Explore the methods, materials, and tools involved with acrylic painting. Learn techniques used to produce a finished acrylic painting, from rough sketch to final finishing touches, including the use of various brushes, palette knives, canvases, clay boards and final coating to protect the finished image.
Required Supplies
Supplies will be discussed the first night of class. Students may refer to the list below, but do not buy any supplies until the instructor has reviewed the list in class.
Paints
Basic colors
• Napthol Crimson or Cadmium Red Medium*
• Cadmium Yellow*
• Either Primary Blue or Thalo Blue
• Mars Black
• Titanium White
*Cadmium-based inks are toxic
Helpful colors
• Burnt Umber
• Burnt Sienna
• Yellow Ochre
• Hookers Green
• Raw Sienna
Other
• Airbrush medium for making tonal grounds
• Painting Surfaces – Its helpful to start relatively small using standard sizes (8” X 10”, 11” X 14”, 16” X 20”) which makes readily-available frames easy to find and use.
• Stretched canvas – double or triple primed
• Standard gallery wrapped – no framing necessary
o Clayboard*
o Gessoed tempered Masonite*
o Canvas tablet
Paper
• *Standard, ready-made frames can have a shallow depth (rabbet) so thinner painting surfaces are easily accommodated by these frames.
Brushes (both flat and round of each)
• Stiff bristle – numbers vary according to the manufacturer
• Soft bristle
Palettes
• Wood or Glass (glass preferred)
• Disposable (tablet)
• Kitchen storage container with tight-fitting lid lined in the bottom with foam and
• Parchment paper placed on top of the foam
Tools
• Palette knife – metal blades: small, medium and large
Other
• Gesso and fine-grit sandpaper or hand-held sanding block
• Extender – for lengthening drying time
• Watercolor pencils
• 2 Plastic water containers (clean water and washing brushes)
• Rags or paper towels (paper towels preferred)
• White or graphite transfer paper
• Varnishes for finished paintings
• Masking tape
• Small knife or razor blade
• Eye dropper
• Water spray bottle with fine spray
• Apron – only if you think you’ll need it
• Hair dryer
• Easel
o Table-top model for smaller to medium paintings
o Floor model for medium to large paintings
Special Notes
Skill level: Beginner
Instructor
David Hunter
A native of Central Florida, David Hunter is a master printmaker and experienced art educator, who is well-known at Crealdé for his wry sense of humor and remarkable patience with teaching his art to students, adult and children alike. Printmaking is a process of creating images, or etchings, using acid to etch lines into a hard metal plate, and then using that plate to make prints. Many of Hunter's etching are infused with natural Florida. Despite inheriting his father's talent for artwork at an early age, he earned a B.S. and M.S. in zoology at the University of South Florida in Tampa. After illustrating his master's thesis with pen-and-ink drawings, he realized his strong attraction to pen and ink. After working as a biology research associate at the University of Central Florida, he taught 7th grade life sciences and 8th grade physical sciences for five years, returning to art in his spare time. In 1977 he participated in his first art show, took a year's leave of absence from teaching, and continued to become a full-time artist, creating more than 80,000 etchings to date. Hunter was instrumental in forming the Florida Printmakers Society in 1986, becoming its first president at that time. He also is a long-standing member of the Miniature Art Society of Florida, the Miniature Painter, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, D.C. and a signature member of the Miniature Artists of America. His unique etchings infused with the imagery of natural Florida consistently continue to draw top awards in art festivals and competitions in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. In addition to being a faculty member in Crealdé's Painting & Drawing Program, he teaches workshops throughout the Southeast.