Category: Painting Tips

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Painting for Beginners, Best Mediums

selective focus photography of paintbrush near paint pallet

What are the Different Painting Mediums?

In our modern world, surrounded by constant distractions, bad news, angry opinions, and an overwhelming sense of general anxiety, one of the greatest and most rewarding hobbies is painting. There are dozens of incredible benefits to painting, including a reduction of stress, increase in brain activity, and the joy of satisfaction. Painting tickles the brain in all of the best ways. But when dealing with painting for beginners, what is the best medium?

There are three big choices in front of you when you decide you want to start painting.

  • Oil
  • Acrylic
  • Watercolor

Besides these, there are others that branch off into different, more specific directions. Among them is gouache, tempera, casein, and pastels. There are also practices with these different mediums that can range from spray-paint or airbrush to mixed media projects. This article will not be delving into those subjects. Just know that if the three mediums we discuss don’t exactly pique your interest, there are other options.

Any links below are not affiliate, as I do not have any partnerships currently.

What To Consider

We’re considering three things when looking at these mediums and what we think is the best painting medium for beginners.

  • Ease of Use
  • Resulting Artwork
  • Costs and Materials

These three aspects help you make an informed decision when it comes time to visit the local art store or make your online purchase. Keep in mind that there are many art-related YouTube channels (including my own) that can help you get a better idea of what the medium will be like to work with.

The Mediums

Oil Painting for Beginners

Oil paint is my personal favorite. That may be because I made a concerted effort to learn it and make it my main medium of choice. I feel very comfortable with it right now and I do love the way it looks when it is finished. Let’s go over it more closely.

oil painting by john singer sargent

Elsie Palmer, John Singer Sargent, 1890, oil on canvas

Ease of Use

Oil paint might be considered by some to be the trickiest of the three options here. That can often come down to preferences in drying times. While oil paint doesn’t technically dry, but “sets”, it is still important to consider how long it can take to work with one painting. Many of the paints you will purchase from the art store will take a few to several days to set completely and experts even recommend waiting an entire six months before varnishing an oil painting, due to the duration you need for oil to set properly.

However, with slower drying times comes more flexibility. If you make a mistake with oil or want to change some aspect of your painting, it is easier to accomplish when the paint is still wet. This is much easier with oil than acrylic or watercolor which are less forgiving in this way. You can almost think like oil paint as “charcoal” compared to acrylic’s “pencil” or watercolor’s “ink”. It will give you greater freedom to move it around and make the changes or fixes you need to.

There are many ways to alter the use of oil medium by introducing additional oils or solvents. You can make the paint thicker or more prone to drying fast. You can make it easier to spread thinly or simpler to manipulate in flat strokes. The paint can have a semi-opaque quality depending on the pigments of some colors, which can help you layer “glazes”, bringing rich color in a way similar to watercolor painting. It is worth noting that water is not used as a lubricant or solvent, as it will not mix well with the oil. You should only use it when cleaning the brush at the end of your process.

A Couple of Brief, But Important Notes

All of these techniques take time and practice to acquire. While it is silly to say that oil paint is simple to work with in its most advanced forms, you can work straight from the tube with some stiff or semi-stiff brushes and achieve wonderful results. You can also use a palette knife to paint and get great textures. Oil paint is simple to use, at its heart, with plenty of room to move further into complexity and difficulty.

The last important thing to mention is how easily oil paint blends. This is a double-edged sword. Many beginning oil painters have difficulty because they use too much oil paint all at once, ending up with muddy colors. It is better to start with less paint and then work towards using more over time. This will also help you stick to the general “fat over lean” oil painting technique. This is important to reduce cracking of the paint layers. It dictates that you start with thin layers of paint then increase the amount of oil in your paint as you add layers to the canvas.

Resulting Artwork

Oil paintings are often regarded as being the most well-received and admired works in the art world. While many of the most renowned artists and movements utilized oil as a medium and many of the most expensive art sold was made with oil paint, it might be overstating the importance of the medium to put it above the crowd for these reasons.

Oil paint can maintain its vibrance and have great color depth when handled properly. The resulting paintings have a wide amount of variety depending on the artist’s methods. However, it is usually a bit easier to recognize an oil painting based on the way the paint sits in its layers. There can be a bit of blending, both through mixture and through the effects of transparent pigments layered over opaque pigments. There is often a sense of smoothly textured strokes of paint that still maintain a certain amount of mass.

The techniques of oil painters often differ from those of watercolor and acrylic painters. There is a stylistic quality to oil paint that you may often recognize (although this is not always that easy to see).

Since oil paint is easily blended, it can be hard for beginning artists to get the results they want. Sometimes paintings end up muddy-looking or blander than hoped for. Just being patient and working slowly is a great way to start. You can always increase your efficiency and speed over time.

Costs and Materials

Oil painting can be an expensive hobby. Many of the costs come down to the main materials you will be using – paint, brushes, and surfaces. The paint itself is more expensive than acrylics, but comparable to watercolor (though this can vary significantly from brand to brand). Brushes can be hard to maintain for beginners, so they can be an added expense (and good brushes aren’t exactly cheap). To prolong the life of your brushes, just try to clean them regularly. You can also rest them in walnut oil, which will make the paint easier to remove and keep your brushes nice and silky.

Most oil painters will use either canvas or wood panel as their ground, or working surface. This usually comes at a higher cost than a pad of watercolor paper, though – again – products vary by quality. You can easily get a pad of canvas paper. This won’t be that useful for hanging your art, but it is great for practicing your craft.

Then there are intangibles, such as a palette knife, paper towels, oil medium, solvent, and an easel, among other things. These have varying degrees of importance and you can use or introduce them as you need to or want to.

Synopsis

Painting for Beginners: Oil paint is the best for those who want to work with blending, layers, and slow-drying paint.

Picking the Right Paint Brushes for Oil Paint

Cleaning Your Paint Brushes

Acrylic Painting for Beginners

Most people start painting with acrylic paint. Not only is it easy to get a hold of, but it is also generally easy to work with. It is used in classrooms and elementary schools, as well as learning studios. It is usually pretty simple to set up and clean up. Let’s dive in a bit.

acrylic painting by david hockney

A Bigger Splash, David Hockney, 1967, Acrylic on canvas

Ease of Use

Beginners will find acrylic paint very easy to try out and get the hang of. Acrylic paint is essentially large color pigments bound by a polymer. Through mixing and layering paint, artists will be able to create works very quickly, without much fear of accidentally blending their layers. The paint dries very quickly, which means that it loses some of its flexibility, but gains a straightforward application method.

Many beginners will see this medium as a good jumping on point because it is so easily related to other artistic implements that we are used to from a young age. The immediacy of colored pencils, markers, and crayons is easily reflected in acrylic paint. The main downside to this is the fact that you might have to work quickly, as the paint will dry on your palette. There are mediums that you can introduce to your mix which will help to keep the paint wet longer.

