How to paint with oils

Oils are generally painted onto canvas or panel boards which are tough and primed with a white gesso compound. If the money is tight you can get away with painting onto the rough side of hardboard primed with gesso. I think the best oil painting Brushes to go for are Hog hair brushes they are good to work with as they hold paint better and are flexible and springy enough for oil application. You can paint a successful picture with just one brush but it is far easier to use a brush that best does the work for you like a large round brush for a large area of sky and a small brush for say, telegraph wires or a lampost.

As with all other mediums the techniques are similar but achieved in different ways. In oils we obviously use brushes to apply the paint onto canvas and it is how we apply it as to the effect we want. There are various painting mediums you can use to thin the paint down and we do this so one, the paint will dry quicker for our next layer of paint and two, for a translucent effect and contrasting paint against thicker paint. There are other painting mediums you can buy at art shops and which are better because they retain the medium on the painting rather than disipitate like turpentine. You can use paint thickness in varying degrees from very thin diluted paint and ending up with what is called an impasto where the paint is laid on very thickly, an example would be constable's haywain especially for highlights in the cloud formations.

Email us even if its just for a chat
We reply to you today.

Oil painting techniques video clip

Download the latest flash player. Video length 3 Minutes or open windows media to play...