Life Portraits in Watercolor
with Jill Poyerd

Paints: 
For this class I’d like you to purchase professional-grade tubes of paints.  I personally like Winsor & Newton, DaVinci, and Holbein, however as long as they’re professional-grade, they’ll be fine.  You’ll need the following colors.  Please bring any personal favorites as well.

• French Ultramarine Blue
• Indigo (Holbein)
• Red Rose Deep (DaVinci) – aka Quinacridone Violet
• Rose Violet - aka Quinacridone Magenta
• Gamboge Yellow (Winsor & Newton)
• Winsor Yellow (Winsor & Newton)
• Raw Umber

Paper:
Again, get professional-grade watercolor paper.  Personally, I prefer Arches brand; Fabriano Artistico is my second choice.  I work with 300lb paper because it’s more forgiving if I need to make corrections and doesn’t buckle as much, but you can use 140lb if you’d like.  You will need:

• 1 sheet (22” x 30”) of professional cold-pressed watercolor paper.
• 1 sheet (22” x 30”) of professional hot-pressed watercolor paper.
• 1 small pad of watercolor paper (approx. 10”x13” or smaller)
• If you have watercolor paper scraps, bring them for color sampling

Brushes:
You will need the following brushes (if you already have some close to these sizes, they’ll be fine):

• 1.5" flat (a mix of synthetic and natural bristles is nice for this particular brush), #8 round, #4 round, #2 rigger, and a #0 tiny round brush
• Bring some of the brushes you normally work with as well.

Other supplies:

• Pike's Palette or other large palette with a large mixing area and cover
• Backing board several inches larger than the size painting you’d like to paint.  I use thick Plexiglas that I bought from Home Depot and had my husband cut to the right size.  You can use Gatorboard or any other similar surface. 
• 1” Drafting Tape (I like Scotch brand) or Artist’s Tape
• Drafting brush (Michael’s carries them – this item is optional but handy)
• 1-2 large containers for water (ie: quart size)
• One roll of paper towels
• A spray bottle for water (try to find one that releases droplets, not just a mist). 
• Sketch pad (larger than the size of the painting you’d like to paint) or 1-2 sheets of poster board
• Tracing paper
• Scissors
• Scotch tape
• #2 pencil, kneaded eraser, and pencil sharpener
• 18” ruler (also, a yard stick if you’re planning to try a larger painting). 
• Masking fluid (I like Winsor & Newton Colorless Art Masking Fluid)
• Several cheap synthetic brushes of various sizes (no larger than #8 or ½”flat); include size #0 (Michael’s has many options)
• A typical clear plastic cup (the kind you can buy at giant in mass for picnics and such)

Photographs:
For the first class, please bring in several photographs of potential subjects.  When deciding on a photo, take note of the lighting and detail, and try to choose a variety of angles.  Think “moment” as opposed to “individual portrait.” We will review them together and discuss the compositions.