Active Still Life

Still life paintings can be full of movement when we use line to infuse our compositions with gesture, and study the fall of light. We will paint a still life of flowers, fruit, and fabric as we explore the motion that organic growth creates and utilize folded fabric to move the eye throughout our canvas.

Supplies provided:
Paper towels, Dawn dishwashing liquid for brush cleaning, flowers, fruit and fabric.

Supplies to bring:
CANVAS :
16×20 canvas, or something close to that size.
Important: A better quality canvas will be easier to paint on.
TONE YOUR CANVAS:
Do this at least a day before class to allow for drying time.
Toning your class eliminates the stark white of the canvas. Create a light mixture of very small amount of paint with turpentine/mineral spirits/Gamsol, Wash this evenly over your canvas with a big brush or cloth and let it dry over night. Burnt umber is a good neutral tone, no darker than a brown paper bag.
Option 2: use acrylic paint, but you will want to use plenty of white paint, instead of diluting the paint with water, because too much water may damage the canvas.
PAINTS:
Cadmium Yellow Pale/Light,
Cadmium Yellow Medium,
Cadmium Yellow Deep or Orange,
Alizarin Crimson,
Cobalt Blue
Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Umber
Permelba White (mixing white) or Winton Titanium White
Optional: any paint you have.
For “Finish That Painting,” transparent colors are good if you want to glaze, like Indian yellow, pthalo blue, permanent rose.

BRUSHES:
1 narrow drawing brush for sketching in composition
1- 2 thumb width brushes for large areas
3 – 5 finger width brushes
(NOTE: Filbert, “cat-tongue” shaped bristle brushes are great, but flats and rounds, and synthetic sable are nice for finish work.)

Palette knife – diamond shape, 2 to 3 inches long

PALETTE and BOX to store palette in:
– wood palettes let you mix colors on an earthy field.
– a pad of palette paper is great for quick clean up.
Clip on JAR with lid for keeping medium at the ready on your palette.
(Linseed from the hardware stop is a cheap and easy medium to thin the paints with.)

MEDIUM:
Linseed oil from the hardware store is fine. If you use a wood palette, then you will need this for clean up.
Stand Oil and linseed oil mix is great!
Galkyd – great to mix into oil medium to help it dry.
No Turpentine/mineral spirits, odorless or otherwise, Please 🙂 – Gamsol is ok

OTHER:
Rag
Paper towel,
Non breakable container to hold brushes (big tin can. Etc)
Small jar to mix medium in.

Location and Parking:
Newport Art Museum School classes are held in the Coleman Center, located at 26 Liberty Street.
Please park in our museum parking lots.

Download our full list of 2018/2019 Winter Classes.