Painting with Acrylics~Angie Snyder Lande
Material List: Art supplies can be very costly. This list will give you some options for spending less money on materials.
Obviously, the quality is determined by the price you pay but if you are new to the medium you may want to begin with
inexpensive supplies first. Once you’ve gained some knowledge and confidence, you might want to invest in better
brushes and paints.
PAINTS
*Please avoid the fluid acrylics…look for the heavy body paint. The paint should come from a tube not a bottle.
Please make sure the tubes of paint say Acrylic.
Colors You Should Bring to Class:
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Titanium White
Cadmium Red
Quinacridone Crimson or Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Yellow
Ultramarine Blue
Cerulean Blue
Phthalo Green or Viridian Green
Burnt Sienna
Additional colors, not required, but nice to have (more variety when mixing colors):
Phthalo Blue
Cadmium Yellow Pale (or Light), or Lemon Yellow or Hansa Yellow
Yellow Ochre
Chrome Oxide Green
Burnt Umber
Medium Violet or Ultramarine Violet
To save money, you may want to buy a set of tube paints. The colors might not be the exact colors I listed but it should
be close. You may have to purchase an additional blue and red. I use Golden Acrylics which is an artist grade paint (the
cheaper paints are considered a student grade). When you see the words ACADEMY or BASICS on the tube, this will
inform you that it is more of a student grade. The quality of the student grade will be sufficient for this class. One quick
tip when looking for the colors listed above…whenever you see the word HUE listed after the color name. This tells you
it is a cheaper version of the color. It is not the pure pigment (the reason paints can be so expensive) but instead it is
basically an imitation of the color.
BRUSHES
Please make sure the brushes you purchase are made for acrylics. Think about the style of art you are drawn to when
selecting brushes. If you prefer detailed paintings with minimal brushwork showing, look for softer hair bristles (sable,
ox hair, taklon or synthetic brushes). The softer bristles work well with glazing paint in layers vs. thickly applied paint. If
you think you would like to work more expressively or impressionistic, look for the hog bristle. It is a strong durable
brush that will hold up to impasto painting (thickly applied paint).
*You will notice a jump in prices among the selection of brushes. Please look at the prices of the brushes before
purchasing, some are very expensive.
Many times there are packs of brushes on sale. Whether you buy them separately or in a pack make sure the majority
are flat brushes.
Here some guidelines for what size brushes to look for (the size of the brush is located on the handle):
FLAT BRUSHES
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Sizes 3,6,8,10 (could go larger)
ROUND BRUSH (great for detail)
a) Size 6 or 8 (could get a few different sizes, depending on the detail of your paintings)
I will have palette knives for you to use but if you would like to purchase your own that’s great.
SURFACES TO APPLY PAINT
There are many surfaces available to work on with Acrylics. My suggestion if you have never worked with these
different panels, to buy a few different types and see which surface you prefer.
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Gessoed Hardboard Panels (smooth surface).
Canvas Panels (textured surface).
Stretched Canvas (best quality if you like the texture of the canvas).
NOTE: One of the techniques I will focus on is glazing so please bring a gessoed panel.
PALETTE
Acrylic paints dry very quickly. The palette surface must be made for acrylics (usually comes with acrylic film or palette
film which is basically a disposable palette). I will provide plexi-glass sheets which I often use with acrylics. The paint
can easily be scraped off.
If you buy your own…here are a few options:
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Plastic plates CHEAPEST (must be white)
Disposable palette
Masterson’s Sta-Wet Palette and palette seal
Possum Palette with paint cups (allows you to keep paints sealed in plastic cups while working)
MEDIUM
Acrylic mediums are necessary to help extend and apply the paint without changing the consistency, which is the
problem with relying on water. There are many different mediums to choose from that will help you achieve certain
affects but the one listed below is very versatile and will help tremendously.
Matte Medium-smallest bottle or jar you can find.
A Few Additional Supplies:
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Paper Towels or cotton rags (old t-shirts work great, just cut them up).
Container to hold water (large yogurt containers work well).
Small spray bottle (optional).
*All of these supplies can be found at Blick Art and Craft, mention you are a student and receive a discount. If you
have questions ask someone behind the desk, they are very willing to help. Other options are Art and Drafting,
Michael’s and AC Moore. Michael’s and AC Moore do not have as good of a selection as Blick and Art and Draft.