For whatever reason, oil is an intimidating material for many aspiring painters. I’ve met a lot of artists who feel like they “have to” start with acrylics, or believe that oil paint is toxic, or they just think it is too advanced.
My guess is that this comes from high school or college art classes, when oil was probably taught in a more advanced class or setting. In order to “advance” to oil, one had to first make it through drawing and painting (acrylic usually) I and II. So only the truly committed 19-year-olds ended up getting oil on their hands. Which, of course, leaves the rest of us who decide to return to a painting practice later. Or who begin for the first time post-college.
You know what they say about doing new things—We all look at others and think “I could do that”, but only a few will actually go “do the thing”. It’s the same with art, we all look at works of art and think “what’s the big deal, I could paint this!” (Guilty of this one in the past 🙃😂) The big deal is actually starting.
Start small and simply with a tube of paint, and a little extra linseed oil. Thats all you need. Get some quality brushes and your regular dish soap will work, just be sure you clean them right away. See my oil painting resource list for my favorite paints and brushes.
A few more detailed TIPS:
Start noticing the world around you. The artist’s truest job is to see. To see light, and space, and energy. When I say energy I mean try to see where the focus is in any given room, or street or beach. What are you drawn to? Where is the light, and where are the shadows?
Think about painting these scenes and notice where the warmer and cooler tones are. Look more closely at the shadows and notice how dark they really are. Is it a warm or cool tone in the shadow? Does this change if the object or scene you are looking at is closer or farther away?
Find the darkest and lightest value in any given photo or real life scene. I do this all the time, even as I’m driving down the road. The thing is, sometimes we get to a canvas and we think of the shadow being light, for example, similar in color to the object itself. But in reality the shadow is so much closer to black. It’s important to always take stock of reality—of how a thing really looks and not how our logical minds want to interpret them. The more we can embrace the full spectrum of light and value, the more realistic our paintings will look, and I believe this holds true whether or not we are painting “realistic” scenes. This practice starts in our minds, in how we look at the world, and then will come more naturally on paper or canvas.
Remember: Fat over Lean Fat is the amount of oil that is added to the paint as it comes in the tube. In my course, we add linseed oil to thin it out and make it more blendable. Many oil painters use Gamsol as a paint thinner (not something I use or teach much because it’s toxic so I like to find ways to avoid it) and with gamsol you would use that more in your base layers only. The way I paint, with acrylic on the very bottom as the underpainting, you can think of that as the leanest layer—no oil at all. Then for my first layer I mix some linseed oil in to the paint—you will find that tubes of paint vary in their density, especially the higher quality paints, so the amount of oil needed to be mixed in will vary from tube to tube. I like to paint in one layer if I can, but if I do need a second layer I add a little more oil to make it flow even more. The reason for this rule is it keeps the paint drying in order and you avoid cracking down the road.
Start small with Arches oil paper or canvas pads, you can find both on my resource list. These are better than stretched canvas at the beginning, especially if you may not save them. You won’t feel as bad throwing out a sheet of paper or canvas, but it’s harder to trash a nicely stretched canvas, If you do decide to keep one of these early pieces, you can always mount either of these to a board later on, and have it framed just as nicely as a stretched canvas.
Start small with your paint too: Buying several tubes of really high quality paint (my favorite forever is Williamsburg Oil Paints) is going to serve you so much better than going in to oil painting with a larger cheaper set of many hues. The more expensive paints have a higher ratio of pigment to binder (linseed oil), and will really show you the beauty of oil paint. Remember when buying primary colors that most lean warm or cool, and your mixing of secondary and tertiary colors will be affected by this. If this sounds complicated—and it really can be—just go with the hue of primary color that you like the most. It can be that simple.
Oil paint does stain. If you clean it right away it will come out, so I recommend keeping a stain spray handy. An apron or dedicated paint clothing is useful, but I found I never use mine much. Oil takes a long time to dry, so just getting the apron on and off always ends up getting paint all over me. I prefer to take my chances…but that’s just me!
Clean up right away and you can save on solvents and special soaps. Regular dish soap and warm water will clean your brushes perfectly if you wash them while they are still wet. Later, you can become lazy like me and leave them for weeks in turpenoid natural before getting them clean with masters brush cleaner. For starters, dish soap works perfectly.
Still Lifes! One of my favorite ways to practice painting is with still lifes. Get some bright-ish light and put together a bunch of items that you like. Vary the color and texture if you desire. It doesn’t have to be fruit or flowers, it can be any objects you want to paint. If you have watercolors, I think this is such a great warmup tool before an oil painting. But so are crayons, so don’t feel like you have to buy anything expensive to practice. Art is art. Quality in materials matters, but what matters most is getting started.
Take photos of the still-life scene so you can work in any light and at your own pace. Take photos of scenes in town or in nature that you want to paint as well. This way you will have a folder of inspiration to draw from at any time.
Spend some time looking in galleries, museums, or online at art that you love. Imagine yourself painting in these styles. Notice the brushstrokes—are the small and detailed or large and sweeping? How does the artist use colors? Noticing what you like about other artists can go a long way towards developing your own style.
Finally, just start painting and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Painting every day is one of the best ways you can develop your style, even if it is brief. Commit to 10 minutes each day, When I look back just over the last few years, it is astounding to see the progress I’ve made. I hope I look back in another few years and feel the same way about my work now. I also know that with practice I gain an adaptability that allows me to paint a wider range of subjects and styles. The more I practice, the better I can really encapsulate the desired feeling or energy in my painting.
I hope you will not only get started but also tag me in your work—I would love to see!! If you’re interested in painting with me, check out my oil class for beginners, Oil For Everyone in which I walk you step by step through my own process, and am available throughout for any and all questions. The course includes 25 videos and 4 audio meditations, with fully downloadable PDFs of all the video text.