Acrylic paint is generally easy to spread on your surface, having a creamy quality. It can dry to the brush pretty easily and quickly, so it is best to have some water and cloth or paper towels nearby to keep your brush clean. Little bits of dried or tacky paint can ball up and get into your fresh paint, otherwise.

Resulting Artwork

Many artists like the way acrylic paint looks when it has dried, but some do find it too dull or too glossy. This will depend on the quality of paint you are using. The lower priced paint can dry at different shades than you are seeing when you paint, which can be frustrating. It can also have coverage issues, where it does not spread nice and opaque. Mixing a little bit of titanium white or some other opaquer paint might help.

Acrylic paint is great for working on various surfaces and is often used in mixed media. It doesn’t have the same corrosive qualities of oil paint, so there is no fear of damage over time. It also doesn’t absorb into surfaces the way watercolor can, so it is a more exact medium. This can free you up to create a wide variety of unique works and end up with a myriad of results.

To get the best results from your acrylic painting, you might consider varnishing. This brings out the colors and values much more and usually results in a more vibrant painting. It also protects the painting from dust and damage. Before applying a varnish, it is important to let the painting dry at least 24 hours. Then an isolation coat should be added to prevent the varnish from sticking permanently to the paint. Wait another 24 hours, then add the varnish of your choice, being careful not to use too much.

Costs and Materials

Acrylic Paint is the least expensive of these options and is pretty easy to get ahold of. Of course, most acrylic paint that you will find in general stores is pretty cheap and of low quality. You can find higher quality acrylic paint online and at specialty art stores. Even still, it is relatively inexpensive and easy to get.

Notably, acrylic paint is best used with a plastic or glass palette. Wood palettes have too much absorbency, and most acrylic painters who have tried them end up frustrated. This is usually pretty cost-effective. You don’t tend to need a huge palette when starting out. It is best to use small amounts of paint to help conserve your supply and prevent it from drying.

The best brushes for acrylic paint have a spring to them and are able to hold up to repeated use. This is why most acrylic painters use synthetic brushes, which also cost less and are easier to clean. Having a variety of sizes and shapes can be helpful. As a beginner, it’s best to keep things simple going in, though, and just make sure you have a couple of flats, filberts, and rounds, in a few sizes.

Synopsis

Painting for Beginners: Acrylic paint is the best those who want to work directly, with opaque layers and less blending.

Synthetic Brushes from Dick Blick

Professional Acrylic Paint from Dick Blick

Watercolor Painting for Beginners

A hugely popular medium, watercolor does many unique things that are more difficult to achieve with oil or acrylic. It is versatile to work with and can be used in many styles. Simplicity of function works together with depth of complexity to make a really interesting painting medium.

watercolor painting by winslow homer

On the Trail, Winslow Homer, ca 1892, watercolor

Ease of Use

Watercolor paint is a relatively simple medium. By wetting the paint, an artist can easily start to experiment with its potential. Using either paint pots or tubes, the artist thins the paint to a desired consistency. The paint applies to paper, which thirstily takes in the pigments. It is better to work light to dark with watercolor, though there are many methods and successful approaches.

In fact, it is this versatility that might be the biggest selling point for watercolor. There is a huge space for experimentation and use of a wide variety of tools and techniques. Watercolor also boasts a large selection of different implementations, such as watercolor pencils and sticks. Some artists also complement their watercolor paintings with ink or gouache.

All a watercolor artist needs to start is some paint, some watercolor paper, and water in at least one jar. The water thins the paint, making it easy to manipulate and achieve desired results. It can be challenging to regulate the use of water and to control blending of pigments. With practice, this becomes second nature.

Resulting Artwork

Much like the medium itself, the resulting works show a wide variety of results. Watercolor is often very easy to recognize, though the styles and arrays of work can have vast differences. Because watercolor applies on paper, the end painting is often matte in finish. This is nice because glare on artwork is distracting.

There is a sense in which watercolor art is “soft” probably because it has a lot of natural gradations. The water disperses the pigments around the paper, creating areas of differing values. There are ways in which an artist may achieve higher levels of contrast and crisper effects. However, watercolor generally has a soft glow to it.

The best paints do result in wider ranges of vibrancy, so that the painting doesn’t lose its color to the effect of the water. This is a good thing because, contrary to oil and acrylic, layers of watercolor are thin. The pigments do not build up in the same way. Thoughtful artists achieve mixtures of colors through this application of thinly layered pigment.

Watercolor artwork often looks humble beside its oil and acrylic siblings. This is part of its charm, though, and is a primary reason why artists love it. It is less forgiving than its counterparts, requiring artists to be aware of what they are doing and to treat the medium differently. There is often an almost “sketchy” and lively look to watercolor art that is difficult to replicate with the other mediums.

Costs and Materials

As always, the best materials are going to be the most expensive and give you your best experience with the medium. The pigment won’t fade in the sun as quickly and the spread throughout the paper will feel smoother and satisfying. So, the overall cost may vary based on what you are hoping to achieve. Costs are comparable to oil paint, though watercolor medium tends to be used at a slower rate.

Instead of canvas, you’ll be looking for watercolor paper to work with. There is cold-pressed and hot-pressed paper. Cold press is more textured, whereas hot press is smoother. You will want to tape down the paper or use a watercolor pad with paper that is already taped around its edges. These pads of pre-bound paper are on the expensive side, though they are nice to work with.

As usual, you will find general-grade, student grade, and professional grade materials. The big differences here are affordability and quality. If you are just beginning, you might want to skip the general-grade stuff and go to student grade. It will make your experience more enjoyable.

Also remember that watercolor brushes are nice and soft, ready to soak up water and paint. They are not good for other mediums, besides gouache or other “watercolor adjacent” mediums. The cheapest versions usually wash away the hairs which can be very frustrating. So be sure to consider investing in some better materials if you want to give the medium a fair shake.

Synopsis

Painting for Beginners: Watercolor is the best those who want to experiment and work quickly with less fuss.

Professional Watercolor Paints from Dick Blick

Watercolor Brushes from Dick Blick

Verdict: Best Medium, Painting for Beginners

Not So Fast

It’s not exactly a science, is it?

Any beginner artist has a choice in front of them and there isn’t a wrong path to take. There might not be a best painting medium for beginners. You should consider a few things before jumping in.

  • Which medium has art that appeals to you
  • Which medium do you have space for
  • Which medium appeals to your sensibilities

If you stick to these criteria, you will undoubtedly make a great choice. And remember, you can always experiment with any of them! Though I mostly paint with oil, I am very excited to get more experience with watercolor. I’m getting to a point where I want to work more quickly and take on a different challenge with different complexities.

So, at the very least you have some examples and knowledge that can help you make an informed decision. I hope this article was helpful to you.

