Materials Summer

The 2024 Summer Seminar at Torri Superiore - Italy

~ RECOMMENDED MATERIALS ~

THE ACADEMY PROVIDES:

• All easels, chairs and small tables to put your paint

• Two 40 cm x 60 cm gesso panels (16" x 24") ~ one for Stefan's class and one for Laurence or Florence's class

• (If you prefer to work on another size, you can bring your own gessoed panel or canvas)

• The ingredients for egg tempera, casein & glazing mediums

• Brush cleaning solvent, soap, rags & paper towels

• Transfer paper

• Tracing paper, vine charcoal & masking tape

THE STUDENTS BRING:

• Their teachers' recommended brushes

* Their teachers' recommended oil colours

• We strongly advise you to buy a selection of the recommended paints and brushes below (according to your teachers' list ~ avoid duplicates! Brands depend on which country you are in - find something equivalent).

• For your artistic future, we recommend that you buy high quality oil paints & brushes ~ these will last much longer and allow you to continue painting after the seminar.

• But, don't panic if you don't have every colour! The Academy will have a selection of oil colours available as a back-up.

• The recommended palettes

• A palette knife

• The recommended sketchbook, pencils, ruler & eraser (See Stefan Lucas Allen's Class)

• A small image, talisman or piece of Nature for the altar

MEDIUM

• The Academy will supply the ingredients for the egg tempera and glazing medium

• However, you are welcome to bring your own 21 ml tube of Senellier Egg Tempera in Titanium White.

PAINTS

The brands I strongly recommend are:

• Old Holland, Williamsburg, Michael Harding, and RGH paints (a NY based oil paints company ~ very high quality and very inexpensive...)

COLOURS

Bare minimum for Alla Prima painting ~ known as the Zorn Palette:
• Titanium white
• Mars Black or Bone Black
• Cadmium Red
• Cadmium Yellow

Bare minimum for Mischtechnik (including the Zorn palette above) :
• Ultramarine blue
• Raw Sienna
• Alizarin Crimson

Extended Palette colours that I love:
• Transparent iron oxide red
• Ruby lake
• Alizarin Crimson
• Transparent iron oxide yellow
• Ultramarine violet
• Ultramarine rose
• Cobalt blue
• Phalocyanine blue
• Caribbean blue
• Viridian green
• Chrome oxide green
• Burnt sienna
• Burnt umber
• Raw umber
• Yellow ochre
• Chemnitz white
• Manganese Violet
• Cobalt Yellow
• Cobalt Violet
• Neutral tint

PALETTE & JARS

• A wooden palette is fine, so long as it is finished, not raw wood
• A pad of palette paper is even better

• 1 glazing plate (ideal, get an enamel picnic plate, they're great and easy to wash)

• 4 small jam jars for mediums

• Plastic Jar with Lid (to hold water for Egg Tempera)
• A palette knife

DRAWING SUPPLIES

• Wolff Carbon 6B pencils or Conte 1710 B pencils

• Strathamore SMOOTH Newsprint 18 x 24” Pad (not rough!)

• White charcoal pencil
• Pencils
• Kneadable Eraser
• Ballpoint pens

If you plan on joining me during my early morning/ late evening Alla Prima Plein Air painting studies, you will need:

• Sketchbook, pencils and a clip on reading light
• To paint in oils you’ll need:
• A portable field easel (even a cheap one will suffice)
• Palette paper or an oil proof box that you can use as a closable palette
• Some plastic bags to put your used rags in for the return hike
• Spare panels 8 x 10” or 24 x 30 cm ~ these are large enough since the light changes fast
• Glocusent Eye Caring Music Stand Light (or equivalent portable clip on light

If you are planning on getting into Plein Air painting after the seminar, I strongly recommend:

• A Pochade box from https://allaprimapochade.com/

These are hand made by one guy. They are an investment, but by far the most practical setup I've come across for doing multiple small landscape studies on the fly.
If you get one of these Pochade boxes you’ll need a tripod. What I have and love is the NEEWER N55C 68” Carbon Fiber Monopod Tripod.

FOR STEFAN LUCAS ALLEN'S MISCHTECHNIK CLASS

BRUSHES

• My recommended brand:

- Rosemary and Co Brushes (handmade, very inexpensive, and very well made)

* It is essential to have a good variety of rounds and flats, as well as one fan brush and one very pointy round for Mischtechnik hatching.

