Brushes
I use mid-quality synthetic bushes. I do most of my work with mid-sized approximately 5/8″ flat and slightly tapered (filbert) styles, plus somewhat smaller rounds. I’ve always a couple of large area brushes on hand, perhaps a 1″ and 1-1/2” in order to get lots of paint coverage and generally it’s best not to be fussy, so larger is better. I use a couple of smaller brushes for details, again both flats and rounds. I find it’s a good idea to have a number of brushes in similar sizes on hand: it’s a chore cleaning in the middle of a passage and I keep a good few brushes in play, typically one per colour group that I’m using.
There’s nothing wrong with using other types of brushes, for example, cheap bristle brushes if you find that you like the chunky effects, however be ready to pick out wayward hairs from your canvas. Should you have a yen to use some classic (and expensive) natural sable bushes, I’d keep them for the finer passages towards the end!
For cleaning and brush care, there are quite a few good reference websites:
Cleaning oil brushes: https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Oil-Paint-Brushes
When I can, I use baby oil: https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-and-Store-Artist%27s-Oil-Brushes-With-Baby-Oil
(Don’t paint with baby oil though….it’s non-drying…a little residue though, is not consequential.)
For cleaning water-mixable oils, I follow the same practice as for Acrylics: :https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Acrylic-Paint-Brushes
Paints and Colour
The most important paint characteristic, for me, is permanence – the light-fastness, or fade resistance over time. All reputable paint manufacturers will specify the permanence and I check the tubes for this: If it’s not marked on the tube, it’s not good. I use a variety of paint brands in both Artist and Student quality. In many cases, the difference between the Artist and Student variants is the ratio of pigment to medium – the goop that is carrying the granules of pigment. There are potentially other differences in tone, clarity, opacity and covering power. All of these are factors when painting, however above all else, you do not want your painting to fade over time.
I use a limited palette, favoring pigments that are close to the primaries: red, yellow and blue. Should you be off to the store prior to starting the course, by all means follow my recommendations in the course description: cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, cadmium red, Alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, burnt Sienna, yellow ochre, raw umber, titanium white. Alternatively, you could buy a starter box of paints. In this case, choose one with a few decent-sized tubes. The boxes with small tubes of multifarious colours are definitely not as useful.
On a final note, you may see some pigments marked “hue”. This indicates a pigment that’s been formulated to mimic the true “hue” of a traditional pigment – but at lower cost. As such, it is not necessarily inferior, however it may have somewhat different characteristics, depending on application. I often use “hues” and have had no problems.
Support Surfaces
Throughout the course, you are free to use whichever painting surface you prefer: traditional non-absorbing (sealed) gessoed surfaces, either stretched canvas, canvas board or any other surface that has been gessoed: wood, card or such. Canvas paper can be used too, although this needs to be solidly mounted and the the quality of the gesso sometimes causes absorbency problems. I often paint on 16″x20″ canvases and I’d recommend sizes between 12″x16″ and 18″x24″ – larger if you have a very expressive style (and lots of paint).
I enjoy painting on non-gessoed surfaces too, such as watercolour or multimedia paper, however these are absorbent and some of the techniques for wiping and blending will not work the same way. Artist-quality acid free surfaces are obviously preferred, however when learning, it’s best not to be too choosy. I paint studies on gessoed cardboard regularly. At the other end of the quality spectrum, some realist artists apply additional gesso to store-bought canvas, however in most instances this is far from essential.
Mixing Palettes
My main recommendation is to have a large enough surface so as not to inhibit your mixing style. I typically mix on a wood surface covered with cling film. Disposable palettes are fine and should I need to mix up a large quantity of paint, yogurt containers are of course invaluable. Rather than scraping down old paint (oil) or peeling it off (acrylic) I just dispose of the cling film and start again. I find that working over an old palette yields pesky bits of old paint into my new mix. White palettes are OK, however I prefer the more natural wood base as the colours on the palette oftentimes correspond to those already on the painting a little more naturally. Covered/stay fresh palettes work fine, should you want to keep paint going between sessions. I prefer to use up most of the paint and get it onto the canvas if possible – any squirt of wet paint that then remains on my palette I cover with a weighted upside down yogurt container (with perhaps a damp tissue inside for acrylic).