Need More Help?

Speaking of painting for beginners, I am always open to taking on private lesson students. I offer one free half-hour to get an idea of what your goals are and how we can get you to them. Then I design a specific lesson plan for you and we go from there. You can hire me for your personal lessons here at SuperProf or here at LessonFace.

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Five Principles to Level Up Your Painting Skills

multicolored abstract painting

I wanted to take a slightly different approach to today’s blog and upload a video, instead. I’ll probably be doing some of these from time to time. It’s just a different way of communicating that is sometimes more direct and easier for me to make. Writing can be really hard! Rambling, however – easy.

I hope you enjoy the video.

But, wait! There’s more!

I do keep a regular blog here, so please visit often. I also release a newsletter that can keep you up to date on all of the latest from my website. Thanks!

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Cleaning Brushes of Oil Paint Easily and Correctly

shallow photography of brushes on jar

Oil Pain in the Neck

There is nothing quite like a new paintbrush. The bristles are springy and ready to apply paint to ground in magical ways. There’s also nothing quite like going broke from constantly buying new brushes because your old ones got caked in dried paint. It’s much less magical.

When we’ve finished a painting session, it can be really easy to slide into “relax mode” and put off cleaning brushes. Oil paint, in particular, is a bit of a tough customer. As we all know, oil and water don’t mix, which means it won’t be as easy to get that paint out of those bristles as it might be with acrylic, watercolor, or gouache.

And yet, we love oil paint. We thrive on it. So, what do we do when our brushes get consistently bent out of shape from neglect? Well, we would love to have an easy time restoring them, but if things have gone too far, we’re up a creek without a paddle.

If your brushes have become solid oil rocks, there’s really not much you can do. I’ve seen articles and forums that suggest soaking them in vinegar or solvent for hours and days, but at that point, it might not be worth the effort, as your brushes may not be usable by the end of the process. I’m speaking from experience.

With dirty brushes, you end up losing money over the long-term. New brushes aren’t exactly inexpensive, especially if you’re buying decent quality or larger sizes. So, whether you’re already in a predicament or you’re just doing some research to understand how to clean your brushes correctly, I will explain a good process and practice for extending the life of your brushes.

abstract art artist artistic cleaning brushes
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Cleaning Brushes Immediately

Seems simple. I won’t even harp on this one too much because it is probably the most obvious statement. However, if ignored, the whole process becomes so much more difficult.

Anything we do regularly and with discipline can eventually become habit, so I would just recommend that you try to schedule the time into your practice to clean your brushes. It might be easier if you think of it as part of the process of painting.

I will also add, before we get into the practical cleaning advice, that you don’t want to overload your brush with paint while working. There are different techniques to painting, but most still don’t call for paint to be at the deepest depth of your bristles.

person wiping a paintbrush cleaning brushes
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Step 1: Gently Remove Excess Paint

The first thing you want to do when cleaning brushes is to remove excess paint. To do this, you will need either paper towels or newsprint. Rags can also be used, but it is important to understand that oily rags can be dangerous, becoming easily flammable in high heat.

Place the bristle end of the brush in the towel and pinch the bristles with your fingers from the outside. Then begin to pull the brush through, repeatedly. You will have to shift to clean areas of the paper towel, as the pigments will rub off on the paper. If the brush still is not clean by the time you have used the entire paper towel, you may need to get a second one.

You want to get to a point where the brush is not transferring any significant amount of residue to the paper towel. At that point, you can move on to the next step.

water drop
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Step 2: Use a Cleaner

Safflower oil or special soaps made of oils can be very helpful for loosening the pigments from your brushes. There are specific brush soaps on the market that can significantly help with the cleaning and conditioning of your brushes. I really like the Master’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver and find that it works wonders for my bristles. It works like shaving soap, where you add a little water, rub the brush into it, and work it into a lather. Then you can use your hand under running water to remove the rest of the pigments from your brush.

Remember that at this point there shouldn’t be a whole bunch of paint on your brush, so it’s not going to be an extremely messy process. You are just removing those last amounts of pigment from the bristles.

If you don’t have the specific cleaner I mentioned above, you can still do a similar process using regular hand soap or even dish soap. You can place a little bit of soap into your hand, add water, and work the brush through your fingers, using the soap and lather to free up the pigment, then run it under warm water.

Many people do not like the idea of pigments or oils being worked by their hands, directly, and will use gloves as a protective barrier against them. While most pigments these days are safe to work with, this is a safer method for cleaning brushes.

brown and silver makeup brushes
Photo by Dids on Pexels.com

Step 3: Dry Those Brushes

Cleaning brushes is pretty easy, right? Now, we just dry them. You can use a clean towel or rag to dry the bristles, gently removing any leftover wetness. The bristles will most likely retain some amount of moisture and remain damp for a little while, so let them sit and dry until they are ready to be used again. If you try to paint with a damp brush, you’ll have a difficult time with the oil paint.

If, while drying, you notice that the pigment is coming off onto the towel, you will want to repeat the cleaning process, because you didn’t get the brush clean enough. Any amount of leftover paint can create problems in the future, so you want to be sure to clean thoroughly.

yellow and black striped
Photo by Ash @ModernAfflatus on Pexels.com

Do I Need to Use Solvent?

Solvent (turpentine, odorless mineral spirits, paint thinner) is a highly hazardous liquid that eats away at organic materials, such as oil. It is often used by oil painters to adjust the ratio of oil-to-pigment in their paints and can also be used to clean paint from bristles. Many people might use it when cleaning brushes when they don’t need to. It is of utmost importance that you understand the risks and proper handling of solvent before you ever use it.

You can never dispose of solvent into your drains or plumbing, nor can it be disposed of in the garbage. It can also not be poured out into the ground or water. All attempts to dispose of solvent in any of these ways is terrible for our environment and also illegal. Cities, counties, and states should have some way in which you can legally throw out solvent.

If you use solvent at all, it should always be in a highly ventilated area, as it has fumes and can harm you. Solvent will evaporate over time. If it does so, it is safe to dispose of the dry remnants left behind.

Now, do you need to use solvent? The short answer is no. There are alternatives that can work just as well, mentioned above. Solvent can be used to dissolve the paint from your bristles, much like water can be used with acrylic paint. It can make quick work of it. However, in my experience, solvent can also be very hard on the life of your brushes, too. You might find that your bristles aren’t exactly what they used to be if you use solvent often in cleaning brushes.

person holding paint brushes
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Simple, Right?

That really is all it takes to keep your brushes clean and ready to work with.

  • Remove excess paint and pigment with a paper towel
  • Make sure that there is very little, if any, pigment transferring from the brush to the towel
  • Use soap or oil brush cleaner along with water to loosen and remove remaining pigment
  • Dry the brush manually, then let it sit

I have also heard of artists using a little bit of conditioner occasionally to keep their brushes shaped nicely. I don’t know if that is necessary, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to try it and do it very rarely.

