Get Your Space Ready!

Intuition Painting® Classes with Montine Blank

I’m so glad you are taking this creative adventure into intuitive flow!

This page helps you prepare your studio space and gather any additional supplies you’ll need in advance of the course, since painting begins in the first session.

Getting Your Space Ready:

There is not one "right way" to create your space.  However, you will want the following elements to gain the full benefits:

  1. Good lighting

  2. Complete privacy

  3. An unobstructed area to stand and paint

  4. The basic supplies listed below

Basic Supplies Needed:

1) Paints

NOTE: DO NOT ORDER WASHABLE TEMPERA PAINT FOR THIS CLASS.

These 6-bottle or 12-bottle sets of opaque, tempera paints are ideal for our process.
Choose from any one of these options:

Feel free to order an extra bottle of white, as this color tends to go the fastest. Tempera paints that have a creamy texture and strong opacity are easiest to apply and cover paintings. I prefer premium grade over student grade options.

Outside of the US, I prefer these brands: Prang, Scola, or Giotto.

ALTERNATIVES: If you cannot obtain tempera paints, acrylic paints are a close substitute. The biggest difference is that you cannot manipulate acrylic paint once it has dried, whereas dried tempera paints can be reactivated with water. Also, tempera paints are made of sustainable substances pigment, clay, and water, whereas acrylics are plastic.

2) Paintbrushes

You will need a few different sizes of brushes, all with a springy tip that bounces back well and mostly round so the paint flows well. Watercolor brushes work well with tempera paints. A nice set could include 3 sizes of round brushes: tiny (0-2), medium brush (6-8), and large brush (10-12), a large house paint brush and a mop brush, plus a small flat brush (4-6), and a large Filbert (12).

3) Paper Options

You will want to paint on mixed media paper or watercolor paper of at least 80lbs. Have at least 20 sheets for 11”x18”, but 18”x24” or larger is even better. If you need to buy, any one of these options work:

4) Palettes

Many items can serve as a palette so long as they are white or clear and have no texture where the paints will be mixed. Some examples are plastic plates, glass or ceramic plates, and pie tins. To order actual palettes, these are great and they come as a pair.

Set of 2, compartmentalized plastic palettes

5) Easel

Standing while painting is preferable. Your painting may grow, so the confined area of a "regular" easel is not recommended. Find a wide, tall, smooth surface where you can attach your painting. Below are a number of options:

  • A shower curtain liner taped on top and sides with painters tape or masking tape on a flat wall (https://amzn.to/3WBnv3C)

  • A blank wall covered with plastic sheets taped up (10x25’ 4mil Plastic Roll)

  • 8’x4’ piece of plywood or foam board (Available at Home Depot or Lowe’s)

  • Large cardboard sheets or flattened delivery boxes taped to the wall

  • Sliding glass doors, shower walls, the side of a refrigerator

  • 6’ plastic folding table leaned against a wall

6) Studio Items

  • Loose leaf paper (or journal)

  • Writing utensil

  • Wide tape for hanging and taping pages together. Scotch Masking tape.

  • Good lighting (both for your painting and yourself on camera)

  • Old sheets or drop cloths as needed

  • Table to hold supplies

  • Jar of clean water

  • Rags or paper towels

  • Scissors

  • Blow dryer (optional)

  • Chair (for live online classes)

  • An element for ritual (i.e. candle, incense, photo)

Optional Items:

The supplies linked in this list are all ones I've personally used and enjoyed, but please feel free to use your favorite brands too. This page contains affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase some of these items, I may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you'd prefer not to use these links, you can look up the item names in your preferred search engine and find retailers who sell them.