Academy of Visionary Art » Materials Fall 2026

The 2026 Fall Seminar at Torri Superiore

~ REQUIRED MATERIALS ~

THE ACADEMY PROVIDES:

• All the easels, chairs and small tables to put your paint

• One 18" x 24" (45.72 cm x 60.96 cm) gesso board for Olga Klimova's class

• One 16" x 24" (40 cm x 60 cm) stretched canvas for Morgan Mandala's class

• (If you prefer to work on another size, you can bring your own gesso panel or canvas)

• Please Note: The Academy does not provide the small Plein Air canvases for Morgan's class - see below for details.

• Transfer paper

• Spray bottles

• Brush cleaning solvent, soap, rags & paper towels

• We also provide the mediums for Olga's class:

• For making background patterns: Mars Black Heavy Body acrylics (500 ml), Venetian Red Heavy Body acrylics (500 ml)

• A shared tube of Richardson White Casein Shiva Series (you may bring your own)

• The oil painting mediums: Winsor & Newton Liquin Medium, Linseed Oil, Mineral Spirits

• We also provide the medium for Morgan's class:

• Golden Satin Glazing Medium

THE STUDENTS BRING:

* The teachers' recommended oil & acrylic colours

• The teachers' recommended brushes

• For your artistic future, we recommend that you buy high quality oil paints & brushes ~ these will last much longer and allow you to continue painting after the seminar.

• We strongly advise you to buy a selection of the paints and brushes recommended below (Brands depend on which country you are in - find something equivalent).

• But, don't panic if you don't have every colour! The Academy will have a selection of oil & acrylic colours available as a back-up.

• The teachers' recommended palettes (acrylics & oils), jars and other tools

• Please bring a small image, talisman or piece of Nature for the altar

~ OLGA KLIMOVA'S RECOMMENDATIONS ~

MATERIALS FOR MAKING THE BACKGROUND:

• The Academy will supply the Mars Black Heavy Body acrylics (500 ml) and Venetian Red Heavy Body acrylics (500 ml)

OIL MEDIUM:

• The Academy will supply Winsor & Newton Liquin Medium, Linseed Oil and Mineral Spirits

WATER-BASED MEDIUM FOR MIXED TECHNIQUE:

• The Academy will supply a tube of Richardson White Casein Shiva Series, but you may wish to bring your own

RECOMMENDED OIL COLOURS FOR PORTRAIT PAINTING:

Olga advises you to bring oil colours matching the Utrecht Oil Portrait Set, which has the following nine 1.25 oz / 37 ml tubes:

Titanium White
Cadmium Yellow Medium (or Cadmium-Free)
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red Light (or Cadmium-Free)
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Cobalt Blue Hue
Viridian
Burnt Sienna
Payne's Gray

RECOMMEND OIL COLOURS:

The brands I recommend are:

• Old Holland, Williamsburg, Utrecht

The colours I often use:

Utrecht Cobalt Turquoise Pure
Williamsburg Persian Rose
Old Holland Raw Sienna Light
Old Holland Burnt Umber

Here is a list of great colours for glazing:

Old Holland Cobalt (Aureoline) Yellow Lake
Old Holland Golden Barok Red
Old Holland Brilliant Pink
Old Holland Scheveningen Rose Deep
Old Holland Alizarin Crimson Lake Extra
Old Holland Manganese Violet-Reddish
Old Holland Caput Mortuum Violet
Old Holland Ultramarine Violet
Old Holland Cobalt Blue Turquoise Light
Old Holland Manganese Blue
Old Holland Caribbean Blue
Old Holland Payne's Gray
Old Holland Neutral Tint

Please remember to also bring Titanium White

OLD HOLLAND

WILLIAMSBURG

UTRECHT

RECOMMENDED BRUSHES FOR THE BACKGROUND ACYRLICS:

• Goat hair paint brushes are really good for the random patterns in white acrylic over a black background.

• Here’ s the Amazon ink of the brushes Olga uses (similar brushes are sold in Europe).

A LIST OF DIFFERENT BRUSH TYPES

RECOMMENDED BRUSHES FOR OILS:

Utrecht Manglon synthetic round brush number 2 and 4 for whites in acrylic (get a few, acrylic paint destroys round detail brushes quickly). The Number 2 brush is good for very fine details. Both of them, number 2 and 4, are used for hatching and details with white acrylic paint. They work better and give you more control than liner brushes specifically with acrylic paint.
Liner brushes of different sizes for hatching whites with casein paint
Glazing brushes. I use Utrecht Manglon Filbert Synthetic brushes, from really small ones for local glazing to big ones for large areas.
Do not throw away your old brushes. Utrecht Filbert brushes, sizes 4 or 6, are best to use for dry brushing for both acrylics and oils when they are old.

ASSORTMENT OF

UTRECHT MANGLON

SYNTHETIC BRUSHES

GLAZING BRUSH

OIL PALETTE:

• For oils, I recommend a Disposable Tear-off Paper Palette Pad such as the Meeden on Amazon.

