All About Paints

Top 10 Oil Painting Tips for Beginners





Oil paints are extremely versatile. They can be used thickly in impasto or extremely thinly in glazes; they can be opaque or transparent. Here are a few tips to help you get the most from your oils.

Oil Painting Tip 1:

Always lay your oil paints out on your palette in the same order so that, with time, you'll be able to pick up a bit of a colour instinctively.

Oil Painting Tip 2:

The proportion of oil (medium) should be increased for each subsequent layer in an oil painting – known as painting 'fat over lean' – because the lower layers absorb oil from the layers on top of them. If the upper layers dry faster than the lower ones, they can crack.

Oil Painting Tip 3:

Avoid using Ivory Black for an underpainting or sketching as it dries much slower than other oil paints.

Oil Painting Tip 4:

Pigments containing lead, cobalt, and manganese accelerate drying. They can be mixed with other colours to speed up drying and are ideal for under layers. (Student-quality paints usually contain cheaper alternatives to these pigments, generally labelled hues.)

Oil Painting Tip 5:

Use linseed oil for an underpainting or in the bottom layers of any oil painting done wet-on-dry as it dries the most thoroughly of all the oils used as mediums.

Oil Painting Tip 6:

Avoid using linseed oil as a medium in whites and blues as it has a marked tendency to yellow, which is most notable with light colours. Poppy oil is recommended for light colours as it has the least tendency to yellow (although it does dry slower).

Oil Painting Tip 7:

Don't dry your oil paintings in the dark. This may cause a thin film of oil to rise to the surface, yellowing it. (This can be removed by exposure to bright daylight.)

Oil Painting Tip 8:

If, as the paint on your palette dries it forms a lot of wrinkles, too much oil (medium) has been added.

Oil Painting Tip 9:

If you're not sure whether a bottle of mineral or white spirits is suitable for oil painting, put a tiny quantity on a piece of paper and let it evaporate. If it evaporates without leaving any residue, stain, or smell, it should be fine.

Oil Painting Tip 10:

If you want to clean away a layer of oil paint or oil varnish, use alcohol, which is a powerful solvent.

Oil Painting: Solvents and Resins


Solvents are added to oil paints to temporarily change the way they work and are designed to evaporate evenly and totally as the oil paint dries. (Technically, the more correct term is diluents, as not all are solvents, but it's not the term commonly used.) Solvents are also used to dissolve resins, making mediums, cleaning up, and for cleaning brushes. It is essential to use solvents in a well-ventilated room and remember that they are flammable (catch fire easily).
Turpentine is the traditional solvent used in oil painting. It's based on tree resin and has a fast evaporation rate, releasing harmful vapors. It can also be absorbed through healthy skin. Use only artist quality turpentine as the industrial variety you find in hardware stores probably contains impurities; it should be colorless, like water. Also known as spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, genuine turpentine, English turpentine, distilled turpentine, double rectified turpentine, or simply turps. Mineral spirits is based on petroleum and has a moderate evaporation rate, releasing harmful vapors. It is said not to absorbed through healthy skin, but it's sensible to take precautions, especially if you've sensitive skin. Mineral spirits is less expensive than turpentine. Some people react less to mineral spirits than to turpentine. Mineral spirits is a stronger solvent than odorless mineral spirits. Also known as white spirits.
Odorless mineral spirits is based on petroleum and has a moderate evaporation rate. It is said not to absorbed through healthy skin, but it's sensible to take precautions, especially if you've sensitive skin. Odorless mineral spirits is, unsurprisingly, more expensive than normal mineral spirits as it has had some of the harmful aromatic solvents removed. Brands include Turpenoid, Thin-ex, Gamsol.
Despite the more pleasant smell of citrus-based thinners, don't simply assume they don't give off any harmful vapors -- check what the product is made from. Look for something like Zest-It, which is made from food-grade citrus oil combined with a non-toxic, non-flammable solvent. (Of course, if you get migraines from oranges, this would not be a good thing to use!)
Alkyd-based Mediums: If you want to speed up the drying time of your oil paint, consider using an alkyd-based medium such as Liquin (W&N) or Galkyd (Gamlin).
Tip: Test the quality of a solvent by putting a little on a drop of paper and letting it evaporate. If it doesn't leave any resident, stain, or smell, it should be good enough for oil painting.
Resins are used to increase the gloss of oil paint, reduce the color and drying time of a medium, and add body to drying oils. The most commonly used is a natural resin known as Damar, which should be mixed with turpentine as it will not thoroughly dissolve when mixed with mineral spirits. Damar can also be used as a varnish.

Thanks for thes useful tips,Dear Maanasa.

Thank you Maanasa for the wonderful tips............

Thanks for sharing such useful info...,,,,,,,,

Thank you Manasa for sharing the wonderful tips.

thanks for the tips

hi manasa
so thoughtful of u share those useful tips on oil painting.......thanks a lot

Hi manasa,
very useful tips. thank you for sharing
vidya

Originally Posted by maanasa

Top 10 Oil Painting Tips for Beginners

Thank you Maansa for sharing the tips.! I had no idea about any of these.
I am starting my hand with oil paints, and all this info. will definitely help me.!

Gayathri

Can enamel paints make it to the list of paints?
I have no idea about it, do we get it in the market readily (or may be some other name is used?) I have read at a lot of places that enamel paint being used by reverse glass painting artists. Can anyone put some light here..?