Intro to Oil Painting: Part 1 – Basics

• 30 second short (palette knives)
• 1 min. short (oil mediums)
• 1 min. short (filbert brushes)
• 1 min. short (brush cleaning tanks)
• 1 min. short (brush sizes)
• 1 min. short (storing paintings)

• 4 min. video (cleaning brushes)
• 3 min. video (glass palettes)
• 3 min. video (glazing)
• 71 min. video(tutorial part 1)
• 38 min. video (tutorial part 2)
• Guerra Paint playlist

• Nothing can substitute seeing oil paintings in person.
• There are many challenges of oil painting, it’s a technique that is very slow to master and can take years.
• There are safety hazards that come with oil painting that are important to know about.
• Protective gear like wearing gloves, applying Artguard to your hands can help a lot.
• Ventilation is important if you are using a solvent. Open all your windows when it’s warm enough to do so!
• Disposal of solvents has to be done responsibly, never pour it down the sink!
• Many towns have a household hazardous waste day where you can dispose of solvents.
• Cotton rags aren’t just for cleaning brushes, they are great for wiping away areas in your painting.
• There are some toxic oil paint colors, avoid lead paints like Flake White and Cremnitz White if possible.
• Glass palettes are great because they clean easily with a window scraper.
• How to choose which colors you use, starting with 2 blues, 2 yellows, and 2 reds plus white is a good place to start.
• You can always add more colors later; sometimes having too many colors can overcomplicate the mixing process.
• The strength of individual paint colors varies tremendously. Cadmium red is a very powerful color whereas yellow ochre isn’t by comparison.
• Mixing black can create a more vibrant look, black straight from the tube is often very full looking.
• Some combinations for mixing black are burnt umber + ultramarine blue and viridian + alizarin crimson.

• There are so many types of palette knives, try a bunch and you’ll find some that are a good fit for you.
• How to clean brushes with a Silicoil brush cleaning tank
• Oil medium recipe: 1 part linseed oil, 1 part stand oil, 3 parts gamsol
• Liquin speeds up the drying time for oils
• Cold wax medium adds body to the oil paint and can make the paint more dimensional.
• Rub a layer of oil medium between layers with a cotton rag, it will even out all the colors and bring them to the surface. This layer is also a good way to get started with glazing.
• Underpaintings provide a guide and foundation for your painting.
• Blocking in colors requires using a very wide brush to be efficient.
• Painting a jack fruit
• Oil paintings are often built up using multiple layers in order to take advantage of opaque and transparent paint. (glazing)
• “Fat over Lean” is the way you want to build up an oil painting.
• Brush techniques are tougher than they seem, it takes a lot to develop diverse techniques.
• Opaque vs. Transparent paint
• Retouch varnish can be used right away on an oil painting to bring the colors to the surface.
• Picture varnish is the final varnish, you have to wait 1 year before applying the varnish to allow the oil paint to fully dry.
• Painting mastercopies is an excellent exercise to look more deeply at the process of painting.
• Mixing colors in advance can make the painting process more fluid so you’re not always stopping to mix.
• Complementary color still lifes are a great exercise to strengthen your color mixing skills.

Art Supplies

• Linseed oil
• Liquin
• Stand oil
• Retouch varnish
• Squeeze bottle
• D&L hand cleaner
• Filbert brush
• Bristle brushes
• Flat brush
• Glass palette
• Silicoil brush cleaning tank
• Artguard
• Tube Wringer
• Cold wax medium
• Latex gloves
• Cotton rag
• Window scrapper
• Wide palette knife
• Picture varnish

Palette Colors

• Titanium white
• Alizarin crimson
• Cadmium red
• Cadmium lemon
• Yellow ochre
• Cerulean blue
• Ultramarine blue
• Viridian
• Burnt umber

Materials provided by

• Fredrix Canvas
• Winsor & Newton