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VISIONS IN THE MISCHTECHNIK
~ THE CARUANA SAGE SEMINAR ~
IN VISIONARY METHODS & MATERIALS
~ REQUIRED MATERIALS ~
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We will provide the Easels, the Prepared Panels,
The Ingredients for making the Painting Mediums and for washing Brushes.
However, the Students must bring their own Oil paints & Brushes.
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STUDENTS ARE ALSO REQUESTED
TO BRING THE FOLLOWING:
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- A framed mirror, which you can hang off your easel. It must large enough to see your face in (around 8" x 10"). This is for your self-portrait.
- A palette or plate for your oil colors.
- A clear plastic picture frame with clips on the sides (8"x11" or smaller). Slip black paper under the plastic. This will be used as a palette for your whites. (A black plate also works fine).
- At least 4 extra-small jam jars with their screw-on tops (c. 3/4" in diameter). These will hold your medium while you're painting. (Clip on cups also work, but they must have lids).
- A palette knife.
- A sketchbook and pencils.
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~ RECOMMENDED OIL PAINTS & BRUSHES ~
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Every artist should begin with their preferred palette of standard oil colors. Typically these include warm and cold versions of the three primaries - Cadmium Yellow light & Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Red light & Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Blue & Ultramarine Blue. Add to this the three secondary colors - Cadmium Orange, Magenta and Phthalo Green - as well as a White (like Titanium) and a Black (like Ivory). Finally, for flesh tones - Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber.
Visionary colors are different. They tend to be brighter and more saturated, evoking unique spectral hues. Also, they have to glaze well (for which reason, 'Lake' colors are preferred). Here are the Visionary oil colors I like to use.
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Laurence Caruana's preferred Palette of Visionary Colors
Before apprenticing with Prof. Fuchs, my preferred brands were Rembrandt
and Winsor & Newton (which I still recommend). Afterward, I changed my palette
completely, & have since been using only Old Holland's amazing palette of oil colors.
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- Talens Underpainting White
- Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Medium
- Old Holland Indian Yellow-Orange Lake
- Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep
- Old Holland Brilliant Pink
- Old Holland Alizarin Crimson Lake Extra
- Old Holland Magenta
- Old Holland Bright Violet
- Old Holland Caribbean Blue
- Old Holland Ultramarine Blue
- Old Holland Cinnabar Green Light Extra
- Old Holland Golden Green Deep
- Old Holland Viridian Green Deep
- Old Holland Burnt Umber
- Old Holland Ivory Black Extra
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Laurence Caruana's Notes on the Oil Colors
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*White: Talens Underpainting White - Over time, I've found this to be the best white for fine gradations and dispersal when underpainting in oil.
* Yellow: I love warm golden yellow hues, for which reason Old Holland's Cadmium Yellow Medium, together with their unique Indian Yellow-Orange Lake are useful for glowing halo effects.
* Orange: Despite the name, Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep is a brilliant glowing orange, such as one sees in the sky at sunset.
* Pink: Strange as it may seem, Old Holland Brilliant Pink is the most essential color on my palette, and the most used. Since multiple glazings lead to a greenish tinge, this corrects it and warms things up.
* Red: Old Holland Alizarin Crimson Lake Extra has quinacridone (excellent for glazing) plus dihydroxyanthraquinone. Used sparingly, it evokes the glowing red vignettes of stained-glass windows.
* Purple / Violet: This color touches the very limits of the visual spectrum, for which reason I love to play between Old Holland Magenta (quinacridone), which moves toward infra-red, and Old Holland Bright Violet, which moves toward ultra-violet. (Unfortunately, both are quite expensive...)
* Blue: Old Holland's Ultramarine Blue contains synthetic ultramarine B29, which is as close as you can get to the lapis lazuli pigment of the Netherlandish masters. Meanwhile, Old Holland's Caribbean Blue (phthalocyanine) is an important spectral color, evoking the glowing cyan hue of prisms or rainbows.
* Green: Most greens are 'earthen' rather than visionary. One exception is Old Holland's Cinnabar Green Light Extra (Cadmium zinc sulphide - do not inhale!), which evokes the unique lime hue of the color spectrum. Otherwise, Old Holland's Golden Green Deep is good for Dalinian sunsets and their Viridian Green Deep for Fuchsian gemstones.
* Brown: Da Vinci loved it; Dali hated it. For me, Burnt Umber creates a warm underpainting that gives shadows greater depth.
* Black: Because it's so strong, black is often banished from the palette. But I find that black (I use Old Holland Ivory Black Extra) can give important accents when used sparingly.
* Flesh tones: A great foundation for flesh tones is Old Holland's Naples Yellow Reddish Extra. Add to this touches of their Flesh Ochre and Caput Mortuum Violet Mars (Such a great name! It provides the 'dead color'). Then, the flesh tone can be built up with touches of many pigments like Brilliant Pink, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Umber and even Ultramarine Blue.
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Old Holland
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Rembrandt
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Winsor & Newton
(Avoid student colors!)
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Laurence Caruana's Preferred Brushes
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* Keep in mind that, for the Mischtechnik, you will need watercolor brushes as well as oil brushes. Egg tempera is mixed with water, and you'll need a soft sable brush that flows well with water.
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* I use watercolor brushes to apply, not only egg tempera, but also oil paint. And, I find that these work well - even better than oil brushes (Just be sure to clean them well afterwards).
* For general painting tasks (oil or egg tempera), I use the Isabey Kolinsky No. 6, which has long sable hair with excellent control.
* For finer lines, I use the Isabey Kolinsky No. 3. It's a fine sable brush with hairs at least half an inch long.
*Don't buy a brush that's too short - you'll be forever dipping it in your medium to reload. The longer the sable hair, the more medium the brush will hold. The key to fine lines is in the fine tapering hairs at the tip of a long brush.
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Isabey Kolinsky No. 1 - 9
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* It is also very important that you bring blending brushes, since these will help you disperse whites in the underpainting, and colors in the glazes. I prefer oval camel-hair brushes to fan brushes. These allow me to disperse paint by gently tapping rather than dragging. But any full, soft hair brush (like a cosmetics brush) will do.
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oval camel-hair brushes
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* An essential brush for glazing is a wide, fine-hair brush (such as this Isabey petit gris spalter). This allows you to pass a fine glaze over the whole painting. It's also necessary later, for varnishing. Soft hair or synthetic nylon is preferable to hard bristle. Watch out - they're expensive!
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Isabey petit gris spalter
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* Last of all, bring a number of different sized brushes - every brush type has its uses!
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A variety of brushes
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