Your Comprehensive Guide on How to Oil Paint

Do you want to learn how to oil paint? You're at the perfect place for information.

Oil paint offers a unique richness and depth that can transform your artwork. Oils are an easy and pleasant medium to use for our modern masterpieces.

This guide includes what is the best paint, brushes, colors, the rules of oil painting and how to use them with a short painting example.

Do you want to learn how to oil paint?Oil painting is easy!
Do you want to learn how to oil paint?Oil painting is easy!

How to Oil Paint

Things you need to know about oil painting.

What Oil Painting Supplies Do You Need?

This section includes; The recommended oil paint, what to paint on, what brushes we use for oil painting and the colors we need to begin?

What Is the Best Oil Paint?

When we are learning how to oil paint don't skimp on quality.

Choose artist quality paints.View the oil painting supplies.

It's best to choose artist paint.

High quality artist paints produce good quality paintings.

You may be wondering why should we use artist quality paint when student paint costs less?

Student paints are less expensive because they contain less color pigment.

Fewer color pigments mean the colors are not as vibrant and the paint doesn't cover as well. We may have to use several coats of student paint to get bright, juicy colors.

Artist quality paints contain more color pigments. So, they take less paint per painting. That makes them a better buy after the initial investment. 

Alkyd Paint Dries Fast

Alkyds are our modern version of 'oil paint'. They are made with exactly the same color pigments as oil paint.

Alkyd paintings dry within 24 hours.Alkyd painting on canvas

Their color pigments are carried by alkyd resin instead of oil.

The resin speeds up their drying time. They are workable for several hours, but dry within 24 hours.

All the colors dry at the same time with the same finish.

They look and handle exactly like oil paint. Their faster drying time makes it easier to learn how to oil paint.

Griffin alkyd paint is an artist quality alkyd made by Winsor and Newton. They been my favorite 'oil paint' since the 1980s.

They are easy to use and they come out of the tube ready to use without adding any medium.

What Do We Paint Oils On?

When we are learning how to oil paint, we have a choice of three painting supports.

Gessobord is great for painting details in oil paintings.Gessobord is great for details.

Canvas is the traditional oil painting support. The canvas is stretched over and around wood bars.

  • Ready-made stretched canvas from the art stores is primed with gesso. The gesso keeps the paint from sinking into the canvas.
  • They are ready to paint on; we don't have to anything extra.

Cotton canvas is best for everyday oil painting. Smooth textured linen is great for portraits, but it's more expensive.

Panels may be made from wood or Masonite. They need to be primed with gesso in preparation for painting.

Gessobord an archival panel is primed and ready for painting. It has a smooth surface that is excellent for portraits or other detailed paintings. 

Canvas boards are a third option. They are suitable for student work and practice.

What Brushes Do We Use for Oil Painting?

Hog hair brushes are great when we are learning to use oils. Stiff brushes move the paint around better and are easier to use with oil paint.

Synthetic oil brushes are good, too. They seem to wear better than hog hair, so I am switching over to synthetic brushes. That is - except for seascapes. Hog hair brushes are my favorites for painting the ocean.

Start with a couple of brushes like #8 and #12.

Choose from flat, filbert or bright brushes. They are all ideal for oil painting. 

  • Flats have long bristles that carry plenty of paint. 
  • Filberts are long like flats, but their corners are rounded off. They work well for paintings where we don't want the brush marks showing.
  • Brights have shorter bristles that leave brush strokes for bolder creations.

I don't recommend small or round brushes for learning. They make us too fussy.

Use a palette knife to mix colors. It saves paint compared to mixing with a brush.

When you are learning to oil paint, get the feel of using the paint before investing in more than 2 brushes.

What Colors Do We Need to Start?

Begin painting with the three primary colors, plus white.

  • Cadmium Yellow Light
  • Cadmium Red
  • Ultramarine Blue
  • Titanium White is the best white for all around painting.

We use more white than any of the colors, so get a large tube of white.

Winton oil colors made by Winsor and Newton are considered the best student paints because they contain more color pigments than many other brands. 

If you're eager to begin painting with oil, understanding the essential rules and techniques can make all the difference.

Oil Painting Rules - Fat Over Lean

There are two basic guidelines for oil painting.

1. Oils are painted THICK over THIN. Some people say, "Paint fat over lean." It's the same thing.

  • Start oil paintings thin (lean) by mixing the paint with a solvent. The thinned paint dries quicker than thick paint.
  • As the painting progresses, do less thinning. The thicker paint dries slower.
  • The final thick (fat) layer of paint will be straight out of the tube with nothing added.

Note: If we paint thin over thick paint, the thick paint underneath is still slowly drying. While it is drying, it may cause the top thin layer to crack.

2. Paint oils from DARK to LIGHT.

  • Thinly paint the dark colors first.
  • The final colors are the lightest and thickest colors.

It's difficult to paint dark colors over white, light colors. White on the other-hand, is opaque and it easily covers darker colors.

How to Oil Paint Tutorial

This teaching is an excellent way to get the feel of oil painting. (60 to 90 mins.)

It will guide you through the crucial steps of oil painting, so you get the most out of this classic medium.

Supplies

Get your supplies and give it a try!

  • Phthalo Blue and white paint, you could also use a dark brown, black or Prussian Blue.
  • The painting is on a 8x10" canvas. You could use a canvas paper pad or a canvas board.
  • A flat or bright brush are ideal for painting the mountains.

Reference Photo

Reference photo for the tutorial.We will do a simple painting of this.