• I recommend a selection of the following brushes (links provided):

• Designer Golden Synthetic Series 344 - Sizes 2 - 6

(or any round brush that is medium/small with a deadly sharp tip for hatching)

• Ivory Synthetics Extra Long Flat 4, 6, 8

• Ivory Synthetics Daggers - any size, for effects

• Ivory Synthetics Pointed Round - any size

• Ultimate Bristle Filbert 2, 4, 8 (for Alla Prima)

• Ultimate Bristle Pointed Round 2, 4, 8 (for Alla Prima)

• Ultimate Bristle Long Flat 6 (for Alla Prima)

- Please choose EITHER the cheaper Master's Choice OR the more expensive Pure Red Sable:
• Masters Choice Fan brush - any size

• Masters Choice Round - 0, 4, 8

• Masters Choice Long Flat - 4, 6, 9

• Pure Red Sable Fan brush - any size

• Pure Red Sable Spotters Series 93 - 2, 4, 6

• Pure Red Sable Brights - 4, 6,

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FOR LAURENCE CARUANA'S MISCHTECHNIK

MEDIUM

• The Academy will supply the casein and ingredients for the glazing medium
• However, you are welcome to bring your own casein, which is small 50 ml jar of Pelikan Plaka in white:

PAINTS

* I mostly use Old Holland oil colours, but lately I've been buying Michael Harding, Williamsburg and Rublev (Natural Pigments) to round out my palette.

BASIC COLOURS

• Every artist should begin with a palette of standard oil colours. Typically these include the three primaries, in their opaque and more transparent versions (for glazing - labelled 'lake' or 'extra').

• In my palette, they are:

(OH = Old Holland)

• OH Cadmium Yellow Medium (opaque) & OH Indian Yellow-orange Lake Extra (glazing)

• OH Cadmium Red (opaque) & OH Alizarin Crimson (glazing)

• OH Blue (phthalo - opaque) & OH Ultramarine Blue (glazing).

• Add three secondary colours:

• OH Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep (which is orange)

• OH Magenta

• OH Golden Green Deep (a phthalo green)

• Finally, the neutrals:
• OH Titanium White (I also use Lead White with caution)

• OH Mars Black (opaque) & OH Ivory Black (for glazing)

EXTRA COLOURS

• For Flesh tones, I begin with:

• Williamsburg Naples Yellow Italian

• For browns, I mix:

• OH Transparent Red Oxide Lake + OH Ultramarine Blue (when combined, these make a range of warm & cold browns)

• OH Yellow-Brown (a creamy light brown)

• OH Van Dyck Cassel Extra (a rich dark brown)

BRUSHES

• Lately I've reduced my brush collection to one brand ~ the Raphaël Kaërell Synthetic Sable Brushes ~ which are inexpensive and available in Europe or the USA. I use the ones with a blue handle, but the orange handle are also fine.

* Generally, you will need a range of soft synthetic brushes that are 1 cm / half inch long, as follows:

* Fine Liner brushes

* Round brushes

• Filbert brushes

• A wide flat glazing brush (expensive)

• More specifically, I use the following:
* Fine Liner brushes:

- The blue Raphael Kaërell Synthetic 8214 in size 6/0

* Round brushes for applying paint:

- The blue Raphael Kaërell Synthetic 8204 in sizes 1 and 4

OR The orange Raphael Kaërell S Acryl 869 in sizes 1 and 4

* Round brushes for blending paint:

- The blue Raphael Kaërell Synthetic 8204 in sizes 7 and 12

OR The orange Raphael Kaërell S Acryl 869 in sizes 7 and 12

• Filbert brushes:

- The blue Raphael Kaërell Synthetic 8244 in sizes 6 - 8

OR The orange Raphael Kaërell S Acryl 8792 in sizes 6 - 8

• A wide flat glazing brush (expensive)

The Kaerell Bleu Spalter 281 in size 50 (50 mm wide)

PALETTES & JARS

• For your oil paints - a small varnished wooden palette or - better yet! - a hardback pad of GREY palette paper. Personally, I use a white enamel picnic plate.

• For casein or egg tempera - a black plate (or dark colour) or a hardback pad of GREY palette paper. Personally, I use a black enamel picnic plate.

