Cast of Characters
The staples that live next to my easel.
Read more about how I have my studio organized here.
If you ask 53 artists was tools they use and why, you’ll get 53 different answers. These are what works for me, how I move, how I like to paint.
This is my palette; it’s actually an 18”x24” glass cutting board. Ridiculously large, but it gives me a large mixing space since I use a limited palette. It sits on a gray under sink mat to provide cushioning for it and also a neutral mid-tone background so that the colors seem truer to me.
Painting knives: RHM idea line and step line; these shapes are those that I find myself using the most often.
I have a new painting knife in the mail on its way to me; after one of my RGM painting knife heads snapped off at the weld, I went online looking for a solid, one-piece knife and ordered one from Holbein.
Not shown: Razor knife for scraping my palette.
Amber glass dropper bottles: one has odorless thinner in it, the second one has an alkyd medium (speeds drying time) and third one has alkyd gel (speeds drying but also preserves brush and knife marks) and a pot of odorless thinner.
Last but not least, PAINT: I’m in the process of changing out old pigments for new, so the “old” pigments are in the top row, and the new ones I’m switching to are in the bottom row. Most of what I’m switching to is either more lightfast, less toxic, higher chroma, or any combinations of these.
I like Daniel Smith, M. Graham, and Gamblin the most - Gamblin especially because it can be purchased economically in larger tubes and even cans.
Basically, for each group I have a warm and a cool of each.
Ultramarine <-> Indanthrene/Phthalo blue red shade (cooler)
Prussian Blue <-> Phthalo blue green shade (warmer)
I’ll probably go back and forth for a while now. Phthalo blue (both shades) is pretty high chroma, which is good for avoiding a chalky sky or sea.
GREENS:
Viridian, <-> Phthalo green blue shade (cold)
sap Green <-> Green Gold (warm)
I find the 2nd ones give me the range I need. Phthalo green makes for lovely darks, when mixed with an earth red or deep rose red. Phthalo green is also very high chroma, so a little goes a long way.
YELLOWS:
I’m trending away from cadmium, which is a little too opaque for me, and I also don’t want the heavy metals in my studio. I like the earth yellows, but they are weak when mixed.
So my preferred go-to are
Qunacridone Gold, and Quinacridone Gold Deep (warm)
A little Benzimidazolene (PY175) every once in a while for distance (cold)
I made the catastrophic mistake of buying it in a can and it arrived with a thick skin on it; I won’t make that mistake again. I’ll buy it in the big tubes from now on.
For my plein air work, I basically have alkyd versions of this.
It’s a happy day when a box from Blick arrives.
NOT SHOWN: Next to the palette is an Oransi Air Filter that clears out any Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCS). Although the space I use for painting is a former 2-care garage, this little machine works splendidly. I have asthma, so this is a must. However, it also takes care of the smell of oil paints, which is relatively mild but many people don’t like it.
