The first 2 days of this workshop will be florals in watercolor. Karen is anxious to share her new discovery of creating interesting textures, using a toilet paper roll. Yes, you heard that correctly! :) There will be lessons on composing a floral so that it will have good design and stand out from other florals.
The last 2 days will be in acrylic, using the popular technique of painting like Gustav Klimt, but this time, we will be doing animals. Students get to choose whatever animal they would like, and we will be painting them with lots of tiny shapes and colors to create a feeling like Gustav Klimt got in his exciting work. Wire drawing will complete these paintings. That’s the process of using a permanent marker that creates an image that resembles a wire sculpture. This is Karen’s favorite technique ever! Life changing!
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1/2 sheet Arches 140 lb. cold press paper. It's IMPORTANT that you bring this brand of paper. We will divide this in class. We will be working on 2 paintings that are size 11” x 15”, so bring a foam core board or other support for attaching paper to.
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#2 Pencil, eraser
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Sketch pad or notebook for taking notes.
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Tracing paper
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Graphite paper (Saral graphite colored brand is my favorite- available at Dick Blick art supply stores)
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Watercolor brushes (bring your favorites) I use 1” flat and ½ “flat, and a small (#6) round brush.
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Water containers (old Cool Whip containers work great) bring 2.
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Masking tape.
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Ruler
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One Roll of white toilet paper (any brand)
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Kleenex brand tissues (because they pop up for easy grabbing)
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Sponge or rag for wiping off your brushes.
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Margarita salt or table salt
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Spray bottle (I use a push button top, old Windex bottle. You can usually get these at small convenience gas stations.)
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Blow dryer (optional)
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Bring your palette filled with your usual colors. Because everyone always asks, my palette is as follows. I use mainly transparent colors. (Please do not feel that you must go out and buy these colors. The most important 5 colors are listed first.) Aureolin yellow, permanent rose (or DaVinci red rose deep), cobalt blue, winsor green, alizarin crimson, antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue, manganese blue, cerulean blue, quinacridone gold, burnt sienna, permanent magenta, winsor red, neutral tint, and scarlet lake.
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(optional) Any stencils that you already own, that can be used for special effects.
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Camera (optional) If you want to take photos of my demonstration in progress, that’s OK with me.
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Reference photos. I will be painting sunflowers. You may choose to paint a different flower, but make sure it is light in color.
If you have questions about the supplies, my email is: karen@karenknutson.com
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Acrylics: My favorite colors are:
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Nickel Azo Yellow
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Titanium White and/or gesso
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Carbon Black
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Quinacridone or acra Magenta
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Cobalt Blue
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Pyrrole Red
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Yellow Ochre
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Phthalo Blue (Red Shade)
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Cerulean Blue Chromium
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Hansa Yellow Medium
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Raw Umber
For this process, the liquid acrylics work better than the heavy body acrylics, but bring whatever you already have. If you are investing in acrylics for the first time, my advice is to get liquid acrylics: white, black, cobalt blue, pyrole red, quinacridone magenta, and hansa yellow. Then go to the best art supply store near you, and get whatever little bottled acrylics that you like. They are really cheap and will be fun to play around with. I enjoy the turquoise small bottled acrylics for the WOW factor. I use 2 heavy body acrylics: titanium white and hansa yellow medium. (or any other yellow will do.)
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Brushes. If you already have oil painting brushes or acrylic brushes, bring those. I use mainly 3 brushes: 1” flat, ½” flat, and #6 round. Otherwise, I use a big 2 or 3” cheap brush for preparing the paper at the beginning.
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One sheet Strathmore Aquarius II watercolor 80 lb. paper. Beth will have these available for you to purchase at the workshop site. Bring a board for support. (I usually cover it with plastic.) We’ll be working on quarter sheet sizes.
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Wax paper for your palette or you can buy a disposable palette at the art store.
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Old Credit cards or plastic cards (I save the ones that I use in hotels). We will be using these to scrape the paint across the surface of the paper. A really FUN procedure!
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One bottle of Rubbing Alcohol (make sure it is 91% isopropyl alcohol, available at Walgreens)
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Jumbo Cotton balls and Q-tips
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Water container (I use big Parkay tubs. Some people use big ice cream buckets)
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Windex bottle (push button top) for spraying water. Empty Windex out and put water in the bottle. (You can usually find these at Holiday Gas Stations or convenience stores.)
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Paper towels and/or Kleenex
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Any special effects tools that you already have. For instance, rubber stamps, or stamps that you have carved yourself. We will be stamping with very small rubber stamps, so if you have any circles or square rubber stamps, bring those. I have lots to share.
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Acrylic matte medium and (an old brush for applying it. I use a 2” cheap brush.)
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White chalk, white Charcoal white pencil, OR Caran d’ Ache water soluble crayons (for drawing the image on painted paper)
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Wear layers, since sometimes it gets too hot for some or too cool for others. Also, bring a protective apron, or wear old clothes. Acrylic is hard to get out of clothing.
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Tracing paper and carbon paper
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Camera (optional)
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Notebook, pencil, and eraser
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Scissors and/or an exacto knife
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If you are sensitive to the smell of rubbing alcohol, bring a face mask. I’ll try to bring extras too.
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Optional: Plastic gloves for your hands (I don’t use them. I’d rather get in there and scratch with my fingernails. Your choice!)
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Optional: Caran d' Ache water soluble crayons. Great for drawing your subject on acrylic underpainting and also for finishing details.
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Clear small ruler (mine is 18”)
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Pebeo gold Porcelaine outliner paint (in tube) I got mine through the Cheap Joes catalog.
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Any markers that you would like to embellish your paintings with. I use gold, black and white mainly for the finishing touches.
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Old magazines or newspapers to use in collage. (My favorite is Architectural Digest.)
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Reference photos. We will be painting an animal. I will probably be painting a llama or a giraffe. Enlarge the photo that you want to use to fit a quarter sheet paper. (I like the subject to be about 12 inches tall.)
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Scotch-Brite heavy duty 3M scour pad is useful for getting the paint off our hands.