I hope this has been a helpful look at cleaning brushes that have been used to paint with oils.

If you’ve found yourself dabbling with oils and want to learn a bit about color mixing, head here.

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3 Helpful Features of the Primary Triad in Painting

Before we Hit the Triad

In art, we can define the Primary Triad as a “color scheme”. There are many color schemes that an artist can use to create the impression they hope for. A color scheme is the artist’s starting selection of colors, usually based within 2-4 different hues. Many established schemes exist and are seen every day, in advertising, movies, and print. A scheme is essentially a formula to derive a set of colors from the traditional color wheel. It helps artists maintain a consistent focus of color with their designs.

Some popular color schemes are:

  • Monochromatic
  • Analogous
  • Complementary
  • Split-Complementary
  • Triad
  • Tetrad

Today, we will focus entirely on a particular type of Triad scheme: the Primary Triad. And, while the Primary Triad can be found all throughout our media world in its most pure and unblended form, we’re going to discuss how it lends itself beautifully to a painter’s palette.

Primary Triad Basics

What is a Primary Triad?

The “Triad” finds its meaning in the number 3. All Triad schemes consist of 3 colors.

The “Primary” finds its meaning in the particular selection of colors – Primary colors. Namely, red, yellow, and blue.

Putting both words together, we can understand what we are dealing with. A Primary Triad is a color scheme based solely in the colors red, yellow, and blue.

The next time you’re looking through an advertisement for children’s toys, pay special attention to the color choices. You will often find that the Primary Triad is used commonly to appeal to kids. Not only is it a very basic and consistent set of colors that can be easily identified, but the colors also operate together to create a huge amount of visual interest.

Yellow and Red are often used to grab attention, with their strong and vibrant hues. Blue is a nice counterbalance to them and offers its own intense and pleasing color. Putting these colors together, you find a large amount of visual vibration, as they play off of each other in a balanced and visually stimulating way. In fact, the Bauhaus School often revered red, yellow, and blue as being central to art and our understanding of color.

But it’s not just these three colors alone that make them so suitable to painters…

Feature #1: They Mix Well Together

When you start with a Primary Triad, it makes it much easier to mix a wide variety of colors. You probably remember being in elementary school and learning that red and yellow make orange, red and blue make violet, and yellow and blue make green. This basic formula has helped artists for centuries.

Orange, violet, and green are known as “secondary colors” and what’s magical about them is that they feel completely different from the primaries. You can see the way that they link together, but they also set themselves apart as unique hues.

Let’s look at a twelve-color wheel for a second.

primary triad

You’ll notice that the primary colors and secondary colors also have colors between them with names that combine their neighbors, primary-first. So, the color between red and orange is known as red-orange. These are called tertiary colors. And if we were to create a 24-color wheel, we would see even more bridging hues. We can even break it down further if we want to.

What is remarkable about this is how fantastic our primary colors are at creating other vibrant colors and how many colors we can create when we mix them together in different ratios. This is worth exploring and I would recommend that you experiment with your primaries to see how many colors you can create!

Feature #2: But, wait! There are even more colors!

Ever wonder how you mix a brown? I remember as a kid, I asked my mom how to make brown with the crayons I had. She said to mix red and green. She was right!

However, that’s not the only way you can make brown. There are dozens of ways to do it. There are even many ways to shift the brown exactly to where you want it to go, whether it’s more of a red-brown or a green-brown. It all has to do with complementary colors.

First, let’s define what we’re talking about. We already talked about those vibrant primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries. When they are at their fullest, they are often referred to as “pure” hues. Now, we’re looking at neutral hues. These are the muddy colors, like brown or gray.

A neutral hue is created what you combine complementary colors. Complementary colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel from each other. For instance, orange and blue. Yellow and violet, too. Pick any color and trace a line directly to the opposite side of the wheel – there you will find the complement.

Now, I want you to notice something awesome. I mentioned combining orange and blue a moment ago. Well, blue is a primary color and orange is a secondary, made up of red and yellow. So, in essence, we are combining our primaries to create those neutral colors. This is incredibly insightful for artists who may have mixed a neutral color and it just isn’t coming out right.

Let’s say you mix you are painting a yellow flower. As you move into some of the shadowed areas of the petals, you see that you need to mix a neutral color. You rightly think to use violet in combination with yellow. However, as you mix them together, the neutral is coming out too green. Why is that happening?

It’s because your violet is actually bluer than it should be. Remember, when yellow and blue are mixed, you get green. If you want to tone down that green, you will have to add some red. Which makes sense, because red is the complement of green and will reduce the greenness of your mixture!

With the Primary Triad, you can create so many colors! Also, remember that you can add white to lighten any of these colors and black to darken any of them. That gives you a whole cornucopia of colors to work with.

Feature #3: Color Harmony

Do you ever go to your box of paints, not knowing which ones to choose? Maybe you’ve grabbed upwards of ten different tubes in the interest of getting a good variety of colors on your canvas. However, once it comes time to paint, you look at your palette and find yourself overwhelmed by the options. Eventually you just start choosing colors and hoping they will work. An artist who chooses colors randomly will always struggle to achieve color harmony.

Instead, let’s simplify. Using a Primary Triad will teach us how to economize and understand color relativity much better. It is vitally important to understand that colors act in relation to each other. They are often understood by the artist and viewer within their own framework. As an example, look at the painters of the renaissance. They had a very limited selection of colors to work with, mostly earthy in hue. Yet, they created masterworks of art, many of which read far more colorfully than we might expect.

This means that we, as painters, can also simplify our colors. In doing this, we will prevent ourselves from being overwhelmed with choices and we will also increase our understanding of color, as we utilize a limited palette of pigments. We will see firsthand how colors will work together to communicate exactly what you hope they will, even if you weren’t expecting them to.

A Primary Triad is a wonderful starting point for painters interested in imbuing their work with harmony. When you have fewer colors to choose from, you have far less chance that your colors will clash. Yes, a blue in real life may not be exactly the blue paint you have in front of you, but maybe you can mix one with what you have. Not only that, but it may not actually matter as much as color harmony does.

I think the most remarkable thing about using the Primary Triad as your starting palette is that it achieves that color harmony while still granting you so many color options. It’s like playing in a sandbox where every toy makes sense and works together to make the whole experience fun.

Next Steps

blue red and yellow stripe surface primary colors
Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

Now that you understand the simplicity and flexibility of the Primary Triad, I hope that you will use it yourself. A recommended set of colors that will get vibrant results are Pyrrole Red, Lemon Yellow, and Ultramarine Blue. However, you can experiment with different pigments in place of your primaries.