• 4 extra-small jam jars with their screw-on tops (c. 3/4" in diameter). These will hold your medium while you're painting. (Clip on cups also work, but they must have lids).

• Plastic Jar with Lid (to hold water for Casein)

• A palette knife.

SPECTRAL COLOURS

• For years, I've been searching for the right oil colours to give the effect of the light spectrum.

• If you would like to try painting in spectral colours, then here is the list of colours I presently use:
- For Yellow - Micheal Harding Genuine Naples Yellow Light (+ Titanium White)

OR - OH Indian Yellow-orange Lake Extra (+ Titanium White)
- For Orange - OH Cadmium Yellow Deep (+ Titanium White)
- For Pink - OH Scheveningen Rose Deep (+ Titanium White and OH Magenta)

OR - Williamsburg Persian Rose
- For Magenta - OH Magenta

- For Lime Green - OH Cinnabar Green Light Extra (+ Titanium White)
- For Cyan Blue - Michael Harding Phthalo Blue + Titanium White

- For Violet in a Warm Reddish tone - OH Violet (+ Titanium White)

- For Violet in Cold Blue-ish tone - OH Dioxazine Mauve (+ Titanium White)

Fine Liner Brush - Raphael Kaerell Synthetic 8214

Round brush - Raphael Kaerell Synthetic 8204

Filbert brush - Raphael Kaerell Synthetic 8244

Flat Glazing brush - Raphael Spalter 281

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FOR FLORENCE MÉNARD'S
LAYERED APPROACH

MEDIUM

• The Academy will supply the glazing medium

PAINTS

The brands Florence strongly recommend are:

• Old Holland ~ all colours

* Williamsburg ~ Provence Violet Bluish, Persian Rose, Naples Yellow Italian

• Michael Harding ~ Phthalocyanine Blue & Titanium White

COLOURS

Strongly Recommended:

(All Old Holland, unless otherwise noted)
• Michael Harding Titanium White  

• Browns : Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna
• Ochres : Red Ochre, Gold Ochre 

• Greens : Olive Green, Viridian Green Deep, Cinnabar Green Light Extra 

• Blues : Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Manganese Blue, Michael Harding Phthalocyanine Blue & Titanium White

• Purples & Violets : Dioxine Mauve, Magenta, Caput Mortum Violet (Mars)
• Williamsburg Persian Rose  

• Reds : Alizarin Crimson, Golden Barock Red, Transparent Oxide Red Lake 

• Yellows : Cadmium Yellow Deep (more orange), Cadmium Yellow (Yellow or Light), Williamsburg Naples Yellow Italian

Optional:
• Sapgreen Lake Extra, Green Earth
• Cobalt Blue Turquoise Light

• Indigo Extra, Parisian Blue Extra
• Manganese Violet Reddish
• Williamsburg Provence Violet Bluish
• Manganese Blue Extra
• Scarlet Lake Extra, Coral Orange
• Indian Yellow Green Lake Extra

BRUSHES

• The Da Vinci brushes are very good value, inexpensive and very soft. I also love the Tintoretto brushes at the Art Store in Ventimiglia. I personally like to work with cat tongue (filber) for medium size, and round brushes for details. Also buy 2 sizes of glazing brushes.

• 1 Glazing brush : Series 5073 Fit Synthetics, Mottler 50

• 1 Glazing brush : Series 5073 Fit Synthetics, Mottler 30

• Da Vinci Grigio Synthetic Brush - Filbert, Long Handle, Size 6 and 10

• Da Vinci College Synthetic Brushes, Filbert Size 4, 6, 8 and 10

• Raphael Golden Kaerell Brush - Filbert, Long Handle, Size 6 (very soft, good for blending)

• Tintoretto Round brush, Gold synthetic fibre 785, Size 2, 3, 4 and 6

PALETTE

• 1 palette and 1 glazing plate (ideally, get 2 enamel picnic plates, they're great and easy to wash)

• 4 extra-small jam jars with their screw-on tops (c. 3/4" in diameter). These will hold your medium while you're painting. (Clip on cups also work, but they must have lids).

• A palette knife.

DRAWING & TAKING NOTES

• A4 Sketch Book

• Your favorite drawing Pencils

• Kneadable Eraser

• A note book with lines and a pen

FLORENCE WILL BRING

• Natural Pigments "Ochre de France"

• Gold Pigment with medium

• Silver Pigment with medium