New Water Media/Mixed Media Class

This is the supply list for my new class, Water Media and Mixed Media.  It will meet on Tuesdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.  I'm quite excited about it! While we focus on improving skills and introducing new media, my intention is for the class to be exploratory ... a chance to experiment and find your artistic voice.  

This is a new class for me, so I will be developing the syllabus as we go along.  The goal is to continue developing drawing skills and to bridge the gap between drawing and painting.  The projects will combine drawing with other drawing media, wet media and collage.  The class will have a heavy emphasis on design and color theory.  

The first project will combine contour line with simple washes.  It will be a good place to start for students thinking about moving into watercolor at some point.  Watercolor is a difficult medium … and adding color washes to your drawings will be a challenge to perfect.

Supplies for this class will vary from student to student … depending on the direction they want to go.  To get started you will need the following.

Basic drawing materials

• A range of graphite pencils from HB to 6B
  
• Kneaded eraser
  
• White plastic eraser
  

Prismacolor colored pencils

 Watercolor brushes

• 1” flat watercolor brush
  
• #6 and #10 or #12 watercolor brush
  
• #1 0r #2 liner brush
  
• Brushes are a personal choice, so if you have brushes, bring what you have and see if you want these ... or something else.

 Arches watercolor paper

• This is an expensive animal, but there is no way around it.  How the watercolor reacts with the paper is part of the process.  You cannot learn about the process without good paper.  Don’t worry about the goofs, as we move into collage you will be able to reuse the paper from the practice paintings. I recommend buying a 9 x 12” pad of Arches 140# Cold Press or several 22 x 28” sheets of the same.  I will have sheets to purchase in class for $4.50 a sheet.
  

Watercolor paint in tubes

• To start, you need a tube of Ultramarine Blue (it may be labeled French Ultramarine) and Burnt Umber.  You can get student grade at this point (WN Cotman or Grumbacher Academy).
  

Nice, but optional at this point

• Ask Santa for water-soluble watercolor pencils, crayons or pastels.  We’ll take a look at some in class.