Try:

  • Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Payne’s Gray (very earthy and natural colors)
  • Quinacridone Red, Indian Yellow, Phthalo Blue (probably going to get some interesting greens here)
  • Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt Blue (pretty vibrant, with a good chance for nice violets)

These are just off the top of my head. Experiment with your own combinations. Also, remember that replacing one of the primaries with a neutral will still have a nice harmonious effect and may even spark some creativity.

Have fun trying it out!

Check out this great color wheel resource, here!

I also wrote up a little article about Three Strong Strategies for Mixing Colors.

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3 Strong Strategies for Mixing Colors

a painter mixing paint on palette using a paintbrush

Keeping it Simple and Easy

Mixing colors is something that every artist has to do at some point. As an oil painter, I find it to be one of the most important elements that has to be done right to get good results with my artwork. There was a time when I was oblivious to it, then a time when I realized the significance and challenge of it. Now, I mix my colors with much more confidence, and you can, too.

I have 3 easy and strong strategies that will help you get the best results from your color mixing, whether you mix your paint before or during your painting practice. These are the most basic and effective strategies for mixing colors, so don’t be surprised if you think it sounds too simple.

You will not have to learn complicated color theory concepts. While those can be incredibly helpful in the long run, I want to help you get the most bang for your buck in the shortest amount of time. You can implement these strategies with any form of art that uses color pigment, whether it is acrylic, oil, watercolor, gouache, or any other medium that will allow for the tiny pigment particles to mingle and party together.

A quick note regarding these strategies: they can work simultaneously. However, I have divided them out into a process that prioritizes the most important elements of color. With enough practice, it won’t be long until you’re using these strategies in unison when mixing colors.

We will start by establishing the 3 central concepts that make up color. It is important to give these some good attention, because understanding them will be integral to mixing colors with confidence. Each section has tips that will expound on the simple concepts with illustrations to help guide your learning. At the end of this article, I give you a basic application of these 3 central concepts.

Let’s dive in!

Know the Value of Value

close up of a blue paint mixed on a wooden palette
Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV on Pexels.com

In art, “value” is the word that describes the lightness or darkness of a color. If I were painting a still life, the shadows would be considered darker values than the highlights, which would be lighter values. Everything we see around us can be defined by their values and there are a wide range of values that our eyes can differentiate between and identify.

Values help us recognize forms and differences between objects through “value contrast”. When one value sits next to another value, the differences are often very clear, especially if the values are widely different. Our eyes are incredibly attuned to recognizing values and the forms that they imply, as it is the main task of our rods and a secondary task of our cones to perceive those shifts in value.

Simply put, light shines into our environment, our eyes see the variations in illumination, and our brains recognize the objects around us, mostly so that we can navigate and understand our surroundings.

When we paint, it is vitally important that we first recognize the values of the subject we are painting. Many oil painters start with the darkest values and work towards the lightest over time. This technique can be very helpful for keeping our values straight and understood correctly. If we are true to the value relationships of our subject, it will become very clear what we are trying to represent. Remember, it’s those values that communicate the forms of the objects we are painting and we are trained to recognize objects through those forms. Therefore, realism relies upon those values.

Think about black and white photography. Even without any hue or color intensity, we can still understand what we are seeing. That is all thanks to value and the forms that are described by the shifts and contrasts between values.

To apply this to your painting process, you will want to practice seeing and recognizing how light or dark the color you are trying to replicate or create should be. If you are a representational painter, pay close attention to those values first, then move your mind towards the next two strategies as you are mixing colors. If you are an abstract painter and mixing colors, think about the contrasts that you will create through value.

Identify the Hue

smudges of paint on a black surface
Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Pexels.com

Once the value of a color is observed, we can jump into recognizing the “hue”. Hue is just a fancy word for the basic color we are seeing. So, yellow is instantly recognized as a “yellow hue”, different from red, orange, blue, green, etc., based solely on its position in the color wheel and its essential family of hues. This is best expressed visually. Let’s look at the color wheel below.

mixing colors

Notice how it is divided up, with each section labeled. Those labels are the “hues”. They are defined as the family of colors that sit within a section of the color wheel or color spectrum. These labels are usually what we think of when we consider and talk about colors. I might say, “This is red and that is yellow.” You would understand what I mean without many, if any, questions.

When you are mixing colors, you will need to identify the hue that is most recognizable. A color that has no neutrality (“grayness”, “brownness”, or “muddiness”) is known to be a “pure” hue. When a color is very pure, the hue is far easier to identify. You still need to be careful and consider if the hue is between two hues or leaning in a certain direction. For instance, a red that you observe might lean towards red-orange or might lean towards red-violet. Knowing what the hue is doing will help you recognize the color of paint you should start with or what colors you should try mixing together.

Establishing a knowledge of the color wheel is indispensable. Break it down into sections. There are 3 “primary” hues: red (R), yellow (Y), and blue (B). These create the “secondary” hues: orange (R+Y), green (Y+B), and violet (R+B). “Tertiary” hues are those that reside between primaries and secondaries on the color wheel. These are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green. The 12 hues make up the basic color wheel that artists and designers often use to plan their color schemes and understand the working relationships between hues.

Once you understand hues, you will have a better time choosing what paint to use when mixing colors. For instance, if you want to mix a red-violet using a red paint and a blue paint, you will be better off starting with a more violet red (such as Quinacridone Red or Alizarin Crimson) and a more violet blue (such as Ultramarine Blue). If you were to mix an orangey red with a greenish blue your results would not gain you a vibrantly pure red-violet, but something more brown.

The above graphic shows popular and common pigments placed where they would belong on the traditional color wheel. This can help inform your decisions when selecting paints for mixing colors. Know that when you are mixing colors from pure pigments, you can guess what the results may look like by drawing a straight line between them on this graphic. The middle point on the line will be the average of the resulting mixture.

Knowing your hues makes it a lot easier for mixing colors. It also helps you communicate about color and even spot differences between similar colors, especially those that are “gray” or “brown”. A gray can be “reddish” or “blueish” or “greenish”, etc. Same with a brown or other neutral color. This will bring us into the next section.

Mixing Colors with Intensity

Vibrant red and yellow tulips

Colors cannot be defined only by value and hue. There is an element that speaks to the vibrancy, intensity, or chroma of a color. Intensity relates to that “pure” notion I discussed earlier. A color that is high in intensity will be very vibrant and close to its pure hue. We see that in the flowers shown above, as they radiate pure hues of red, red-orange, and yellow.

Many colors we see do not fall within easily-defined hues. They are lower in intensity and, therefore, harder to associate to a pure hue that they are derived from. These kinds of colors can be known as neutral or muted colors. What do we do with those?

When confronted with a neutral color, it is important to identify what hue the color is closest to. Then we can create a plan for mixing colors. For example, if a neutral color is reddish (often described as “warm”), we want to start there, then introduce paint colors that will bring our mixture closer to the observed color.

