Oil painting is a type of slow-drying paint medium that contains pigments suspended in drying oil. It results in colored, a tough film on exposure to air.
In oil painting, abiding of tones and color is achieved which makes the painting unique, satisfactory linear treatment, and crisp effects. The results of the oil painting also shown transparent, opaque, and translucent painting all lie under its range.
The painting name is known as “Arnolfini wedding portrait” is made by famous Netherlandish artist Jan Van Eyck is credit with discovering the practice with oil painting techniques.
Begin the oil painting with some tools or supplies which is useful to create a beautiful oil painting.
Here Is The Basic Set Of Oil Painting Essentials:-
- A complete range of small to large paintbrushes designed for oil painting especially. Decent synthetic brushes and hog hair are great for oil painting.
- An easel.
- A palette.
- A basic palette of paints.
- A surface to paint on.0
- Odorless solvent.
- Linseed oil.
- Paper towel(for cleaning up brushes).
- Kick-off with small paintings.
Small paintings give you an idea about the techniques and doing lots of experiments without investing a lot of money into it. You can purchase a small canvas or try oil painting on paper. Make sure to gesso the paper first.
Get Arranged
Create a space where you can keep your palettes and supplies handy and your paintings visible. In this way, you will see your work even when you are not actually painting.
Buy Right Brushes
Get high-quality paints along with high-quality brushes. You can buy three brushes of different styles just for the beginning. Brush with natural hair is a good one for oil painting.
Prime Your Painting Areas
You can paint on different surfaces like canvas, paper, wood but it needs to apply a premier called gesso to prevent the oil from seeping into the surface, protects the surface from acids in paint, gives a surface on which the paint gets to stick.
Use A Limited Painting Color
Try not to start painting by applying all the colors at a time. Go with the monochrome painting, which is a painting of only one hue plus its shades like black added and tints (white added). You can choose a color up to your choice of warm or cool.
Understand Paint Order
Pick thick over thin, fat over lean, and slow-drying over fast-drying. It means thinner paint and less oil are in the first layer, saving thicker paint and higher oil for the later layers.
Keep Your Brushes Clean
It is important to clean your brush between colors and soap and water when finished up a painting. Always keep the paints and medium away from the pets and children as the paint is unsafe for them. Dispose of paper towels, mediums, rage, and disposable paper properly.
READ ALSO – What is a Watercolor Painting?
How to Start Oil Painting?
Painting with oils is the ideal way to learn how to do a painting using oils, of course, includes making mistakes. In fact, it is an exciting way to create art. You can always correct your mistakes and paint them over without ruin your oil painting. The most important concept behind the oil painting is to have fun with it and relish its generous, rich, and glossy texture.
Always try to work at every stage to keep your painting look good, instead of thinking about the end results.
The equipment listed below which you expect to use in your oil painting:-
Choose the Right Brushes and Boards for Oil Painting
1. There is a wide range of brushes that are available when you can try to figure out which works well for you in the matter of shape, hair, and handle length.
2. If your paintings are small then definitely you need brushes with shorter handles and at the same time if you use long-handle brushes it performs well for larger work as you need some distance. Use another technique to keep a small selection of brushes of different sizes – one for dark colors and one for lights.
3. When you start oil painting as a beginner, use larger brushes with a small canvas. It will help you to keep the focus on the main shapes rather than bogged down in details.
4. In the case of canvases boards are a good option to use as they are easy to store, carry, or transport.
Grab The Right Oil Paints
1. To give the perfect background, the cheaper student-quality oil paints are absolute to start oil painting. But when you want reds, green and vibrant blue, the artist range is good to use. These top-quality paints have the quality of pigments and a better concentration.
2. A limited range of palettes makes life easier. If you have leftover paint, you can use it to tint your blank canvases.
Paint in Layers of “Alla Prima”
First and foremost the oil painting can be addressed in two different ways:-
1. The first one is the traditional way, which means building in-depth with layers. Furthermore, you can avoid cracks by adding thinner, fast-drying layers under fatter (with enough oil), thicker, slow drying layers.
2. The second way is to work in one application, “Alla prima” or wet-on-wet. Using this technique you can apply paint in a fresh and spontaneous way. Also, block your main shapes or area with thinner paint, and end with thicker brushstrokes.
Paint With Dry Brush Style
1. In this style of painting, you can load your brush with pure paint, and gently leave a mark out over a fairly dry area in the painting. The results are chalky, a powered stroke that enfolds the texture of what’s underneath, and can be seen in some areas.
2. This concept gives better results while illustrating sparkly reflections in water, or demonstrating mist or smoke. For adding artful final details like bridges or flowers, a dry painting idea is perfect to use.
Paint Impasto Strokes
1. The Impasto technique is best to use where to give a thick effect to the surface in the painting. The thick, shiny, glossy marks are a lovely feature, and also the thickness and slow drying time of oil make it the ultimate medium for this technique. Load the brush with true paint to create texture and movement within the painting.
2. The strokes lead the way of energy to the painting, but also give it an additional dimension, as the marks show up from the surface and overwhelm how the light is reflected on the canvas.
