How To Start Oil Painting
While setting up my work space for use during the summer, I found the original materials list given to me by my first art teacher, Joseph Sampson. I was fortunate enough for my family to be able to send me to extracurricular art classes once a week for a few years in elementary school. Pavas, an arts studio in Ontario known primarily for their dance and drama teams, became my early escape into the arts as I took Joe’s beginners oil painting class. If you take the time to look into Sampson’s portfolio, you will undoubtedly see how his work has influenced me.
I was first taught to approach painting with water colours. To this day, I still value the days of water colours with a level of respect and fear as a single rouge droplet or dropped brush could set me back hours. Above all else though, this approach taught me to consider my layering, visualize the finished piece, and patience, boy did it teach me to be patient. I would recommend anyone interested in taking up oil painting to have at least some grasp of water colour (if you are not already experienced in acrylic or another wet medium that is) to help ease the learning curve that comes with oil painting.
Looking over this list, I have few gripes as to how I would recommend one’s first oil paint set. For those having trouble reading the list, it is as follows:
Oil paints: French Ultramarine (Blue), Pthalo Blue, Cadmium Red (Medium), Alizarin Crimson (Red), Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow (Hue), Sap Green, Titanium White (Get the big one, you’ll need it), Raw Umber (Brown), Raw Sienna (Brown, I rarely use mine and still have a tube from when I started), Burnt Sienna (Brown)
Odorless Solvent
Metal Mixing Pot (The two part one)
Wax Paper Palette (I’d recommend a glass palette, far less wasteful)
Brushes: Filberts size 2, 4, 6, 8 (I prefer flats)
Canvas no larger than 18” x 24” (For first piece)
Case for Carrying (I got a wood one but have since bought a larger plastic one, it is lighter and more durable)
The simplistic nature of this list is great. It features a warm and cool of each primary, a premixed green which is notoriously difficult to mix, and without a black, you are forced to mix your own which are far less flat than those straight from the tube. To mix a deep black, you mix Burnt Umber, French Ultramarine, and a hint of Alizarin Crimson. I recommend the Winsor Newton student-grade paints in the small tubes, except with white which is the most used paint, for your first set as they tend to be the most affordable. Since my time at Pavas, Joe has added Cobalt Blue and Naples Yellow to the list which from my experience, are near impossible to mix with the colours from the old list making them great additions. If I were to rewrite this list, I would recommend flat brushes over filberts to my own taste, no Raw Sienna as it has a very low pigment strength and can be mixed to match, and start with a proper palette as the wax disposable ones are wasteful and more expensive long term. I got a glass pane recently free with a frame if you are wanting a glass palette for cheap. Flat, plastic, clear palettes can be found online or a simple wooden palette can do the job just as well.
My first oil painting
Now for your first painting!
It is very important to make sure your space is well-ventilated and that you dispose of your dirty rags in a fire-safe container. Solvents are known to produce harmful fumes and alongside other mediums, are highly flammable and known to spontaneously combust. For your own sake, read labels.
For your first session, select a good reference photo, I would recommend a simple landscape as the details of a portrait or anything with precise lines would be very difficult for your first time and nobody will be able to tell if you messed up a tree since nature is unpredictable (Plus I am biased). I was taught to start with an underpainting using only Raw Umber and solvent to create a basis for value. This method is called open grisaille and is great for all levels as it helps you understand value first before introducing colours. Additionally, having white spots poke through on a finished piece is far more obvious than having a tinted ground. At this point, I would recommend getting a second opinion from a teacher, mentor, or senior to make sure your proportions and values are in check. You will be shocked by how long oil takes to dry as it can take upwards of a week or more to fully dry depending on a number of factors such as humidity and mediums the paint uses.
Your next two sessions are fairly straightforward as the intricate skills that are hard to mention in the text come with experience and the proportions and such have already been done with the underpainting. At this point, you are colour-matching to the best of your ability and building up the picture. It is important to look at your reference more than you do your actual painting as all the information is on your reference, not on your painting.
Landscapes are great for understanding the process as it is clear to the eye which parts are further away and what is in the foreground. To avoid any messes later down the line, work from the farthest point up as painting around figures and mountains is not only difficult but looks unnatural when the piece is finished. If you are having trouble understanding this process, just watch any Bob Ross video and you’ll see how he paints the object closest to the foreground last. During the first session, just block in the shapes and get the majority of the background finished. This will not be perfect, mine wasn’t and it took me three full sessions and I am pretty sure I had Joe help me with the water.
Your last session should just be finishing touches and covering any areas that the underpainting is still showing. The final touch is your signature. I have kept mine very simple and have rarely changed it as I have started signing the back of my pieces with my full name.
This intro to oil painting was very brief but hopefully provides a good start. For more in-depth readings on this topic, I would recommend the following books:
Problem Solving for Oil Painters: Recognizing What's Gone Wrong and How to Make it Right by Gregg Kreutz
Alla Prima: Everything I Know about Painting by Al Gury
The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting: Techniques for Rendering Sky, Terrain, Trees, and Water by Suzanne Brooker
