How to Get Started in Oil Painting

I was intimidated by oils up until recently. Growing up I would sit and watch my Grandpa paint in his basement. He would use a postcard as a reference and was able to capture incredible detail. To this day I wish I would have asked how to paint using oils, but I was too intimidated by the medium to ask.

Now I’m in my 30s and I have been teaching myself how to paint in oils this year. I tend to be drawn to mixed media, so my method includes a little bit of acrylic with oil on top. I wanted to write this post for anyone who is interested in oil painting, but may feels like it’s out of reach for them to learn (it’s not!).

Let’s talk about mindset for a moment.

When I started, my paintings looked absolutely horrible! Even with the paintings that did work out, there was always an ugly stage. These stages suck as a beginner because it feels like you’re wasting your time. Let me say that this is a normal part of the process and doing anything creative is not a waste of time!

Relax.

If you go into this and feel like your painting isn’t working out, it’s ok. I had to try multiple approaches to find out what works for me. You will have to do the same, but that is the fun part (if you let it be). Painting is meant to be relaxing and fun, so it is counterproductive to worry when things aren’t going the way you were expecting.

Now let’s talk about what you need to start.

Materials

Disclaimer: The links in this post are affiliate links. They are products that I use and recommend for learning to oil paint. These affiliate links help support the work I do here on this blog.

There are a ton of different options out there for oil painting. It can be overwhelming to choose the right materials. Here are the basics you need (I will also include links to materials that I use):

Some form of desk or easel to paint on (easels are better for stepping back and seeing your work and are helpful for avoiding neck pain. This is the one I use on a table for smaller paintings)

- A surface to paint on (I would recommend canvas or Masonite to start)

- Oil brushes (there a ton of options so start with a cheap pack to start I don't have any specific recomendations, but I go to my local art store or Michaels I get the variety packs)

- Large flat brush (for priming your surface)

- Gesso (this is an acrylic primer that you use to prep your surface to hold paint)

- Oil paints. I recommend getting your primary colors: Cad Yellow, Cad Red, French Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White. Avoid getting black and learn how to make your own using the three primary colors.

- Paint thinner/cleaner. You need to be in a well ventilated area. Find odorless cleaner to thin paint and clean brushes

- Pallette knife, for applying paint, and mixing paint.

- Paint cloth or Paper Towel for wiping your brushes and canvas if you make mistakes.

Optional Paint medium: there are a bunch of different types of medium. The most common is linseed oil which helps add to the fat content and slows down the curing time. When starting out I wouldn't use medium. Use paint thinner to thin your paint, and paint out the tube to start until you know what you need and how you prefer to work.

Optional varnish and varnish brush: if you make a masterpiece that you want to protect, varnish will help keep the paint from fading or cracking. I love this brush and varnish.

There are no “right” materials (but some are better than others.

You can use whatever you want to practice, but I would recommend not skimping on the paint.

You don’t need professional paint, but cheap paint will be more frustrating to use.

As far as surfaces, you don’t need expensive professional canvases while you practice. Even something as simple as a canvas pad is perfect for practice.

Basic rules for painting with oils.

Ok let’s talk about how to approach painting with oils. There are all kinds of painting techniques (and I don’t even know them all). There are a few rules that are true for almost every technique though.

Prime. Prime. Prime.

No, not Amazon Prime, though it can be fun to watch a show while you work.

I’m talking about priming your surface for painting.

This part is the least fun in my opinion. I like to be able to start creating without fussing over gessoing a canvas or wood panel, but for oil painting it is a necessary step.

For canvas, if you don’t prime it and sand it down at least 2-3 times before painting, the oil paint will actually make your canvas brittle (and that’s not what we are going for, right?)

For a wood panel priming the surface allows the paint to sit on the gesso instead of soaking into the wood. This can cause the wood to rot over time (again, not what we are going for).

I typically prime 3-4 times depending on the surface and the look I’m going for. The more layers and sanding, the smoother the surface will be (which is ideal for realistic paintings). I opt for a slightly textured surface because I find it is more interesting to look at and it makes dry brushing easier.

Fat Over Lean

This is the most important rule in oil painting as it will determine whether your painting will last long after it’s finished.

When you put a layer of paint down, it doesn’t dry, it cures. This is an important distinction because even if a painting feels dry to the touch, it still requires ample time to fully cure.

Fat over lean is the principle of laying down thinner layers first (thin) and finishing with thicker (fat) layers.

The more fat that is in your paint, the slower the cure time. If you were to do thinner layers on top of fat layers, the top layer would cure more quickly than the bottom layer. This will cause the painting to crack.

Paint Dark to Light

This rule is helpful for building shapes and forms easily as you paint by focusing on the darkest areas of a painting first, adding lighter areas next, and then finding the midtones in between. This is a great starting point, but you will always have to adjust colors and lighting so you can move between these different stages fluidly.

Color Mixing

Color theory is a fascinating topic in art and design. It is something that I won’t get into in this post, but I will say that you should learn to mix your own colors.

It is a valuable skill and is far better than guessing what colors you actually need and buying up the whole art store (though that would be fun).

I also encourage you to refrain from buying black (unless you are doing some form of line work that requires it). Black doesn’t naturally occur in nature and due to the nature of light and how it bounces and refracts in different ways colors give off their own light and change the colors.

For example, a tree is not only one shade of brown (or even just brown) It has tons of different shades of brown due to shadow, highlights, and texture. It also has various greens due to moss growing on the bark, and then the light that shines through the green leaves gives off a green light that is cast onto the tree. If you used black it would be flat and hard to control the different shades of color on that tree.

Varnishing

When it comes to varnishing your work, the typical cure time for oil paint is 6 months. I know, wild, but it’s true! It is well worth the wait though because it adds so much vibrancy to your painting.

What if I don’t want to wait 6 months?

I will be laying out my step by step process in tomorrow’s post!

Did you find this helpful?

If you are a painter, is there something that I missed that you think would be valuable to beginner painters?