Sketch the Large Shapes

Outline the composition on the canvas.

Outline the large shapes with thinned paint. Thin the paint with solvent.

While you're outlining, it's easy to make a change by wiping off the thin paint.

Start Painting the Sky

Paint the sky from the top down.

Start painting the sky darker at the top and lighter toward the mountains.

Let the sky dry a bit. Then we will smooth it out later after painting the mountains.

The Three Steps of Oil Painting

  1. Paint the thin, dark colors.
  2. Paint the medium values.
  3. Paint the thick, lightest values.

Remember oils are painted from DARK to LIGHT and THIN to THICK.


Paint the dark colors thin.1. Thinly Paint the Dark Colors

Paint the mountains from the back to the front with THIN, DARK paint, each one is darker coming forward.

The mountains are darker at the top and lighter at the base to simulate mistiness.



Paint the medium values.2. Paint the Values in the Water

Paint the water and the reflections with fewer details. Paint the dark first, then medium, then light.

The dark reflections are slightly lighter and the light reflections are a little darker.



Paint the thick, light highlight colors.3. Paint the Thick, Light Colors

Load your brush with THICK, LIGHT color. Stroke the highlights on the water horizontally.

Soften the sky with a clean brush and make any other final adjustments you desire.

Frequent Questions About Oil Painting

You may have a few more questions about how to oil paint.

Learning to oil paint opens up a whole new world.There are lots of fun things to paint!

How Do We Clean Oil Brushes?

Oil paints contain oil and we will need a solvent to dissolve the oil and clean our brushes.

Modern day artists use odorless mineral spirits or odorless turpentine.

The odorless mineral spirits, Gamsol made by Gamblin is considered one the best solvents for studio painting. Keep it in a covered container between painting sessions.

If we clean our brushes well with mineral spirits, they may not need additional cleaning. We may periodically clean the brushes with Masters Brush Cleaner which also conditions the brushes.

When I am painting regularly, I use Masters Brush Cleaner about once a month.

Paper towels are handy to wipe the brush between colors and for clean-up later.

How Long Does It Take Oil Paintings to Dry?

Oil paintings may take a few days, up to a week or two (depending on the weather) to dry for safe handling.

The various colors dry at different rates. For example, Burnt Umber, Raw and Burnt Sienna dry faster. The cadmium and quinacridone colors dry slower.

Depending on the color and how thick the paint is, it may take days, up to several months for an oil painting to dry completely.

Griffin Alkyd paint made by Winsor Newton dries overnight or within 24 hours. It comes out of the tube in a paintable consistency, so there is no need to use medium.

That's why all my "oil paintings" are fast drying alkyd paint.

Why Do I Have Dry Sunken in Patches in My Paintings?

Some oil colors dry with sheen and other dry flat without any shine.

The fast-drying earth colors like the umbers and siennas tend to dry flat without any sheen. This makes them appear to be sunken in.

I enjoy using the earth colors because they are earth friendly and reasonably priced.

Griffin Alkyd paint made by Winsor Newton solved this dilemma for me. All the colors dry with a lovely soft sheen. That means no flat sunk colors.

What Is a Painting Medium?

Some oil paints come out of the tube ready to use. So, you don't need a painting medium.

Other oil paints come out of the tube thick, stiff and difficult to brush. Mixing the paint with a medium makes it easier to use.

Oil paint is manufactured with linseed oil. So, we can mix in a little extra linseed oil to make the paint easier to use. The extra oil will cause the paint to dry slower.

Can We Make Our Own Painting Medium?

We can make our own painting medium. Mix half linseed oil with half solvent (turpentine or mineral spirits).

Store the medium in a glass container with a screw tight lid.

What Is the Best Light for Oil Painting?

Good lighting is a necessity for painting. 

A north window is considered the ultimate light for artists. You don't have a north window to paint by?

Use daylight bulbs which contain full-spectrum lighting.

Regular incandescent bulbs provide a warm light. Paintings done under regular bulbs will appear cool and dull in daylight.

Fluorescent lights have a blue light that skews our color perception. However, daylight fluorescent bulbs are available at many building supply stores.

We also need good ventilation in our painting area. An exhaust fan or a window cracked open are a good option.

A drop cloth will protect the carpet or floor. Get more tips for your home art studio.

You now have a firm foundation on how to oil paint. We've gone from paints and brushes to the technical aspect of painting oils, cleaning brushes and lighting sources.

You are equipped with all the necessary knowledge to start your first oil painting.

More Oil Painting Tutorials

Do you want to do another oil painting?

Do an easy oil painting on canvas.A dog oil painting tutorial

This fun dog tutorial is great for more practice with oil paint.

Use the 2 rules you just learned in this fun dog tutorial. 

  • Paint dark to light.
  • Paint thin to thick.

The painting uses a simple color scheme with only three colors and white.

Black, grey and brown are not included in the three colors.

You get to use the easy method of mixing black, brown and grey from the selected palette colors.

How to Oil Paint Flowers

A tutorial of how to paint daisies.This is an easy flower painting.

You can paint these white daisies.

It's easy to paint these daisies in five steps.

1. Assemble your materials and sketch the daisies on the canvas.

2. Paint the dark background before the white flowers.

3. Paint the petals with the background colors in the shadowed areas and highlight the sun-kissed areas with a warm white.

4. Paint the center buttons from dark to light to show their contour.

5. Paint the leaves and stems as you desire.

Have Fun Oil Painting!

More Oil Painting