Tips to start painting with oil paints Guide
Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Crows, Raphael’s Madonna Della Seggiola, Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, Jan Vermeer’s Girl with a Turban, Manet’s Nana: probably when you started to paint in oil, have you thought of these very famous and beautiful paintings. Now that you have begun to take your very first steps into this world, you have learned to appreciate those masterpieces, even more, understanding the level of craftsmanship required to be able to make boards of that level. But you also realized that, with commitment, patience and study, it is possible to improve and create more and more beautiful and satisfying paintings, having more and more fun. This article is designed for you who have just started painting and drawing ideas easy with oil colors and want to improve without wanting to burn any stage. Here you will find 10 valuable tips to start painting with oil colors like a real painter, without making trivial mistakes.
Learn to paint in oil by following our tips
Use quality oil paints
Let’s start with the essentials from the basics: not all oil colors are the same. It certainly does not mean that, now that you are at the beginning, you must necessarily use the highest range of oil colors, and therefore the most expensive, designed for professional or very experienced painters. But you certainly can’t learn how to paint oils in a satisfying and fun way with soft or low-quality colors.
Browsing in our category dedicated to oil paint packs, you will soon realize that each manufacturer offers different product lines: you must know that at Momarte, we never select colors below a certain quality threshold, and for this reason, any choice you will make in this category, it will be satisfactory. So start with a package that is not too expensive, and then integrate it with other loose colors, according to your needs. In some time, when you have learned how to use oil colors to perfection, you will be able to leap in quality by purchasing the tubes of the high-end lines!
Use the right brushes
Not all brushes are good for oil painting. If you are unfamiliar with this topic, we recommend reading our guide, which explains how to choose brushes for artistic painting. But what specifically are the best brushes for oil painting? Undoubtedly, those who do not want to compromise and who have a good budget should throw themselves on the brushes in Marten Kolinsky. Thanks to the precious hair with which they are made, these brushes can collect many colors and release them very slowly. Red Marten brushes are also excellent, while those who want to save money can think of using bristle brushes too; On the other hand, in the case of oil painting, ox hair brushes are to be excluded, as they can be used with satisfaction by those who delight in tempera and acrylics.
Don’t trust the paint tubes too much
Above, we told you that to start oil painting successfully. It will help if you use quality oil paints. However, it does not mean that you should always use the colors as they come out of the tube. Indeed, you should know that real painters rarely use colors as manufacturers make them. For what reason? It is easy to say: knowing that painters need to produce an endless quantity of colors starting from a limited number of colors – the most numerous ranges also count 120 different colors, but they certainly do not delude themselves to cover all the existing colors in nature – producers prepare very saturated colors, to allow satisfying mixes. However, this means that, in most cases, the colors we buy are too saturated without matching the colors we find in real life. Hence, therefore, the advice is to always work the colors before using them to obtain realistic results.
Don’t mix too many colors
Yes, we said that you should always, or almost always, mix colors before using them. It does not mean that we should exaggerate. No, sir, there is a limit to everything, even to the mix of different colors. However saturated, even the colors contained in the best tubes, after a while, begin to “get lost. “When mixing colors, therefore, it is good to have in mind very clearly the result you are looking for and the parts to be put into play. Otherwise, you could end up compromising the painting or having to throw away some badly mixed and irrecoverable color.
Do you know that you can also paint on paper?
Of course, when we talk about oil painting, we immediately think of the canvas, the best of the supports you can have to make your paintings. Many do not know that it is also possible to paint with oil on paper, not just any paper? However, you must know that paper blocks are designed to imitate best the canvas, such as the Fabriano canvas block. This paper is perfect for quick sketches and miniature proofs of your paintings before going straight to the canvas.
White? Not exactly
A little above, we told you that you should – almost – never use oil paints as they come out of the tubes. It is especially true for white. Try to spread a few strokes of white on your paper: you can use titanium white, zinc bench, titan zinc white, in short, the white you have on hand. Well, now compare it to the white of the objects you would like to paint. It could be the petals of a flower, a bowl containing fruit, or the walls of a house surrounded by greenery. White doesn’t match. It is because the “true” white, what we find in reality, is almost always “less white” than that of our tubes. Each white will react and have a different character depending on which colors are nearby. Some whites are warmer and need a pin of a warm color such as red or yellow, while others are colder and therefore need to be mixed with a hint of blue or perhaps green.