Composition in bright colors with gray
Muted neutral colors

There are many ways to neutralize a hue, but different approaches get different results.

If you want the neutral color to retain some of its intensity (not becoming too faded, but remaining strong in color), you need to introduce its “complement”. The complement of a hue is the hue on the opposite side of the color wheel.

As an example, red would be neutralized by green. Introducing just a little green will result in a reddish-brown. The green can either be one distinctly green pigment or the combination of pigments, such as yellows and blues. The less green we introduce, the more red our brown will be, and the more we introduce, the more green it will be. We can also try to introduce more blue or yellow, depending on if we need to pull or push the color in a different direction.

Mixing colors can feel very confusing at first! I know a lot of students that I have taught who really struggled initially to understand how to achieve certain colors with their paint. It really just takes some practice.

Faded or muted neutrals can also be mixed by introducing white, black, or gray. White lightens your hue, known as “tinting”. Black darkens the hue, known as “shading”. Gray desaturates your hue, known as “toning”. All three will lower the intensity of your colors, making them less vibrant. One of the most common painting errors is to introduce white as a brightener. However, while white does lighten, it doesn’t brighten (in the sense of increasing vibrancy).

Applying These Strategies

Paint on wall

Now we understand the three basic characteristics of color: value, hue, and intensity. Every color is going to have some element of each characteristic.

How do we use this knowledge for mixing colors? I have a little rundown of how you might approach mixing colors to match your reference.

First, note the value. Is the color dark? Is it light? Somewhere in between?

Then, note the hue. Can you recognize any? Where does it lean? Compare it to surrounding hues.

Lastly, note the intensity. Would adding white, black, or gray result in the color? Or do you need to keep things more vibrant by mixing together complementary colors?

Soon, you will be making these judgments without even thinking too much. Your color recognition and knowledge of your pigments will increase, you will grow in confidence, and your instincts will gain a more solid and sophisticated foundation. Mixing colors will become completely natural.

Finally, I would recommend that you start painting with a limited palette, if only to understand how colors can interact. A limited palette is a simple selection of colors, usually a red, yellow, and a blue, along with white. Try different combinations (Pyrrole Red, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Blue; then Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Phthalo Blue, etc.). Try switching out a pure primary with a neutral color (for instance, use red, yellow, and Payne’s gray instead of blue). You will start to learn, firsthand, how these colors interact and the color wheel will become alive in your mind.

Read more great color advice with James Gurney’s book “Color and Light”, found here.

If you’re interested in oil painting, read my invitation and encouragement to you here.

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Dealing with the Inner Critic

man in blue and brown plaid dress shirt touching his hair

When it All Feels Pointless

Man, oh, man… I just had a day that made my head spin. I started questioning everything I was doing. A funk fell over me and I had the greatest urge to give up on my projects. Every goal and passion that I had been emphasizing so heavily felt unreasonable and poorly planned, lacking creativity and value. It felt like I was in one of those dreams where I was walking around thinking I was fully clothed, only to look down, becoming horrified by my nakedness.

Damper fully engaged. Everything grinding to a halt, the negative thoughts started to pour in. Why haven’t I achieved more? Why didn’t I focus more when I was younger? What have I really been doing with my time? Why don’t I understand more? Why are my skills so unrefined? There seem to be so many others who are thriving, understanding everything they’re doing, planning things so skillfully. Why can’t I figure it out? What is wrong with me? Why am I so dense? What’s the point of what I’m doing?

The Noise

I have been putting a new emphasis on Instagram lately, trying to post more, interact more, and engage with the platform in meaningful ways. There’s a lot of floundering that happens. An idea doesn’t quite go as well as you hope, a video feels rushed, a post gets less attention than you think it deserves – there’s so much room for expectations and disappointment. However, I still feel engaged by it and it is a creative challenge and outlet that gives me new opportunities to communicate. The frustrations of creation, while still very real, are not what actually led me into my existential crisis.

It’s the comparison game. The feed is a constant reminder of the difference between my posts and those of others. People with better cameras, better ideas, better artwork, larger audiences, more comments, more likes, more shares, more sales, higher prices, and more success. Most days I can look at other peoples’ successes and view them as inspiring – something to shoot for. This was not one of those days. I started comparing.

Comparing is the epitome of a double-edged sword. In many ways and for many reasons it comes naturally. We want to make sure we’re aware of things that we could do differently or better. I was always the kid in the stage performance that looked at the other kids and mimicked their movements in order to make sure I was doing things right. I didn’t want to be embarrassed by screwing something up. Being aware and discerning can often rely upon our observing of others and relating those observations to ourselves – comparing.

But the darker road of comparison is ever present and easy to walk down. Once I step foot on that path, it doesn’t lead to anywhere good and it’s hard to find my way back to the gentler road. It leads to anxiety, depression, and doubt. All wisdom starts to fade, all patience disappears, and all reason is doused. It really feels like you can see the end of the road right in front of you and it will not change in any way. Your life is doomed to be exactly what it is in this moment of frustration, forever.

The Answer to the Critic

I’ve heard it said that we are all our worst critic. I don’t think that means we’re always hard on ourselves, but that when we are hard on ourselves, we are REALLY hard on ourselves. We take it to an extreme. Ultimately, we’re calling into question our plans, goals, identities, and anything else that is integral to our self-image. It creates a feedback loop that gets louder and louder and more invasive and more powerful as we spend our time thinking about ourselves. And it’s not a great idea to be thinking about yourself constantly. As Proverbs 18:1 says, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” Notice how “sound judgment” goes out the window when we’re focused on ourselves and our own desires, wants, and independence.

So, how did I escape my funk? It wasn’t through willpower or doubling down on my efforts. It wasn’t through working harder and getting more accomplished. It wasn’t through dedicating myself to more things that would cater to my whims and emotions. In fact, I find that when I try to put a balm of pleasure over my open wounds, I actually am just making things worse. A video game, an unhealthy snack, an internet binge – those things have a way of making me feel even more pathetic. No, the answer didn’t come from self-indulgence.

The good side of the road came into view somehow. Instead of comparing, I began to think creatively – hopefully. I started celebrating the successes of others. A couple of encouraging posts on Instagram, one from Brainard Carey and another from Jim Musil, helped me see the value of my work as an artist, prompting me to comment my gratitude. The work of Erin Hanson, especially her business acumen, got my mind working about what I can do to actively improve my business. My wife came home from work. We talked about our days. I talked about some of the things that I want to do with my work, which she supported. That evening I spent time with friends playing board games. Over the weekend I attended church and played guitar with the worship team. Time moved forward. Patience, wisdom, and reason rose to the surface.

