ART OF THE CAROLINAS – FR2108 – Wild Gardens, Wild Flowers

Time: Friday, November 12, 2021 – 9am – 4pm
Class Code: SA2108
Workshop Fee: $269 + Paint fee ($17) = $286
Skill Level: All | Medium: Oil/WC/Acrylic
800-827-8478 ext. 156
Sponsored by: Jerry’s Artarama 

Art of the Carolinas
Tel: 919-878-6782 ext.156
Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown
3415 Wake Forest Road Raleigh, NC 27609

Discover the glories of wild flowers bathing in sunlight and mist.  Learn to express the magic of flora in nature.  Learn their patterns, textures, and colors.  See how gardens come to life in demonstrations using oils, inks, acrylics and watercolors. Discover new designs, materials and methods on a journey from realism to fantasy. Learn to evoke the drama of nature’s wild gardens with new techniques in brushwork, paint effects, and a broad selection of new tools.  Your instructor will personally counsel artists to help you advance your skills. Source images are available.

Your paints will be provided for you!

Suggested Supply list. Note: any supplies you already own are useful.  This list represents only suggestions nothing is mandatory.  Bring what you have and we can start from there.

This is only a recommended supply list. These represent optimal choices. If you prefer to work with other materials that will be fine. We can work with whatever you have.

Suggested   Supply List for Studio and Plein Air Painters:

For all painters:  rolls of Bounty Paper towels, a sketch pad ,  disposable surgical gloves for oil, watercolor and acrylic I bring prepared sheets (polymer gloss varnished) 140 lb watercolor paper which is useable with all media. I tape these sheets to a foam core board and tape a small freezer sheet palette alongside the prepared paper sheet, the foam core sheet fits the size of my rolling suitcase. I tape/stack multiple sheets to a foam core board. I will also bring some 12×12 sheets of aluminum composite to paint on. You may also wish to use linen or canvas pads or watercolor pads.

A Few Suggested Colors are listed below .

In oil paints I recommend Charvin Extra Fine: Titanium white, Ultramarine Blue, French Yellow light or Primary Yellow, French Yellow Deep,  Transparent Red Oxide,  Napthol Red deep, Vermillion ,  Pthalo Cyan,…Those are  basics….if you want a broader palette you could add  Quinacridone Magenta or Quinacridone Fuchsia ,or carmine lake.  I use refined linseed oil, walnut oil or poppy oil as a medium, with nothing else… no solvents! No turpentine Turpenoid or Gamsol or similar.

There is no need to use toxic solvents when oil painting.

You will need brushes: soft synthetic flats (watercolor wash brushes by Polar Flo or Silver White)….…I suggest 3”flats, 2” flats, and 1”flats to ½” flats. I personally rely on 2”, 3” 4” and 6” soft synthetic flats. I use watercolor wash brushes for my oil painting.  For small brushes I use Polar Flo water color wash brushes. A couple of primer brushes with hog bristles known as chip brushes (1” 2”, 3”) which are inexpensive and excellent for stippling, or fan effects.

I will also be using 4” and 6″ rubber squeegees window cleaner style with metal handles, Ettore brand is best, available at local area hardware stores or on-line.

I suggest painting on portrait canvas (linen) pads, smooth canvas pads, and, acrylic varnished watercolor paper. We can prepare your paper in the class….the smoother the surface the better. I varnish the watercolor paper, clayboards and inexpensive canvas pads, and other panels with Golden’s Polymer Gloss Varnish. The watercolor paper I use is a 140 lb. hot press. I will also be painting on enameled aluminum composite panels. They are made and marketed as Dibond, Omega Bond, CompBond, AlumaBond, Vistabond etc. Please feel free to email me a call if you have procurement difficulties.

If you choose to paint in acrylic I recommend the same palette choices as with watercolors and oils.  I prefer Charvin Extra Fine Acrylics. Here are the basics: French Primary yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, Primary Magenta, titanium white, Primary Cyan, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Siena, and black. For mixing and extending mediums I suggest a retarder or, a gloss medium or gloss medium varnish all made by Golden. This is in addition to the polymer gloss varnish referred to earlier. I don’t recommend open acrylics and open acrylic medium. For brushes I suggest the same as the oils but, would add a 1/2″ bristle, chip brushes, 1″ bristle, 2″ bristle and 3″or 4″ bristle as well as watercolor wash brush of at least 2”.

I suggest a pad of palette paper. You can paint on any surface from smooth canvas pads to watercolor paper.

If you choose to paint in watercolor or sketch in watercolor before making the oil or, wish to try underpainting your oils or acrylics with watercolor then, I always suggest tube watercolors. I use the same palette in watercolor as in oils. Watercolor can be applied to all the same surfaces used with the oils and acrylics. I prepare the surfaces with Golden’s polymer gloss varnish. For watercolor brushes I use the types of brushes as I use with my oils.

For Watercolorists:  I recommend Lukas Aquarelle 1862 tubes or Sennelier   tube watercolors.  The colors I suggest are: titanium highlighting white, ultramarine blue, Carmine, primary or lemon yellow, Gamboge yellow, primary cyan, primary magenta, vermillion red and transparent red oxide or burnt sienna. Be sure to get an opaque white or titanium highlighting white. Consider the same color palette as the oil painters. For brushes I recommend the same as the oil painters with a couple of additions: Don’t forget your water container and, at least 140lb Hot press watercolor paper and Bounty paper towels. I suggest razor blades, some white conte crayon or chalk pastels, and either a white plastic or paper palette. I like layering media therefore; I use acrylic or oils in conjunction with the watercolors…

Remember we can always paint with anything and on anything. These are just basic recommendations. They are not requirements. We can work with whatever paints you already have.