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Contour drawings make these paintings easy and a great adventure! Lots of tricks!!!! We’ll also be working with a charcoal pour as a preparation for our bird paintings. This is such a fun process, and very easy! These paintings are meant to be fun loving and free. Then, watercolor and collage are added to create the whimsical bird paintings. Karen will demonstrate paintings crows or cardinals. We’ll also learn how to paint a landscape with birches and a rock spill. There will be fun new ways to establish texture, using collage papers, and different surface treatments for special effects. Karen Knutson is a very popular watercolor instructor, who believes that painting should be fun, and gives lots of individual help. She is known for her enthusiastic demonstrations and lessons in good design.
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1 sheet 140 pound cold press paper and a board to use for support. (We will probably be working on 4 quarter sheets. Use either gator board or I prefer a plywood board for support.)
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Bring your palette filled with your usual colors, making sure that you let them dry in the palette for one or two days. (The reason for this, is that I double load colors and if they are fresh out of the tube, you won’t be able to do this procedure. However, if you are used to using fresh watercolors, you may do that.) 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, neutral tint, burnt sienna, permanent magenta, winsor red, and scarlet lake.
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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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#2 Pencil, eraser
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Scissors and/or utility knife
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Sketch pad or notebook for taking notes.
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Plastic sleeve for keeping my handouts dry and safe from water spills.
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Water containers (old Cool Whip containers work great) bring 2.
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Bring a plastic container with a lid for storing the acrylic matte medium that I will be sharing with you. (I use small butter containers or sour cream plastic containers.)
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Masking tape
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Ruler
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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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Acrylic matte medium OR “Yes” paste is used for adhesive (with an old brush) to apply the collage materials.
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We will be using a few acrylics for finishing touches, so bring white, black acrylic for sure. (I have some others colors of acrylic to share, but for sure bring white and black.) Also, bring a couple of acrylic brushes.
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Tracing paper
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Graphite paper (a great brand is Saral, graphite color)
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Spray bottle (I use a push button top, old Windex bottle. You can usually get these at Holiday gas stations.)
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Blow dryer (optional)
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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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Bring one package of napkins that have repetitive shapes (ie., checks or diamonds). We’ll have a napkin exchange. These will give you ideas for negative painting later.
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Bring a big bucket if you have one. (ie. ice cream bucket size)
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Reference photos of birds (or your choice of subject matter), that are enlarged to about size 7” high. We will be copying these to use for the outside shape. I will be bringing examples of crows and cardinals. White birds do NOT work well for this exercise, so pick a bird that has color. No need for reference photos for the birch trees.
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Repetitive or tiny designed papers to use for collage. Bring colored tissue paper also. Bring your favorite collage papers. Napkins work great for collage also. (think of checks or spots for the repetitive designs)
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Old magazines or newspapers to use in collage. (My favorite is Architectural Digest.)
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Double tipped Sharpie markers (ultra fine and fine tips) or other black permanent markers.
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These items are optional, so only bring them if you already own them. I can share mine.
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(optional) Compass or circle templates
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(Optional) Caran d Ache crayons (I love these for finishing touches!) (get at Dick Blick or Cheap Joes.)
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(Optional) markers for adding details. My favorite markers are Tombow brand.
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(optional) Margarita salt or table salt
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*Be sure to dress in layers, so you can adjust to your hot flashes. ☺ Also, wear old clothing and old shoes. This can be messy.
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Karen will bring along these supplies and charge a small fee for the use of them:
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Dry Charcoal powder. (General’s is my favorite brand)
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Krylon Workable fixative spray
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If you have questions about the supplies, my email is: karen@karenknutson.com