The critic was silenced by a refreshed desire to look and live outward. Relationships and follow through, culminations of selflessness and thankfulness, acted in quelling my emotions and bolstering my stability. I felt like I could go on. I could be excited again about what I was doing. I could put failures behind me, learning from them. I could move past the criticisms, not ignoring them at the expense of discernment, but also not giving them the power to call everything into question. Leaving them behind me, in the past.

A New Day

There are lots of reasons why the inner critic might raise its head in your life. Many times, we can learn from that critic. It’s why I titled this “Dealing with the Inner Critic”, rather than “Silencing the Inner Critic.” I think the inner critic has a role to play in our lives. We can just give it too much power, too much emphasis. Possibly some questions you might ask yourself when the inner critic surfaces are, “Where is this coming from? Where is it leading?” Comparison? Fear? Embarrassment? Hopelessness? Isolation?

Or could it be growth? Humility? Strength? Wisdom? Patience?

We are only human. We will have terrible days. There is no way to avoid them. Just know that they are not the end of the road. There is still much to be done. You have a lot to contribute. You are valuable. You have worth. The things you make and do are treasured by somebody. Look outside yourself. You might find that when your inner critic is too overbearing, somebody else’s encouraging words can quickly put it in check. And maybe your words can do the same for somebody else.

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Choose the Right Paintbrush for Oil Painting

close up photo of brown and silver paint brushes

Aren’t All Paintbrushes the Same?

While it might seem like a paintbrush is a paintbrush and will work for any old painting, that’s unfortunately not the case. Just like most projects, you need the right tools for the job. That’s because paint mediums are very different from each other in how you apply them. Watercolor paint really loves brushes that can soak up a lot of water. Acrylic paint usually needs a brush that can apply paint smoothly, since it dries so fast. Oil painting is its own challenge (learn the basics!). So, what do oil painters need for the best results? How do you choose the right paintbrush for oil painting?

Choose the Right Stiffness of Bristle

When you shop for oil brushes, you’ll find that they actually come in some different varieties of stiffness. They range from very stiff hog-hair brushes to springy mongoose, or even to soft sable brushes, among others. And then there are synthetic brushes that simulate all of these varieties. How do these differentiate from each other, practically?

The differences in stiffness allow for vastly different application of paint. A hog-hair brush picks up a good deal of paint and is great for creating textures. Springy brushes are nice for a bit more subtlety and detail. For the finest details and softest touch, go with something like a sable brush, especially if you are employing a glaze technique. Even a handful of painting sessions with each gives a good feel for the differences and you can begin to determine quickly which stiffness is right for your style.

As a note of help, be aware that oil paint is much thicker in consistency than acrylic and watercolor paint. This means that hog-hair or similar brushes are your best bet when doing the majority of your work, especially if you work with medium-to-big canvases. The heftier the brush, the better. Dialing down that heaviness by introducing more oil can open the door for softer brushes. If you choose the right paintbrush for your consistency, your workflow will feel so much more peaceful and things will come together more easily.

closeup photo of person holding paintbrush

 

Photo by Werlley Meira on Pexels.com

Length of the Handle

You might notice that different brushes have different lengths of handle and that it doesn’t necessarily correspond to the size of the brush. Brushes made for oil and acrylic painting have longer handles and watercolor brushes have shorter handles. This has everything to do with the distance from which an oil painter stands from their easel. A longer brush makes it easier to get a grasp on the scene you are painting and quickens comparisons between the painting and the subject.

This is mostly based on tradition and is not a hard-and-fast rule of painting. There are plenty of reasons an oil painter might use a smaller handled brush, primarily having to do with their style and level of detail. I would suggest that if you are painting from life, you try to hold a longer brush, just to get the feel for it. You may find yourself enjoying it!

In fact, you should always challenge yourself with new approaches. That way you can make more educated decisions about what you like. Try choking up on the handle for a while and then try holding it towards the end. You will get a better grasp (literally and figuratively) on the tool you are using. Some of your best work might be the result of intentional grip on the brush.

Paintbrush Shapes and How They Affect Your Painting

Let’s do a quick rundown of the different shapes of brushes you will find. Knowing each brush’s purpose empowers you to make educated decisions while painting so you can choose the right paintbrush for what you are trying to do.

Flat – This is a great brush for holding a good amount of paint and filling in large areas. You might use a flat when laying in your first layers, especially if you need the benefit of right angles.

Round – Similar to a flat in its purpose, the round allows you to adjust the width of your lines based on the pressure you exert on it. A great all-around brush.

Bright – Similar to a flat in shape, but with shorter bristles. These brushes don’t spread paint as easily, but they are great for moving and placing paint.

Filbert – A combination of a flat and a round, this brush lays in paint with a lot of flexibility. Not great for right angles, but perfect for organic shapes.

Fan – Often used for blending softly, fan brushes also add intricate texture with little effort.

There are other types of brushes out there to try, but these are your basics. Try them out and you might find your favorite combinations. I personally like to limit my brush selection to flats, rounds, filberts, and brights, with some variation in size. This just helps me maintain the style I like.

choose the right paintbrush

 

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

Does Size Matter?

When I first started painting, I went with small brushes. Being used to drawing, I figured having a brush that could mimic a pencil or pen would be the best way to handle the paint. That method is like using colored pencils to color in a coloring book. It’s the method of paint-by-numbers – find the right color for the spot and color it in.

With time I began to study more art and learned that the painters I really responded to were the ones that used their brushes to emulate form, not fill it in. The brush stroke and its varied width and arc are used to sculpt the shapes of the subject. This was a method I was excited about (and still am!).

When it comes to brush sizes, be aware of your aim. What is your goal? Many artists love a very delicate and finely detailed painting. Others use large brushes to describe their shapes. One of my favorite artists, John Singer Sargent, recommended using a brush larger than you think you’ll need. If you look at his work, you can see from his style that he emphasized his strokes, letting them sit in plain sight. So, look at what artists appeal to you and try out some of their techniques. You’ll really learn a lot!

In Conclusion

Who knew there was so much to learn about paintbrushes? Now you know! I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: one of the things I really love about oil painting is how flexible it is. I think this guide proves that! Now you know how to choose the right paintbrush for oil painting.

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Oil Painting for Beginners (A Primer [pun?])

shallow focus photography of paintbrush

“Isn’t Oil Paint Hard to Work With?”

Maybe you’ve been at an art store and wondered about all of the different kinds of paints on display. Which one is the easiest to use? Which one makes the best paintings? What’s the difference between oil paint and acrylic paint? How would I even start oil painting?

It’s a lot to take in for somebody new to painting! And it can feel so intimidating. What do you choose and would you even be able to figure it out? You’ve heard of oil paint and its long tradition in the studios of famous artists, so would you have any chance at doing anything good with it? Maybe you’ve tried it and found it to be difficult to work with. Bob Ross makes it seem so easy!


