Tuesday–Thursday, 9am–1pm
September 23–25
Non Member:$375
Member:$337.50
Join Frank Bruckmann for plein air painting on Nantucket and celebrate autumnal island color!
Classes are held outdoors and, in the case of inclement weather, sessions can be moved into the studio. Through a quick demonstration, Frank will illustrate how he builds a painting. He will guide students in some fundamentals, such as how to create a composition, block in a painting, choose colors and relay perspective, as well as giving individual instruction to help students refine their pieces using a combination of drawing, color and value. Students are invited to bring their choice of oils, acrylics or pastels. This class is open to a range of ability levels.
If you already have paints and are used to using a particular brand or colors, I can work with you
and your materials. Generally I have been using Windsor Newton artist grade oil paints. For me the
quality of pigment and thickness of the paint works very well.
I always try to have a good selection of colors on my palette of both warm and cool of each color and
some earth tones. All the materials below fit into my French Easel. I go old-school with the easel, I like the
weight and sturdiness of my Julien French easel, but you can use whatever style of you prefer. There are
many different styles of plein air easels out there.
Oil Paints:
My palette usually consists of:
Titanium White (big tube)
Alizarin crimson
Cadmium red light
Cadmium Yellow
Cadmium lemon
Yellow ochre
Raw umber
Sap green
Viridian green
Cerulean blue
Ultramarine blue
And some kind of interesting violet
Brushes:
I use the Robert Simmons Signet filbert brushes. They seem to hold up very well with time and care.
2. #6
2. #4
2. #3
2. #2
Mediums:
I usually carry a quart of odorless turpenoid with me for cleaning brushes while painting. Recently I have
been trying a soy brush cleaner that seems to do well, but you will need turps for mixing your paints. I
clean my brushes in a Holbein screw-on brush cleaner. The best that I have found that doesn’t leak.
Generally, for landscape painting, I have a medium of 1 part linseed oil, 1 part liquin (for quicker drying)
and 5 parts turpenoid. A small 2.5oz bottle should last the week.
A double cup for your palette for turp (odorless) and medium.
Acrylics:
If you are painting in acrylics, the color list can be the same, just add black. You will also need a container
for water for cleaning brushes and maybe a little spray bottle for keeping your paints fresh (the elements
can dry your acrylic paints out pretty fast).
I think that the Robert Simmons white synthetic brushes are good for acrylic paints as well.
Canvasses:
I suggest getting a number of pre-gessoed canvas boards. Fredrix make some good pre-gessoed canvas
boards that range in quality from acrylic gesso on cotton on cardboard to oil primed linen on hardboard.
Whatever you prefer, make sure you have a few in different sizes.
You should bring at least 10 canvases
9 x 12”, 11 x 14”, 12 x 16”, 16 x 20” are all good medium sizes to work with. Canvas boards are good as
they are easy to transport using some form of panel carrier. Again the best I have found is the Raymar
wet canvas carrier. There are many others available.
If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me. bruckmannfrank@sbcglobal.net
