Tips on Supplies From Liz Haywood-Sullivan

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Our 2018 juror and workshop leader, Liz Haywood-Sullivan has suggestions for supplies. It is worth the read for everyone, not just for those taking her workshop.

PASTELS

Pastels are expensive and I do not expect you to go out and purchase large quantities of pastels for my workshops. The following are my recommendations (not requirements) for the best workshop experience.

This box has approximately 250 pastels, arranged by color and then value. Softer pastels - Art Spectrum, Sennelier, Ludwig, Schmeinke, Townsend, Great American, Blue Earth, Mt. Vision. Medium pastels - Unison. Harder pastels - Girault, Rembrandt (I …

This box has approximately 250 pastels, arranged by color and then value. Softer pastels - Art Spectrum, Sennelier, Ludwig, Schmeinke, Townsend, Great American, Blue Earth, Mt. Vision. Medium pastels - Unison. Harder pastels - Girault, Rembrandt (I do not recommend Nupastels other than for underdrawing, they are too hard and not lightfast. I also do not recommend inexpensive pastels due to concerns of content quality.)

  • Bring your pastels of choice - a minimum of 100 different colors. This is important.

  • Please remove wrappings so you can see colors and easily use your pastels. This is important.

  • If you break them in half you can double the colors you bring. Most pastels will break cleanly.

  • If possible bring a range of soft, medium and harder pastels.

  • I recommend one artist’s box to hold them all versus bringing them in lots of different containers. This makes it easier to setup. This is essential if you need to travel by air where you are required to send hand carried pastels through a security checkpoint.

  • Take a good look at your range of pastels: If you do not have a good selection of NEUTRALS then I suggest you purchase one of the following: Unison Grays 1-18 or Maggie Price Essential Grays by Terry Ludwig. If you do not have any harder pastels (which are good for drawing and details) then I HIGHLY recommend one of the following: Girault 25 piece Grays Set or Girault 25 piece Landscape Set.

PLEASE NOTE: Depending upon the workshop topic you might need to adjust the pastels you bring. For instance, a sky and clouds workshop requires a good selection of blues and grays. I never alter the pastels in my box. Depending on where I am painting I bring a smaller extra box of the additional colors I think I might need.

PAPER

Bring paper for doing two paintings a day. You may only get to one, but once at a workshop you may not be able to purchase additional materials.

I recommend UART, Art Spectrum, Canson Mi Tientes Touch, or Pastelmat,. You can also make your own sanded surface. (Note: Pastel Premier and Wallis do not work well with alcohol underpainting, only with water - which takes longer to dry.)

For Studio-based Workshops - Paper size should be approximately 12 x 16.

For Plein Air Workshops - Paper should be 12 x 16 or smaller. To make it easier to handle your painting you might consider dry-mounting your paper to a rigid surface such as gatorboard, or buying paper premounted to a rigid backing.

ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES

  • Portable Easel

  • Drawing Board - big enough to hold a half sheet of paper. Alternatively, you can mount your paper on a rigid surface such as gatorboard which eliminates the need for a drawing board.

  • Tape - no colored painters tape. Black, beige or white only.

  • Sketchbook and Drawing utensils - this is important. (I use a black sharpie marker for sketching and Tombow markers in 3 values of grey for value studies.)

  • Vine Charcoal (medium or soft).

  • Glassine - this is to protect your paintings during transport when finished.

  • Towel - to place under your easel, softens the blow of dropped pastels & keeps floors clean.

  • Alcohol for underpainting - bring isopropyl rubbing alcohol (not ethyl alcohol) which can be found in first aid section of pharmacies, grocery stores. Alcohol and other solvents cannot be brought on planes. (Note: water works just fine at plein air workshops in hot, dry areas.)

  • Sealed container to hold alcohol

  • Baby wipes - for quick cleanup

  • Brushes - bring synthetic brushes, no natural bristle - flats in 1/2”, 3/4”, 1”sizes recommended • Viewfinder - required for plein air workshops


REFERENCE IMAGES

Students should bring good reference images relevant to the topic of the workshop. You can work from an iPad, or laptop as well as photoprints. Please do not use plain copy paper prints from your home printer as the color is rarely accurate. You can make glossy digital prints at local drugstore, Walmart, etc, or buy photo paper to use in your home printer.

Images should focus on the workshop topic. And please use your own images. Your paintings will only be as good as your reference images.

NOTES FOR PLEIN AIR WORKSHOPS

  • if you use an umbrella buy one in a neutral tone. Colored umbrellas affect your color choices.

  • When painting outdoors wear neutral colored clothing and aprons.

  • Reflected light off colored clothing bounces onto your painting and will affect your color choices.

  • An empty slide holder works well as an easy, inexpensive viewfinder.

  • Bring additional plein air supplies: hat, sunscreen, waterbottle, bug spray, comfortable shoes.

FINAL NOTE

Finding the materials that work best for you is a process of experimentation, is individual to each artist, and takes time. Taking a workshop is the perfect time to try something new. This materials list is a guideline.

If you are more experienced then use this materials list as a reference and feel free to work with your favorite materials.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me: liz@haywood-sullivan.com