Truthfully, it does take some time to get used to oil painting for beginners compared to painting with other paints. Because of the expensiveness of oil paint mediums and the need to use solvents and thinners, oil painting can seem like a more cumbersome process. However, due to the versatility of its application, slow-drying nature, and a vast range of color, depth, and consistency, oil-based paint is widely preferred by lots of artists. It’s also easier to create texture with oil paints.
So, Just How Easy is Oil Painting? The Definitive Answer is to come. Let’s start.
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Is Oil Painting Easy?
It’s as easy as developing any other skill. While painting with oils may take more practice and require a careful selection of materials and equipment, the outcome is always worth it.
You get more re-tries with oil paint as it dries more quickly, and there is a much wider range of possibilities if you want a more realistic picture where you can create depth and consistency with more control.
One – Choose Your Oil Paints
Your first task is to buy supplies; start with the oil paints themselves. Oil pigments are not radically expensive, as some watercolors and acrylics can sometimes be. Still, when you’re just starting out, it’s better to choose cheaper paints.
However, you may end up spending a lot by trying to get as many shades of oil paints as possible. Try to avoid this. Don’t buy every single color you want in your oil painting; keep your palette limited when starting out.
You’ll be surprised how many shades you can create on your own with just a few colors of oil paints, as long as you keep cost, texture, and consistency
in mind.
Good shades for beginners include cadmium orange and phthalo blue, which can be combined with raw umber and burnt sienna for successful underpainting. And because blue and orange are such contrasting colors, they can help you to look past chroma and intensity and grasp the concepts of fine art more closely.
Two – Choose Your Oil Paint Brushes & Other Equipment
In order to bring your artistic vision to life with oil paints, you need to get yourself the right supplies. First on the list are paint brushes. Get yourself a variety of paint brushes, and look out for shape variations (such as square, round, and fan shapes) and different materials such as bristle or sable hairs.
You will also need a palette for mixing your oil paints in; a support (which is a surface on which to paint), turpentine (for thinning thick paint), primer, and a medium (to help you achieve the right paint consistency and make it dry faster).
Of these, the medium should be selected with particular care; for example, using the hardware variant is not a viable option. Do your research. Linseed oil, for example, enables paint to dry slightly faster than other mediums, while stand oil increases the paint’s drying time. Safflower oil and walnut oil are also good inexpensive choices.
Next, get yourself a palette knife with which you can mix your colors (using a brush is not recommended as doing so can damage the brush over time). You can even paint with a palette knife once your skills start to improve!
And don’t forget the canvas boards — you have a lot of options when it comes to those as well. Also, make sure you have a collection of rags with which to wipe off excess paint (you can also use a paper towel, but it has a rougher surface).
Three – Select Your Primer
Before you start painting, priming your canvas is very important.
One of the pitfalls of oil paint is that it dries very slowly. So, even if your oil painting surface feels dry, the lower layer of paint may still be wet.
And, because of the thickness of oil paint, the oils are likely to seep into the canvas beneath if the primer is not applied first. This not only affects your artwork’s aesthetics, it can also cause the canvas to degrade over time.
Primer also enables the paint to sit on the canvas surface more easily, and lets you mix colors on the canvas with more control.
White acrylic gesso, a primer with a thick consistency, is the primer of choice for many artists. It takes about an hour to dry and is best for oil paintings when used in double layers. Another option is the clear-drying rabbit-skin glue.
Four – Acquaint Yourself with the Rules
The two cardinal rules of painting with oils are to:
- Always paint “fat over lean” or “lean to thick”;
- Never layer acrylic paint over oil paint.
Painting “lean to thick” means your painting should start with thinner paint layers. Painting fat over lean is very important if you want your artwork to have a long shelf life. The more layers of paint you add, the less turpentine you should be using.
Not doing so will cause your paint layers to dry unevenly, which will cause the surface of your finished painting to crack over time. So always paint with thin layers on the top and thicker paint going in the later layers.
The same principle applies when it comes to layering acrylics and oil colors. To avoid cracked paint, always remember that acrylic paint goes first, and oil paint on top of it.
Five – Ensure a Safe Painting Space for Yourself
What a lot of novice artists may not know is, using oil paints can potentially be quite a dangerous and hazardous undertaking. Before you start, consider where you will paint.
Mediums such as turpentine, for example, are known to emit vapors which can cause respiratory problems in the long term and fainting and dizziness in the short term. So, you must choose a studio with good ventilation.
A good disposal system is also important. Turpentine is also a highly flammable substance — so much so that rags soaked in the stuff might even self-ignite if not stored or disposed of properly.
So once you think you have a finished oil painting, make sure to dispose of everything properly, even the paper towels you used to wipe excess paint.
There are also hazardous chemicals present in oil paint pigments, which can harm you if absorbed through the skin. For this reason, it’s important to also equip yourself with protective garments. Also, if you work with loose pigments, wear a respirator to protect your mouth, nose, and lungs.
If you feel that you can’t ensure this safety, we would recommend using acrylics instead: they mimic many of oil paints’ qualities, especially if you know the right mediums to use.
Six – Hone Your Craft
When it comes to oil painting, as with any art, you must practice, practice and practice. Paint the same subject repeatedly, best if you can do a still life. Having a fixed point of focus allows you to hone your craft much more efficiently and with long-lasting effects.
You won’t have to worry about “what to paint,” but rather about your painting techniques, drawing skills, and creative expression instead.
As you paint, observe. Note how light is redirected by the brushstroke, how the shape of the brush affects the final outcome, what colors go together and which don’t. Teach yourself how to get rid of brush marks.
Or don’t — the choice is entirely yours. An artist who paints with conviction is one that stands out, no matter when they start painting.
Also, never shy away from asking your peers for oil painting tips. There are so many ways to learn painting!
Final Words
How easy is oil painting? As we’ve seen, the answer depends on you. For successful and fulfilling oil painting, it’s up to you to find yourself the right materials and components, study the work of famous painters, and hone the craft for yourself.
Obviously, there’s a lot of trial and error; but that’s what makes the craft so special. Your artistic sensibilities and painting techniques will evolve over time, but only if you allow them to. We hope our guide to oil painting for beginners has been helpful. Good luck!