It’s true that oil paint has a long and storied tradition in the world of painting, but much of that is because many artists over the past millennia have found it to be a flexible medium to work with. It doesn’t dry as fast as tempera (eggs) or acrylic paint, it has a mix of opacity and transparency, and, with the right approach, it can last for a very long time. I personally enjoy the feel of oil paint on my brush, the freedom in blending that it produces, and the incredible amount of versatility it offers.

First, Some Basic Knowledge

The first thing to understand about oil paint is that it is like any other paint, in that it is made up of pigments that are bound together by a binding agent. These pigments are what we see as the color of the paint. Many of the pigments come from minerals or metals that are ground up into a powder. For example, the earliest Ultramarine Blue pigments came from Lapis Lazuli, a semi-precious stone that is rare and required Italian traders to sail to Afghanistan to acquire (hence the name ultramarine). These days there are synthetic ways to produce a wide variety of beautiful colors.

The binding agent in oil paint is, you guessed it, oil. Often this is a form of linseed oil, specially crafted for painting purposes. It may also be safflower or walnut oil, among others. Some oils have a tendency to turn yellow over time, especially noticeable when mixed with white pigments. There are many studies about this that turn up complex results, so I won’t go into any of that here. Just be aware that it can happen and has been a problem for hundreds of years!

A word about the surface you paint on – it needs to be primed. This is not usually an issue, as you will probably start painting with a pre-stretched canvas from the store. These come with at least one layer of “gesso”, an all-purpose primer that creates a perfect ground for your oils. If you were to paint directly on canvas, without gesso, the oil would be difficult to work with and the canvas would eventually rot. So don’t do it!

“Oil takes a long time to dry!”

In fact, oil doesn’t exactly “dry”, but it oxidizes and sets into a semi-solid state. It often takes days to set-to-the-touch and months to fully set, becoming ready for varnishing. This is important because it gives us artists a big insight into the medium that we are using. It also explains some of the reasons why we paint differently with oil than we do with other mediums.

Oil paint’s reluctance to set quickly opens it up to easier blending and mixing of paint colors. For those familiar with acrylic, this might be a tough shift at first. Give it some time, though, and you may appreciate the added flexibility. You will also now have an opportunity to blend colors on your canvas itself, something tricky or impossible to do with other mediums.

Because the binding agent is oil, most experienced painters will employ solvents and additional oils depending on their needs. Solvents, like turpentine or odorless mineral spirits, break down the oil and leave the pigments less bound together, thinning the paint. This is often used sparingly or with great intention (and in very well-ventilated spaces! The fumes can be extremely harmful.). Additional oil mediums can do a number of things, including speeding drying time, helping the paint flow better, or adding heft to the paint for impasto textures. There are many ways to customize your oil painting experience.

The Key to Oil Painting? Fat Over Lean.

If you’ve ever seen an old oil painting, you may have noticed little cracks all throughout the surface. This can happen when the oil sets up in a way that is too brittle. The flexible canvas underneath may shrink and stretch over time and is susceptible to vibration. In many ways, cracking is difficult to prevent, but there are methods that will make your experience with oils much easier and less prone to cracking.

The best method is called painting fat-over-lean. Each successive layer of paint should have more oil introduced, making for a top-level surface that is more flexible and less pigment-heavy than lower layers. There are other reasons to add oil to your paint, like aiding pigments that are more oil-absorbent, but that is a bit advanced for this introduction. Just try to incorporate a fat-over-lean approach as you get more comfortable with the paint.

A really nice by-product of painting fat-over-lean is control over your composition and colors. Starting your painting with a thin and sketchy monochromatic (one color) first layer is referred to as doing an underpainting. This can help guide the rest of your painting, acting as a framework. As you add more detail, you can use more paint and different colors, being careful to avoid or incorporate blending as you go.

But Now I’m Having a Problem…

It is helpful to keep in mind that different paints serve different purposes. While you may be able to take some of your acrylic or watercolor skills over to oils, you will have to learn some new things. Note that even very advanced oil painters run into issues and challenges. It is only through more experience that we improve and get the results we want!

One tendency for beginners is to use way too much paint too fast. This is usually because they are used to acrylic paint. Using less paint at first and slowly building is a much better approach. It will keep you from making messes and muddying up your colors. In conjunction, you should work dark to light or start with your mid-tones before moving up or down in value. Don’t be afraid to have lot of paint on hand, just don’t go crazy with it too quickly!

Another thing I see a lot of beginners do is having way too many colors on a palette. This is a recipe for disaster as these colors will not harmonize easily. Keep it simple! Use a limited palette. Limit yourself to only using white, one red, one yellow, and one blue. See how many colors you create with just those. You will surprise yourself! If you need a place to start, go with Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, Lemon Yellow, and Ultramarine Blue. These will combine to make so many beautiful and saturated colors. Then start experimenting with different combinations, trading out Alizarin Crimson for Burnt Sienna, Lemon Yellow for Yellow Ochre, and Ultramarine Blue for Phthalo Blue or Payne’s Gray (or even Ivory Black). Color is relative and what matters most is harmony!

Now You are Set!

There really is nothing stopping you from learning how to paint with oils now. Go pick up some small tubes of paint (go with a large tube of white) and a few brushes of different sizes and shapes. Experiment with what looks fun! To be more frugal, skip the pre-stretched canvases for now and get a pad of canvas paper. I like to use them for studies. Tape a sheet to a drawing board and you’re set!

If you’re feeling old-fashioned (like me), get a wooden palette. They are really nice for weighing your values and they hold up really well to repeat uses (as long as you clean them). Go the less expensive route with a pad of palette paper, a waxy kind of paper that works really nicely, too. I personally have used them many times and prefer them far more than plastic palettes.

And, with that, you should be very ready to begin oil painting (after you read the little bit of safety advice I have below). I hope you enjoy getting to know how to paint with oils. It really is a fantastic way to improve your abilities, your understanding of art, and your patience. Just know that nobody is born with a complete mastery of painting. You grow equal to the amount of time you put into it. Have fun!

One last word of advice: know how to clean up your paint in a healthy way.

  • Be aware that you cannot pour solvent down a drain or into the ground (very illegal and bad for the earth). Best to use it sparingly and let the small amount you use evaporate over time (in a well-ventilated area!), leaving whatever solids behind that you can then dispose of safely. Again, only use solvent in a well-ventilated area (I cannot say that enough!).
  • Oil is very flammable. A normal painting experience shouldn’t end up with any excessively oily rags or paper towels, but if you do, do not wad them up or pile them together. It should be easy to either let the paint dry enough to dispose of later or prevent yourself from ending up with a whole bunch of excess paint.
  • Clean your brushes with soap and warm water immediately after you are done using them. If you do not want to get too much oil paint on your hands, use gloves while painting or cleaning. Paper towels are enough for cleaning them while painting.
  • If you have any other safety concerns, make sure to do your research before you begin, so you can have peace of mind and enjoy the experience.