your easel (or table) and to easily carry your painting.
EASEL: Any that will hold your canvas at the correct height will work. Online students will need to arrange a camera to show your canvas to me during the lesson. You may also use your phone or other camera to show me your work. Your canvas should not be flat on a table.
CLEANING: Our solvent-free oil paints can be cleaned from your brushes in the walnut oil that we carry here. Then you just wash them after in Murphy’s Oil Soap undiluted with warm water. I recommend the Silicoil Wash Jar we carry here to hold your walnut oil. You will need paper towels and a trash can nearby.
Another option is to use odorless mineral spirits in the Silicoil Wash Jar. This is a solvent that removes most paint prior to cleaning in the Murphy’s Oil Soap. You can soak the brushes in the Murphy’s in a glass jar to finish the process. (But the Murphy’s should suffice if you’d rather not use a solvent.) Baby wipes are great for cleaning oil paint off skin and non-porous surfaces like your table and brush handles. I keep them close at hand while painting.
BRUSHES: I like synthetic hog brushes. Any synthetic hog will do. Please don’t bring sable or real hog bristle brushes. Sable is too soft, and the real hog will shed bristles. Flats or brights are the best for our purposes. Filberts are a nice addition for fine lines and softer edges. I recommend “flats” #5, and #8, and “Brights” #4, #10, #12, and #16. Be sure to choose brushes rated for oil paints.
I use a glass jar to store my clean brushes upright and a metal can to hold the dirty brushes upright. I fill my clean brush jar with rice, sand, or beans to hold the brushes apart from each other. It makes it easier to choose your brush when you start to accumulate a lot of them!
LIGHTING: If you don’t have great task lighting where you paint, you can use a clip light. I use a small, gooseneck, LED clip light purchased on Amazon: https://a.co/cVZtkI0
