Classes & Workshops
Aimee Erickson's Mini Painting Challenge
ONLINE via Acrylic University. Start anytime!
Paint along with Aimee via recorded demos every week for a year. Each week a new demo video will drop for you to watch and paint along in your own studio. Join the fun and get weekly inspiration.
More offerings
NEW TUTORIALS ARE GOING UP ON YOUTUBE.
FREE ONLINE LPAPA MENTOR PAINTING DEMO
GLOW RECAP
Available to watch online on the Aimee Erickson Artist facebook page.
Did you miss YOU GLOW GIRL at the Plein Air Convention? LPAPA Signature Member Aimee Erickson recorded a video demonstration recapping the principles of how to make stuff glow.
OIL PAINTING - Materials List
PAINTS
A successful painting can be made with two pigments or twenty. I often vary my palette depending on the subject and conditions. This list is a good basic set of colors for studio work, but you don't have to have all of them, and you may bring others.
White (Titanium, Titanium-zinc, or flake)
Genuine Naples Yellow Light (Vasari)
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Indian Yellow (Gamblin)
Yellow Ochre
Transparent Earth Red
Terra Rosa
Cadmium Red Light
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Thalo Green
Asphaltum (Gamblin)
Raw Umber (Old Holland)
Chromatic Black (Gamblin)
PALETTE
Something to mix your paints on. Please don’t use a white palette; it makes judging values very difficult. A wooden palette is fine; treated repeatedly with linseed oil it makes an ideal smooth surface for mixing. Glass or plexiglass is also good; tape a neutral color paper to the back. If you prefer a disposable palette get the gray one from Richeson.
BRUSHES
Brushes make brushstrokes, which is what makes a painting. If you’re in need of a good set of brushes, I suggest the David Boyd Jr Starter/Workshop set from Rosemary.
I use hog bristle brushes from Trekell, flats or long filberts, in a range of sizes, as well as Rosemary’s long rounded ivory flats, ivory filberts and longer filberts, and egberts.
SOLVENT & MEDIUM
A solvent (turpentine, traditionally) dissolves and thins wet paint; we use it to clean brushes and only in small quantities as a medium. Use odorless solvent only (Gamsol). Use a stainless brush washer with a basket and a gasket lid that clamps on.
A medium is used to change the consistency of the paint. Recommended: Gamblin's Solvent-Free Gel.
SUPPORTS
A support is a surface to paint on, and a ground is the primer, usually gesso, used to coat the support to prepare it for painting. Paper is a good support if coated with shellac, and I frequently do small studies on treated paper. My favorite support is homemade muslin panels (see video here).
Size and quantity of supports depends on the student—sometimes you’ll want to do a sustained study and sometimes several starts. Better too many than not enough.
Tone gessoed supports with a light-to-middle-value warm neutral. Use a little solvent and a neutral combination of paint (my favorite is Old Holland Raw Umber plus a little white) to cover the board. Then use a paper towel to remove excess and create a very thin, even tone.
PALETTE KNIFE
A palette knife, or painting knife, can be used for mixing and for applying paint. A three-inch offset blade with a long, graceful shape is the most versatile. Scrape dried paint off with a razor blade.
PAPER TOWELS & plastic trash bag
PORTABLE EASEL (unless the venue provides easels)