Beginners Guide to Oils- Part 2

I recently met with one of my awesome collectors who also happens to be an artist beginning their journey with oil painting. They mentioned that my last post on oil painting had been helpful for them, as they too are self-taught. I really love this medium, and I love sharing all the tips, tricks, and knowledge that I have collected over the last 15 years. When I was just beginning, I wished that I had had more resources available to me. So, I have compiled a few more things that I can share with my beginners to help you along on your journey.

Underpainting: When I began incorporating underpainting into my practice, my work changed drastically. I recommend that no matter what medium you choose, you try doing an underpainting, or at bare minimum, color-tone your canvas. For a lot of beginners, this seems like an unnecessary extra step and can create some confusion when color mixing. Adding a base color has more benefits than drawbacks, though, as it creates luminosity that you can’t replicate on a white surface. It can also be useful in establishing the values and allows you to edit the proportions and composition quickly using inexpensive materials. Whether you choose to do a detailed underpainting or just tone the canvas, it helps create a sense of unity for your color palette. Common underpainting colors include: burnt sienna, burnt/raw umber, ultramarine blue, yellow, orange, and my favorite pink.

As I have mentioned in my previous post, you can do this step with either acrylic (for fast drying) or a thin wash of oil (using mineral spirits to thin). Just remember, you can only use acrylic UNDER oils, not over.

Brushes: Generally speaking, I don’t think that you need a bunch of fancy, expensive brushes to create great work. Having high-quality brushes can help, but at the end of the day a brush is a tool, and it is all in how you use it. I have a zillion brushes; some are 5 or 10 dollars a piece, while others are cheap ones from value packs. I have brushes that are wiry, crusty, frayed, etc., but I keep them around because they can create some cool effects and blend beautifully. My recommendation is to begin with the value packs and clearance brushes to experiment with what you like. There are tons of different types, from synthetic hog and squirrel to watercolor brushes. Just because it’s labeled as a watercolor brush doesn’t mean you can’t use it for oils. There are a few types of brushes I really like having around: a “mop” brush for blending, some liner brushes, large wide brushes for backgrounds and underpainting, angled brushes for edges, and rounds and flats in various sizes. The trick here is really to just experiment and understand how you like to paint.

While we are talking brushes, I need to mention a technique that is special to oil painting: drybrush blending! This is a game changer. Part of the reason oil paints are so special is because of their blendable quality, but this also means that without the right techniques, they can also get muddied quickly. I have had a lot of success with placing colors next to each other and using a dry brush (no paint or medium) to blend the edges. This works really well for hard or soft edges and also for gradients. If you want to improve your paintings, I highly suggest doing a little research into the dry brush technique.

Limited Color Palette: When I first started with oils, I spent a ridiculous amount of money on paints, one in every color of the rainbow. But I kept running into the issue of my work lacking consistency and unity because the shades didn’t quite fit. It wasn’t until I learned a few things about color theory and mixing that things turned around. Once I understood color, I was able to work from a limited palette and create some really beautiful colors on my own. Now I have a rather robust “limited palette,” but each color there serves its own special purpose. Here’s a list of the colors I like on my palette:

• The Basics

  • Titanium White

  • Cadmium Yellow Medium

  • Yellow Orche

  • Cadmium Red

  • Alizarin Crimson

  • Viridian

  • Chromium Oxide Green

  • Burnt Umber (Buy larger size, this is used a lot!)

  • Burnt Sienna

• Optional but Helpful

  • Naples Yellow

  • Quinacridone Red

  • Hansa Yellow Light

  • Quinacridone Violet

  • Phthalo Blue

  • Cerulean Blue

  • Titanium Bluff

  • Ivory Black

You might have noticed that ivory black is on the optional list. You can definitely live without this color. Using black isn’t “against the rules,” as some artists suggest, but there really isn’t much of a place for it in your work. You’re way better off using burnt umber and ultramarine blue to create a richer dark color. If you are interested in hearing more about the color mixing tricks I have collected, leave a comment, and I will create a separate post about that!

A great resource that I have found for your palette setup, color choices, and even mixing is Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts (pg. 84-85). Also, when you’re still learning about color mixing, it is useful to have a book on color recipes. I found mine at Hobby Lobby, of all places.

Workable Fixative: This is a great product to have around in the drafting stages of your painting. After putting your sketch onto canvas, you should use this aerosol spray to make sure that it stays put! Graphite moves around a bit when you start painting and can mix into your paints and tint the color darker than you want. This spray helps to avoid that problem.

Cold Wax Medium: This is just a fun little extra product that you can use to experiment with. It is not vital to the painting process but may help you to achieve an impasto look in your work. This medium is mixed with paint to give it more body and firmness. This allows you to work in thick layers without using a ton of paint and having to wait all the time it would take to have those thick globs dry. This is a fun way to add more texture to your work.

Glazes: This is a technique where you can apply a thin layer of paint mixed with linseed oil over your existing paint. Glazing works best when the first layer of paint is dry to the touch. Linseed oil is considered a “fat” when referring to the Fat over Lean rule. This creates a translucent layer, which means that light can pass through this layer and enhance the work underneath. There are tons of videos online that describe this process in great detail, and if you are planning to work in layers, I recommend that you do a little research and learn more about glazes. My word from the wise here is to be cautious of how much linseed oil you incorporate into your glaze. This oil, when used in large quantities, can yellow over time, or buckle and wrinkle during drying. And always be sure to mix it thoroughly with the paint to ensure that it is well incorporated and lays evenly across the surface.

That’s all I have for you today. Feel free to reach out with any questions or if there is a specific topic you’re interested in learning more about. I’d love to hear from you. Hope this helps.