Below are the supplies required for the Acrylic Painting Classes I teach for the Farmington Hills Special Services. Throughout the 6-week session, I’ll give you suggestions on other supplies that may help you, although you’re not required to have them.
You should be able to find these items at any art supply store. Blick in Royal Oak, Detroit, and Dearborn has the best selection, but Michael’s will carry a lot of these, as well. Blick will also give a student discount if you ask for it. Sign up for their free Blick Preferred Customer for great deals too. Get on Michael’s email list too, and they’ll send you coupons almost daily.
Please don’t open your supplies or throw out your receipt after you purchase your acrylic painting supplies. Let me check them out first on the first day of class. Also, make sure you wear clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on. Once acrylic paint dries on your clothes, you’re probably not getting it out.
BRUSHES: Brushes suitable for acrylic or oils are fine. Synthetic or non-synthetic will work. Try to get a small variety. A 1/4-inch and/or 1/2-inch flat, a large round, and a small round are a good start. If you see other sizes you like, go for it. The more variety of brushes, the more variety of marks you can make.
PALETTE KNIFE: Get a metal version with a diamond shaped flat end. The rod between the flat end and the handle should be bent. Please don’t go for plastic.
PAINTS: There are a lot of good brands (Winsor-Newton, Liquitex Professional, Golden, etc.) Go for the Professional level of paints. Do not buy the student grades (Liquitex Basics, Artist’s Loft, Winsor-Newton Galeria, etc.) — they’re made with too much filler and are not opaque enough. You only need eight colors:
- Cadmium Red Light or Napthol Red Light
- Quinacidrone Magenta
- Ultramarine Blue (if you have a choice between green shade or red shade, go for red shade)
- Cerulean Blue (Hue is fine)
- Cadmium Yellow Medium (Hue is fine)
- Lemon Yellow
- Burnt Sienna
- Titanium White
Don’t buy black.
PALETTE: A pad of palette paper. Gray is preferable if you can find it, but white will work. Jack Richeson’s Grey Matter’s paper Palette 12”x16” is perfect.
BRUSH CLEANER: “The Masters” Brush Cleaner.
CANVAS: Get at least 5 canvasses. They could be all the same size or different sizes. Try not to go smaller than 8-inch x 10-inch and no larger than 16-inch x 20-inch. Michael’s and Blick sell packs of canvasses for an inexpensive price. Do not buy canvas boards.
If you’ve never been to the HAWK 2D studio, the easiest way to get to class is to take one of the front entrances, then turn right and take the hall all the way to the end. To your right at the end of the hallway, there should be an elevator. Take it to Floor 2. Once you get off the elevator, our studio is the first room on the right. Please try to be on time. I start my lessons promptly at 6.
