Nancy Gruskin: Observation, Abstraction & Invention
Observation, Abstraction & Invention
Nancy Gruskin
Warehouse 521, October 2-4, 2025
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Still life will be the departure point for this three-day workshop. Students will work from direct observation of a large arrangement of objects and alter and transform their observations through guided drawing, painting, and collage exercises. We will work with paper, water-based paints, drawing tools, scissors, and glue. The goals will be experimentation and the pleasure of surprise. We will work on our observational skills, but also strengthen our intuition as artists and explore how we can introduce invention into our practice. Slide shows of the work of contemporary artists will supplement the exercises.
SUPPLY LIST:
Painting Supplies
Acrylics (heavy body or soft body) or acrylic gouache for making paintings and collage paper (we will often be cutting up our paintings soon after making them, to use as collage paper, so oils, water-based oils, and “open acrylics” won’t suit our needs). Acrylics are nice because once dry, they won’t smudge if your collage glue touches the painted paper. Personally, I prefer the opacity and matte finish of acrylic gouache. Acrylic gouache is not as water-resistant as traditional acrylics, but I can show you the technique I use to prevent smudging during the collage process. Color choices are up to you, but almost any color can be mixed with the following palette: titanium white, a cool red (like alizarin or quinacridone red), a warm red (like vermillion, scarlet or cad red light), a cool yellow (like lemon yellow or cad yellow light), a warm yellow (like cad yellow dark), a cool blue (ultramarine),and a warm blue (cerulean). If you’d like to try acrylic gouache and have never used it, here are mycolor recommendations (the names often differ from similar colors in acrylics and oils, so I’ve provided the names in the 4 major brands of acrylic gouache):○
Alizarin Crimson (Turner Acryl Gouache)/Carmine or Crimson (Holbein Acryla Gouache)/
Quinacradone Red (Golden SoFlat)/Primary Red (Liquitex acrylic gouache)
Cadmium Red Light (Turner Acryl Gouache)/Scarlet or Vermillion (Holbein Acryla
Gouache)/Cadmium Red Light (Golden SoFlat)/Cad-Free Red Light (Liquitex acrylic
gouache) Permanent Lemon (Turner Acryl Gouache)/Lemon Yellow (Holbein Acryla
Gouache)/Cadmium Yellow Light (Golden SoFlat)/Cad-Free Yellow Light (Liquitex acrylic gouache)
Cerulean Blue (all 4 brands)
Ultramarine Blue (Turner Acryl Gouache or Golden SoFlat)/Ultramarine Deep (Holbein
Acryla Gouache)/Ultramarine Blue Red Shade (Liquitex acrylic gouache)
Titanium White (all 4 brands)
Cadmium Orange (all 4 brands)
Dioxazine Violet (Turner Acryl Gouache)/Deep Violet (Holbein Acryla
Gouache)/Dioxazine Purple (Golden SoFlat & Liquitex acrylic gouache)
Sap Green (Turner Acryl Gouache and Holbein Acryla Gouache)/Chromium Oxide Green
(Golden SoFlat)/Hooker’s Green Hue (Liquitex acrylic gouache)●
Brushes (whatever brushes you prefer; for acrylic gouache, I use Sumi brushes; for acrylics, I like
Flats and Rounds). In general, I favor big brushes to keep work from getting fussy.
Plastic containers for water (bring the lids too, if you’re using glue for collage work)
Disposable palette paper or freezer paper or a “stay wet” palette
Drawing Supplies
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Artist’s choice! We will be making drawings. You can bring just a pencil or a piece of charcoal. But feel free to bring any other drawing tools you like (e.g., crayons, markers, colored pencils). If you’re looking for a new drawing tool, I’ve been enjoying these Inktense blocks by Derwent. Dry, they act like a hard pastel. Wet, they feel like something between charcoal and ink and are fairly permanent once dry.
Paper
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A supply of 80 to 100 lb paper that can be used for painting, drawing, and collage. If you’re not flying to the workshop and space isn’t an issue, then an 18” x 24” pad like this one or the equivalent is ideal. If you are limited by luggage constraints, bring a couple of smaller-sized pads or the equivalent stack of paper. You can always tape individual pieces together if you’d like to work bigger.
Additional Supplies
Masking tape
Scissors for cutting paper
Paper towels or rags
Glue for collage (I use a PVA like this or this or a matte medium or matte soft gel). When I use PVA for collages, I pour a smaller amount into a plastic lid. When I use matte medium or matte soft gel, I use it directly out of the container. Either way, I apply it to paper with a flat brush.
Optional
We will be making a lot of our own, hand-painted collage paper, but please feel free to bring additional papers for collage if you have them.