Academy of Visionary Art » Materials Spring 2026

The 2026 Spring Retreat at Torri Superiore

~ RECOMMENDED MATERIALS ~

THE ACADEMY PROVIDES:

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

• Two 40 cm x 60 cm (16" x 24") stretched canvases

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

• The ingredients for egg tempera, casein & glazing mediums

• Brush cleaning solvent, soap, rags & paper towels

• Transfer paper

• Tracing paper, vine charcoal & masking tape

• Spray diffusers

THE STUDENTS BRING:

• Their teachers' recommended brushes

* Their teachers' recommended oil & acrylic colours

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

• 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.

• 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 recommended palettes

• A palette knife

• A sketchbook, pencils, ruler & eraser

• A small image, talisman or piece of Nature for the altar

~ FLORENCE MENARD CUEPALIZTLI'S RECOMMENDATIONS ~

MEDIUM

• The Academy will supply the egg tempera and glazing medium

OIL PAINTS

The brands Florence strongly recommend are:

• Old Holland Oils ~ all colours

* Williamsburg Oils ~ Provence Violet Bluish, Persian Rose, Naples Yellow Italian

• Michael Harding Oils ~ Phthalocyanine Blue & Titanium White

RECOMMENDED OIL COLOURS:

Strongly Recommended:

(All Old Holland, unless otherwise noted)

• Titanium White  

• Browns : Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna

• Ochres : Red Ochre, Gold Ochre 

• Greens : Olive Green, Viridian Green Deep, Cinnabar Green Light Extra 

• Blues : Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Manganese Blue, Michael Harding Phthalocyanine Blue & Titanium White

• Purples & Violets : Dioxine Mauve, Magenta, Caput Mortum Violet (Mars)

• Williamsburg Persian Rose  

• Reds : Alizarin Crimson, Golden Barock Red, Transparent Oxide Red Lake 

• Yellows : Cadmium Yellow Deep (more orange), Cadmium Yellow (Yellow or Light), Williamsburg Naples Yellow Italian

Optional:

• Sapgreen Lake Extra, Green Earth

• Cobalt Blue Turquoise Light

• Indigo Extra, Parisian Blue Extra

• Manganese Violet Reddish

• Williamsburg Provence Violet Bluish

• Manganese Blue Extra

• Scarlet Lake Extra, Coral Orange

• Indian Yellow Green Lake Extra

"OCRE DE FRANCE" NATURAL PIGMENTS

SUPPLIED BY FLORENCE

RECOMMENDED BRUSHES FOR OILS:

• The Da Vinci brushes are very good value, inexpensive and very soft. I also love the Tintoretto brushes at the Art Store in Ventimiglia. I personally like to work with cat tongue (filber) for medium size, and round brushes for details. Also buy 2 sizes of glazing brushes.

• 1 Glazing brush : Series 5073 Fit Synthetics, Mottler 50

• 1 Glazing brush : Series 5073 Fit Synthetics, Mottler 30

• Da Vinci Grigio Synthetic Brush - Filbert, Long Handle, Size 6 and 10

• Da Vinci College Synthetic Brushes, Filbert Size 4, 6, 8 and 10

• Raphael Golden Kaerell Brush - Filbert, Long Handle, Size 6 (very soft, good for blending)

• Tintoretto Round brush, Gold synthetic fibre 785, Size 2, 3, 4 and 6

DA VINCI

CAT TONGUE

DA VINCI

LONG HANDLE

DA VINCI

GLAZING BRUSHES

GLAZING BRUSH

TINTORETTO

PALETTE:

• 1 palette and 1 glazing plate (ideally, get 2 enamel picnic plates, they're great and easy to wash)

• 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.

DRAWING AND TAKING NOTES:

• A4 Sketch Book

• Your favorite drawing Pencils

• Kneadable Eraser

• Compass and Ruler

• A note book with lines and a pen

FLORENCE WILL BRING:

• Natural Pigments "Ochre de France"

• Gold Pigment with medium

• Silver Pigment with medium

MICHAEL HARDING

OLD HOLLAND

WILLIAMSBURG

~ JANINE ANA HATHA'S RECOMMENDATIONS ~

MEDIUM

Liquitex Matte Medium – recommended for glazes and backgrounds (optional, more water will do the trick almost as well)

ACRYLIC COLOURS:

• I strongly advise you to bring Golden Fluid Acrylics. They are good quality and have a great flow to them.

• The 30 ml (1 oz) size will be sufficient & best for travelling.

RECOMMENED ACRYLIC COLOURS

Strongly Recommended:

Titanium White
Raw Umber (that’s my “black”)
1 blue tone (Ultramarine Blue or Phthalo Blue)
1 yellow tone (Cadmium Yellow, Hansa Yellow or India Yellow Hue)
1 red tone (Cadmium Red, Quinacridone Magenta or Red Oxide)

NOTE: The Cadmium Primaries are very strong colors, great as a basis for mixing vibrant colors. Red Oxide and India Yellow Hue, on the other hand, are more natural and earthy and great for glazing. If possible, I recommend trying both.

Great for Glazes:

Red Oxide
Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide or India Yellow Hue
Payne’s Gray

Optional:

Turquoise (Phthalo)
Green Gold
Quinacridone Crimson
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
Sap Green Hue
Viridian Green Hue
Titan Buff

HOME-MADE ACRYLIC PALETTE

STA-WET ACRYLIC PALETTE

PALETTE:

• I highly recommend you bring a Stay-Wet palette (such as Masterson's Sta-Wet + Sponge & paper) which will prevent your acrylics from drying out.

• If you want to go for a more budget-friendly option, you can also bring an old plastic lunch box (+lid), a kitchen sponge & baking paper ~ which also does the trick!

ROUND SOFT BRUSH

FOR GLAZING

(BOESNER SERIE-151)

BRUSHES

• Brushes are the artist’s most important tools, so don’t skimp here. All brushes should be high quality synthetic acrylic brushes. I love to use the daVinci NOVA Sythetics series.

SOFTER FILBERT FOR LOCAL GLAZES

(GERSTAECKER MUNG0-KATZENTUNGE)

RECOMMENDED BRUSHES FOR THE SEMINAR

One large flat brush (for backgrounds, size 30-50)
Rigger brushes of different sizes (e.g. size 10, 4 + 2) – I use those a lot for details,

super precise!
Filbert brushes of different sizes (e.g. size 16, 8, 6 + 1) – great for general painting
1 medium round brush (e.g. size 3)
1-2- softer filbert brushes for local glazes – this is my favorite one in size 16:

https://www.gerstaecker.at/I-LOVE-ART-Acrylpinsel-Mungo-Katzenzunge.html
1-2 soft round brushes for blending – see example link: https://www.boesner.at/serie-151-11856

REMEMBER:

• The more different sizes and types of brushes you can bring, the better equipped you are. If you have been painting already, don’t forget to bring your personal favorites.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

• Make sure you bring two different sets of brushes for this seminar: one for the oil paints and one for acrylics – they should not be mixed! It’s good to have 2 separate brush bags too.

OTHER THINGS TO BRING: