Location: Cole Art Studio, located on the lower level of Cole Gallery. 107 5th Ave S, Edmonds WA 98020 

Description: In this 3-day intensive workshop with this national award-winning artist Amanda Houston, you will learn the secrets of painting skies and water full of life and expression.

Grounded in design and composition fundamentals, this class will contain morning lecture and loosening up exercises, followed by afternoon and evening plein air sessions that we bring back to the studio as studies for other variations of a theme. The perfect combo of being outside to capture the pure light during the height of the warm summer months and bringing your work back inside.Packed with fast-paced design and loosening up exercises, this 3-day workshop will take your paintings to the next level.

Some experience in pastels would be helpful, but not strictly necessary.

A note about the variable, optional supply fee:
Amanda likes her students to try as many different surfaces and techniques to expand their creative repertoire. To that end, Amanda will demo how to use different techniques on different surfaces to achieve great results.

Pastels (as many as you can bring!)

☐ Soft Pastels (Any brand, no oil pastels)

    ▫ Recommended: Richeson Amanda Houston sets, Terry Ludwig darks, Diane

Townsend Terrage sticks, Unison, Sennelier

☐ Hard Pastels (10-30 sticks, Girault or NUPastel)

    ▫ Recommended NUPastel sticks: 207, 212, 257, 256, 276, 245, etc.

    ▫ Recommended Girault sticks: 199, 178, 463, 375

Drawing Board: 3/16” gatorboard (black preferred)

☐ Large Board (Fits 16x20 or 18x24 paper)

☐ Small Board (For plein air work, max 13x17)

Easel of Your Choice (Any field easel will work)

☐ Recommended: Heilman pastel box on a tripod (MEFOTO Road Tripper or OBO

Tripod)

Papers: Enough for 10 paintings (8x10, 9x12, 11x14, size range)

☐ Pastel Air Paper : I will demo the following papers (LaCarte- sand or sienna; Art

Spectrum Colorfix- in Raw Sienna or Terracotta; LUX Archival, or any pastel-friendly

paper)

☐ Black Surface Paper Choose one: (La Carte, Art Spectrum, UArt)

Misc. Supplies

☐ Sketchbook (Recommended: Strathmore Toned, gray or tan)

☐ Selection of pencils (HB, 2B, 4B, 6B)

☐ Charcoal pencils (white, light, medium, dark) or

☐ Tombow/Faber-Castell gray set of 4 pens (optional)

☐ Kneaded eraser

☐ 1” black artist masking tape

☐ Vine charcoal (soft or very soft)

☐ Compressed charcoal or black pastel

amandahouston.com

☐ Black artist tape (¾"-1”) and/or clips

☐ Paper towels or rags (Recommended: Viva, Shop Towels, WyPall)

☐ Wet wipes

☐ Exacto knife or straight edge (Olfa recommended)

☐ 2 medium-sized Tupperware containers (one with cornmeal or Swiffer hand duster for

pastel cleaning)

☐ Small container of denatured or isopropyl alcohol (for underpainting techniques)

Brush Assortment

☐ (2) cheap 1” hardware brushes

☐ 1-2 synthetic brushes (Princeton Snap! or Simply Simon ¾” flat)

☐ Additional smaller brushes for ink mark-making (optional)

☐ Small jar or plastic container for washing brushes

Other Supplies

☐ Spray Fixative (Lascaux for finish work, or any workable fixative)

☐ Glassine paper (for protecting finished work)

☐ Photo references of landscapes (simple shapes, no intricate details)

For Plein Air Painting workshops:

☐ Backpack or small rolling suitcase (Recommended: REI backpack)

☐ Field umbrella (optional but helpful)

☐ Tripod and case or travel easel

☐ Travel pastel box (Recommended: Heilman, Backpacker size)

☐ View Catcher or composition finder (optional)

☐ MH Value Finder (optional)

☐ Small plastic bag for garbage

☐ Sunscreen

☐ Hat

☐ Water bottle

☐ Snacks

☐ Camera/phone/tablet for reference photos

☐ Palette tray or small Tupperware with clips

Supply Fee Option:

For $20 supply fee (please bring cash or a check to the instructor), Amanda will provide  gator board, sanded gesso medium, roller and sandpaper, as well as lecture, demo and hands-on guidance if people want to try preparing your own surface boards.  If possible, I will have extra paper if people want to purchase more from me.