Gary Rupp: Mini Workshop "Painting Palm Trees"
Supply List for Gary Rupp’s Pastel Workshop
PAPERS Bring a paper that has a moderate grit and will hold up to a wash with water since we will be doing some wet underpainting. I suggest working with a sanded paper, such as, U-Art 400, Pastel Premier (Italian Clay works well) or Ampersand Pasteboard. I’d suggest working no smaller than 9x12 and no larger than 12x18, but feel free to use a size that is comfortable to you. Plan on using 2 - 3 surfaces each day. You will also find it helpful to have some inexpensive pastel papers available to use to find values and color temperatures.
PASTELS You will need both HARD and SOFT pastels for this workshop. For the hard pastels, I recommend Prismacolor Nupastels, Creatacolor or Faber Castell. I will be demonstrating with the following Nupastels: Blue Violet #244 Bottle Green #298 Spruce Blue #305 These hues are colorfast and are often available for purchase as individual sticks. For the SOFT pastels, many good brands are available so feel free to work with whatever you have. If you are new to pastels, I suggest getting one of the half-stick sets available from Sennelier, Unison or Great American. These sets give you a good range of color and value. A set with a minimum of 60 half-sticks is recommended. Sennelier and Unison both have a120 half-stick collection that is excellent for beginners and experts alike. If you shop online, my favorite stores for papers and pastels are listed below: dakotapastels.com fineartstore.com cheapjoes.com
BOARDS Gatorboard is good support. Foam core, masonite or a drawing board are all fine, too. Make sure whatever board you bring is large enough to support the size of your pastel paper. BRUSHES These will be used for underpainting. A few coarse bristle brushes sizes 6 thru 10 will work well. Old oil painting brushes are fine also. Watercolor brushes tend to be too soft and a bit harder to manage for the technique we will be doing. TAPE Artist tape is a good choice, but use what’s best for you. I have found masking tape tends to rip the surface if it stays on your paper for an extended amount to time. SKETCHBOOK For making initial compositions and note taking. WET WIPES Plus a roll of paper towels. NOTE: VIVA paper towels are excellent for cleaning off pastel dust.
QUESTIONS Please feel free to contact me concerning any of the above. My email is: garyruppart@gmail.com