Summer Zoom Painting - Materials

Hello everyone! 

I have reawakened my long dead blog because I think this is the easiest format to get a lot of information down in an easy-to-read format. 

This is the material list. I’ll write another about setup for actual class shortly. 

First of all, don’t ever pay full price for materials. Both Hobby Lobby and Michael’s constantly have sales and coupons. And Walmart brand stuff will do in a pinch if that's more affordable (though, with coupons and sales, it often is not).

Secondly, please get materials that will help your students feel successful. Cheap, plasticy brushes, copy paper, and dollar store paints will cause more frustration than the value they provide. You don’t have to have artist quality supplies to have an excellent experience, but there is a level where it does make a difference. 

Thirdly, this is supposed to be enjoyable. If your kid doesn’t want to do it and will grouse… well.. never mind. Mine is going to do that and he will be required to join. 

Ready? Let’s get into it. 

What you will NEED-

Paint- I usually use Artist Loft brand tubes to paint with Jeremiah. Make sure you get Watercolor and not acrylic or oil. All the tubes are very similar looking. At Michael's, they are color coded. Watercolor is BLUE. Tubes are bright, accessible, and last forever. We have been using the same tubes for three years and only now are starting to run out. You can get individual (I would suggest at least red, blue, yellow, pink, black, and white) or multi packs (just check for a pink or magenta and get one of those if it doesn’t have one). You can use pans if you prefer, but the quality of inexpensive pans varies far more widely than that of tubes. Most of the tutorials we will follow use liquid watercolor and those are vibrant and beautiful, but messy and expensive.

 

Brushes- any multipack that says “watercolor” will do. Do try to avoid mixed media brushes and stick to ones specifically designed for watercolor. Keep them separate from your acrylic or other paint brushes. They don’t respond well to mixed treatment. One small round, one large round, and one wash (larger flat) brush per student should be enough to do just about everything.

Palettes- you will need one per child, or at least one per pair of children. Because watercolor involves a lot of mixing your own colors, I suggest having a separate mixing palette even if you are going to use pan paints. These don’t have to cost anything. I keep my leftover broccoli holders from Aldi and think they make fantastic palettes. After you paint, you can allow any leftover paint to dry on it and rewet it as needed. It will always rehydrate for you. And, if you need a palette or two, I have plenty.

Paper- This is probably the most important thing when watercoloring. Please, please get watercolor paper for your children to paint on. Not cardstock, not mixed media, not construction, definitely not copy paper. It doesn’t have to be the best paper, but we will be using a lot of water, and no other paper can hold up to the downpour. I use Canson XL paper, 140 lb. It is inexpensive, but provides good quality.

Water- I mean, it’s in the name… we will be using water to not only rinse our brushes, but also to make our paint different values and to move it along the page. It is recommended to use two water cups- one to rinse your brush and one to keep clean when adding fresh water. I usually end up with two dirty cups, but I try. One per pair of students is enough. I use old three wick candles. We have also used old yogurt containers. I do this because I usually have some sort of beverage while I paint and the likelihood of accidentally drinking my watercolor water goes down (unfortunately, not to zero) if I don't have it in a drinking vessel to begin with.

Let’s Make Art account- We will mostly be following tutorials from this company. Sometimes they have outlines that need to be transferred to the page before you paint. The account is free and you do not have to choose to get any emails from them. You only need the account to access the outline library. I will post the project and materials required and if you need an outline on Thursday. If you want to freehand draw your outline, this is not required. But when I paint, I am interested in getting a lot of color on the paper quickly, not in drawing. https://www.letsmakeart.com/

What you may WANT-

Carbon Paper- I will post how to transfer an outline using carbon paper and not using carbon paper, but carbon paper is much easier.  These are two half sheets I just taped together. If you are going to have your students freehand, this is not necessary.

Tape- I tape my paintings down. It helps me when the water makes the paper buckle and makes a very pretty edge. I just use masking tape. Blue or green painter’s tape also works. You can get fancy and buy tape made specifically for taping down watercolors, but that's not a requirement.

A movable surface- If you choose to tape, having a surface you can maneuver can be very helpful.  I paint on a very old cutting board. A piece of cardboard works just as well. And, like the palettes, I have plenty to share if anyone needs it.

Something to dry with- Watercolor is a layering project. Sometimes we won’t need to wait for it to dry, but often, there is a drying time between steps. I use a small space heater or a hair dryer when I need to dry our paintings quickly. There is a specific tool (called a heated craft tool) that is made to dry without blowing the paint around as much if you want to make the investment. 

That’s everything you need. If you have any questions, you can post a comment, write me on signal, shoot me a text, talk to me this afternoon or Friday... Some of you know where I live.. I'm available to contact..

I’ll get a "how to" set up before the second!

Joelle