PAINT CUPS:

Two small glass jars with lids for medium and brush cleaner
Double palette clip-on cups with lids

SMALL GLASS JARS

DOUBLE PALETTE CLIP-ON CUPS WITH LIDS

ACRYLIC PALETTE:

• For Acrylics, the palette recommended by Morgan Mandala is fine

• Or, you may wish to invest in a small Masterson’s Sta-Wet palette to keep acrylic paint moist (Very optional! Only spend money on it if you work with acrylics on a regular basis).

THE OPTIONAL STA-WET PALETTE

FOR ACRYLICS

OTHER SUPPLIES:

Acetate sheets (for making background patterns) or plastic bags like the transparent ones in stores
A spay water bottle (the Academy will also have some on hand)
A sketch book
Your favorite drawing pencils & erasers
A pen and note book to take notes

~ MORGAN MANDALA'S RECOMMENDATIONS ~

MEDIUM

The Academy provides the Golden Satin Glazing Medium for the class, but you may bring your own or your preferred acrylic medium.

ACRYLIC COLOURS:

• I advise you to bring Golden Open Acrylics. The "Open" ones allow you to work longer.

• For Plein Air painting, the Golden Open Landscape Set is particularly recommended

• The 22 ml (¾ or 1 oz) size tubes are sufficient

RECOMMENDED ACRYLIC COLOURS

The Golden Open Landscape Set includes some of my favorite colours:

Titanium white
Cadmium yellow light
Yellow ochre
Cadmium red light
Alizarin crimson
Ultramarine blue
Manganese blue
Sap green

I also recommend the following colours, which may be in Golden or Liquitex brands (or Phoenix paint, if you’re on a budget):

Liquid (soft body) white
Burnt umber
Paynes grey
Hooker’s green deep
Chromium oxide green
Turquoise deep
Quinacridone magenta
Van Dyke red

OTHER THINGS TO BRING:

1 pack ‘canvas paper pad’ (10 sheets: preferably 16" x 20" but 12" x 16" is ok) for geometry studies, color mixing and brushstroke practice. For example, the Fredrix or Strahmore pads below. These are more flexible for studies and less expensive than canvas.
IMPORTANT: Tools for making circles
I love the Helix Angle & Circle Maker as well as the Helix Circle Ruler
A sketchbook
A white charcoal pencil
Some pens and pencils
Paint cup: a jar with lid to pack water (I use an old Talenti container or something plastic to prevent breakage).
A small towel / paint rag

FRERIX CANVAS PAD

STRATHMORE CANVAS PAD

THE HELIX CIRCLE RULER

THE HELIX ANGLE AND CIRCLE MAKER

PLEIN AIR PAINTING CANVASES

• Please bring two gesso boards or canvas panels (sizes below) for plein air painting. We will only have 1-2 sessions, so these should be plenty.

Sizes:

One that is 5" x 7" (12 cm x 18 cm)

One that is 8" x 10" (20 cm x 25 cm)

BRUSHES

• I don’t usually stress getting really nice brushes. As long as they are not super cheap, like the ones made for kids where bristles fall out, they will be fine! I actually use a lot of inexpensive brushes (I’ve yet to find much of a difference with nicer ones), and would rather people spend money on quality acrylic paint. Below are some links to my favorite affordable brushes on Amazon. In the U.S., these can also be found at most hobby stores, and are usually on spinning side displays at specialty art stores.

RECOMMENDED BRUSHES FOR MORGAN'S CLASS

Angle shaders (varied sizes)
Small long liners
Rounds (small /medium)
Old scruffy brushes
Fan brushes for texture
Large round or makeup brush for clouds
Flat soft brush for smooth color transitions & glazes

AFFORDABLE BRUSHES

• Below are some links to my favorite affordable brushes on Amazon or at most hobby stores.

PRINCETON SELECT ARTISTE 3 PIECE BRUSH SET NO. 12 - SYNTHETIC

NICPRO 30 PIECE PAINT BRUSH SET WITH SPATULA AND CASE

AMAGIC 9 PIECE ANGLED FLAT

ART PAINTBRUSH SET

PALETTE:

• A portable palette (I use a Tupperware container with lid or the hard case from an old VHS cassette). It should be a container that is hand held, leak-proof in the backpack, and low waste.

• Be sure to coat the inside of the container with a layer of medium (like the Golden Satin Glazing Medium) and let it dry before use ~ this prevents the first layers of dry paint from picking up on your brush after the first use.

HOME-MADE ACRYLIC PALETTE

REMEMBER:

It's a good practice to have two different sets of brushes:

one for the oil paints and one for acrylics – they should not be mixed!

It’s good to keep them in separate brush bags too!

~ WHERE TO BUY MATERIALS ~

- WEBSITES -

USA/Canada : https://www.dickblick.com

USA : https://www.jacksonsart.com

Italy : https://www.mondo-artista.it

UK : https://www.jacksonsart.com

France : https://www.geant-beaux-arts.fr