INTRODUCTION

I admit it – I am a craft supply hoarder! I love craft supplies and can barely walk past a sale on colored pencils, brush packs, paper mache pieces, craft paints, or carving wood bundles. My studio is full of banker boxes, stuffed to the brim with supplies just waiting for me in case I get that flash of inspiration.

But when it comes to working with craft paints I really only need five colors on my table – cadmium medium red, cadmium medium yellow, ultramarine blue, titanium white, and carbon black. Those five are the three primary colors plus the color for no coloration – white, and the color for all colors together – black.

I do include three more colors in my basic color kit – cadmium medium orange, bright green, and dioxide purple. These are the secondary colors and I use them so often it is easiest for me to use pre-mixed colors.

In the photo, below, there are six colors lines up in front of the desk lamp – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Adding black and white to the set all of the color mixes that appear of the palette plates in the foreground can be quickly mixed to use on your new wood carving, pyrography, or gourd project.

All those other paint bottles in the background are unnecessary to creating a full, working palette of hues, tones, and pastels.

But, they are fun to have on hand especially if you are like me, a craft supply hoarder.

The photos for each step are shown above that step.

GENERAL SUPPLIES

Wax-coated paper plates or Styrofoam plates

Palette knife

2 bowls of water

Paper towels

Assorted flat shader brushes, sizes #4 – #10

Frisket film, 12” x 12”

12” x 12” x 18” birch plywood board

220-grit sandpaper

6 – 8” square of brown kraft paper

Graphite tracing paper

#2 to #6 artist pencil

Painter’s tape or masking tape

Craft knife, bench knife, or chip carving knife

Glitter Duck Tape – 4 pieces, 1″ wide x 15″ long

Acrylic Spray Sealer

Assorted Metallic Gel Pens

Solid Tone Gel Pens

PROFESSIONAL ACRYLIC PAINTS – Liquitex Acrylics

Cadmium red

Cadmium orange

Cadmium yellow

Chromium oxide green

Ultramarine blue

Dioxide purple

Assorted gel pens

PROFESSIONAL V. CRAFT COLOR NAMES

The list of color names in the above supply list are the traditional artist quality, professional color names. Most paint manufacturers use the chemical-based name for their artist color lines, whether those colors are acrylics, watercolors, or oils. So the manufacturer will name their pure hue red Cadmium Medium Red for each different line of paint.

Craft paints, made for the hobby market, have their own specific names for their hues, tones, and color shades depending on the manufacturer. One company may call the pure hue red color Fire Engine Red, while another names the same color Apple Red and a third might name theirs Candy Cane Red.

When you purchase your craft colors please refer to the manufacturer’s color chart, which shows all of the colors in that line of paint. Chose the purest hues possible, regardless of the name of any particular paint color.

APPLE BARREL BY PLAID

My project was worked using the Apple Barrel craft paint line manufactured by Plaid. These colors are inexpensive and readily available. My local WalMart carries several lines of Plaid craft paints.

From left to right: Apple Barrel Craft Paints

20501E Bright Red = Cadmium red

21961E Outrageous Orange = Cadmium orange

20513E Bright Yellow = Cadmium yellow

20361E Bright Green = Chromium oxide green

20596E Cobalt Blue = Ultramarine blue

20595E Concord Grape = Dioxide purple

20503E White

21885E Jet Black

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