Colors | Sturdevant Gallery

oil painting portrait tutorial Oil dates back to at least Roman times. It became increasingly popular in the 15th century when mixed with medium, which made it similar to current day paintings of oil and texture.

Even though oil painting has been done for centuries, most beginners perceive it as too challenging.

Many factors, including – the color choices available, the smell of turpentine, cleaning dirty brushes, a blank canvas, and where to store the painted canvas until it dries, all add to this misconception. It’s really enough to put anyone off. It’s no wonder most beginners choose to start with watercolors – which is possibly the most difficult and unforgiving of all painting mediums to start with.

Oil has many benefits, especially for beginners, here are a few – if you do something wrong, you can just delete that section off and redo it. Most colors are very opaque and cover the canvas quickly making the painting appear to grow rapidly. The paint remains wet for some time, making the process much easier and less rushed.

So now that you know some of the great advantages of using oils lets simplify the process .

OK, let’s start with all the color options available- although there are many, only a few are needed to get started – white, red, yellow, burnt sienna, blue and black. Mixing basic colors creates more color choices when needed, for example, mixing yellow and blue would create a green hue while a purple hue would require the mixing of red and blue.

The use of quicker drying paints can aid the drying process, making storage of a wet painting much easier. You will also need a solvent of some sort to wash the brushes at the end of a painting session. Low odor solvents are best.

Choose a small selection of brushes, two each of a 1 inch, 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch should be fine. Also two round synthetic brushes for more detailed work, size 5 and 1 should be good. You will also need a trowel, or disposable paddle, to put on the paint and mix it. Disposable paper palettes (available in most art stores) are a great way to make the clean up process much easier.

Now, you just need to find something to paint on. Canvas can be found at most art and craft stores for a reasonable price.

Ok …..we have reduced the smell of clean up with low odor solvents, made color choices more manageable, eliminated the problem of storing a wet painting by using quicker drying paints, picked a small selection of brushes, discussed using disposable palettes and paddles for easy cleaning, and reduced the cost of supplies by checking art and craft stores for the best prices.

So now there’s really no reason for non-beginners not to start with oil paints and enjoy the best painting of all.

Jason is a professional wildlife artist and is owner of two of the most successful personal art websites on the internet.

http://www.onlineartdemos.co.uk is his online gallery, showcasing original paintings and limited edition prints, blog and art newsletter.

http://www.jasonmorgan.co.uk is his tutorial / art school website, with free tutorials as well as an in depth Ebook and CD with lots of tips and wildlife art secrets.