Oil painting requires good equipment and practice.
Learning to oil paint can be intimidating. Many people want to create oil paintings but do not know where to start. Oil painting requires proper supplies and patience. Master artists paint for many years honing their skills. There are a few basic tips that will help you get started in painting. Learn the basics and avoid mistakes beginners frequently make.
Pigments
Prepared oil paints come in a rainbow of different colors. All paints are ground powdered pigment suspended in artists' oil. Choose paints according to the type of look you want. Earth colors, also called old masters' pigments such as Naples yellow, burnt sienna and earth red all have rich but subtle tones. Mineral colors are bright and vibrant. Impressionists took advantage of the luminous intensity of the paints when they created their light-filled landscapes. Ultramarine blue, cadmium red and cadmium yellow are examples of mineral-based pigments. Chemically synthesized pigments such as hansa yellow and quinacridone red have the most intense hues, and are used in many modern-style paintings.
Preparation/Cleanup
Glass mason jars work well for holding solvent.
Oil paints clean up with solvents such as turpentine. Turpentine is derived from pine tree pitch. It is heated, distilled and purified. Many artists love the powerful dissolving properties of turpentine but some find the volatile solvent's fumes overpowering. Manufactured solvents such as Turpenoid or Gamsol are petroleum-based products that release less fumes and are marketed as healthier alternatives to turpentine. Painters use solvents to thin out oil paints. Add a little solvent to create a workable paste or add more to create thin transparent glazes of color.
Clean brushes after a painting session by swirling them around in a solvent-filled mason jar to dissolve pigment left on the bristles. Use oil painter's soap and wash the bristles free of paint. Pat dry brushes with paper towel and store horizontally.
Supplies
Palette knives are useful for mixing colors and painting.
A basic set of painting tools includes a wood or synthetic artist palette and a palette knife. A good beginner's brush selection includes two medium size brushes with squared-off bristles, one medium size brush with a pointed tip and one large brush with rounded-off bristles. You need a mason jar for the solvent and lots of paper towel for cleaning off brushes and blotting excess paint off a canvas. Canvas board is cheaper than canvas stretched over wooden supports, but it can warp if it is left unframed.
Mixing Colors
Red, blue and yellow are basic paint colors.
Painting color theory is important to learn. The primary colors that you use to create other colors are red, blue and yellow. Select specific reds, blues and yellows that you like. Cadmium reds and yellows are strong colors. Ultramarine blue is a cool, transparent blue. Mix together red and yellow to create orange. Blue and red make purple. Blue and yellow makes green. Orange, purple and green are secondary colors. Add white and your basic palette is complete.
Basic Techniques
Press and pull away with the brush to create clean borders.
Grab some paint with the palette knife and press on the canvas board. Smear downward with the knife to make solid planes of color. Make bold, crisp lines of color using the palette knife on its edge. Use flat-edged brushes to paint flat areas of color. Line up the edges of the bristle with the border of an area you want to paint, and pull the brush away from the line to get a clean edge. Oil paint thinned with solvent can be as transparent as watercolor paint. Beginners can control brushstrokes easier with thin paint. Load a pointed tip brush with thick white paint and lightly dab the canvas board. Create detailed highlights using this technique.
