Materials List for Portrait Painting with Cornelia Hernes (May 2024)

OVERVIEW

Panel for colour study. About 15 x 20 cm
Panel or canvas for the portrait. About 30-35 cm. Medium to smooth weave
Brushes (see below)
Oil Paint (see below)
Palette (see below)
Palette knife (see below)
Linseed oil. No solvent.

Miscellaneous

Apron
Nitrile gloves
Notebook
Plastic wrap for transporting brushes if you are washing them at home.

BRUSHES

The brushes painters use are largely of personal preference. Brushes have different personalities so having a range of them helps complete the different tasks in a painting. For instance, in a smooth passage such as in the shadow, using a synthetic filbert or sable can be more helpful rather than using a flat hog bristle brush, which in turn might be the perfect brush to use when you want to obtain thicker brush strokes. Having brushes in a variation of sizes is essential. Larger brushes cover larger areas more efficiently while smaller brushes are vital for more delicate transitions. When you are in the middle of the painting you could easily use 10 brushes or more during each painting session. Keep that in mind when deciding how many brushes to purchase. Flat, filbert, bright and cat tongue, refers to the shape of the brush.

Typical brush usage;
2 background colours.
2 shadow colours.
3 lights.
3 mid-tones.
2 small brushes for crisp and fine drawing accents.

Suggested brands: Terkell, Escoda, Rosemary, Winton, Blick studio bristle, old Holland, da Vinci and Raphael.

CANVAS
In this workshop we will paint one colour study and one final portrait painting. For the colour study please bring one painting support, such as a pre gessoed panel prepared for oil paining in about 15 x 20 cm. I enjoy working with jack richerson panels or ready made MDF panel from Jacksons in the uk.

For this course, I recommend painting on a gessoed panel or medium to smooth weave linen for the main portrait. I will be working on Claessens 166 universal primed. About 30 x 35 cm. It would be preferable if you could prepare your painting support with an imprimatura at least two days in advance of the course. An imprimatura is an initial stain of colour on a ground. It is useful in the underpainting stage of the painting as it allows us to more efficiently establish value relationships early on in the painting process.

For the imprimatura, use one warm and fast drying pigment, such as Raw Umber. Dilute the paint with a little turpentine to allow for a thin wash on the canvas. This you can do with a rag rather than a brush. Keep the layer fairly light to mid tone (like cardboard) and as even as possible. Do not use any linseed oil in the imprimatura. Leave in a ventilated place to dry. Please note that the RAW UMBER Studios is a solvent free painting space so it is important that the imprimatura is prepared in advance of the course.

OIL PAINT
If you are purchasing any of the colours listed below, I recommend investing in professional artist brands, such as Old Holland, Michael Harding or Rublev Color. Avoid the cheapest grade paints such as Winton.

OIL COLOURS

Titanium white
Yellow ochre
Cadmium lemon yellow
Alizarin Crimson
Vermillion extra (old holland)
Ultramarine Violet
Ivory black
Raw Umber

PALETTE

Wooden Palette. Larger palettes have more space to work on, so it is worth the investment. I prefer a square palette that can either rest on a table or be attached to the easel. If you need a palette, we recommend here or here, depending on your budget. (If you already own a palette, no need to buy a new one. Any will do!)

PALETTE KNIFE

1 medium to large size palette knife ( minimum a little bit wider than a thumb).
A teardrop shaped palette knife for mixing paint on the palette is recommended. However, if you have a different shaped palette knife for this task that works with you, this is fine.

Looking forward to painting with you at the workshop!

Cornelia