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AN INTRODUCTION TO OIL PAINTING Oil painting is the ideal medium for the novice artist. It is an excellent way to study, because changes and corrections are easily made. Unwanted passages of color can be scraped off the canvas any number of times without injury to the surface. One color can be painted over another, drawing and proportions can be corrected, and all the nuances of light and shadow can be studied experimentally. The painting can be put aside at any time, to be picked up and continued at a later date. Some beginners choose oil without considering other media because of a reverence for the "genuine oil painting." When they take up painting as a hobby they want to produce "pictures that show the actual brush strokes." Many other amateurs, who would like to work in several media but feel that their time is too limited, select oil after checking with teachers or schools or experimenting on their own. Even a person who is more interested in another medium may find, as I have, that by using oils he can more easily study color subtleties and can acquire basic knowledge that will later be applied to the medium he prefers. The old adage, "One medium helps another," is especially true if the first one is oil. As you progress you will soon discover that there is more to oil painting than the surface quality of the brush work. The type of surface you work on, the preliminary staining of the surface, and the underpainting all affect the finished result. However, in your initial efforts you will want to work in a direct manner, particularly when painting outdoors. Later you can experiment in the studio with various types of underpainting. MATERIAL AND EQUIPMENT FOR OIL PAINTING Colors If you are just beginning to paint, you will do well to start with a reputable brand of student color. Most color manufacturers make a line of student colors along with their professional grades. These colors are appreciably less expensive and the selection is nearly as wide as in the professional line. As you progress, you can replace the student brand with colors of professional quality, which have far greater covering quality, particularly in the Cadmiums and Blues. There are several good brands of colors available. My own choice is the Grumbacher line. I recommend the following colors for basic use: Alizarin Crimson Cadmium Yellow, Light Cadmium Red, Light French Ultramarine Ivory Black Light Red Thalo Green Yellow Ochre Zinc or Titanium White These nine colors will enable you to mix the various shades of other colors that you will need for most purposes. However, you may want to supplement these colors with: Cadmium Yellow, Deep Cadmium Orange Cerulean Blue Burnt Sienna Viridian Cobalt Blue Thalo Blue Raw Umber Continue to Working with canvases

Get all the animals listed on this site in an easily printable format. Also learn how to draw mice, monkeys, butterflies and a phoenix. Instant download. $7. Learn to draw a new animal every week. Enter your email address below and we'll send you a free drawing lesson every week. Email: AN INTRODUCTION TO OIL PAINTING Material & Equipment for Oil Painting > Introduction & Colors > Working with Canvases > More about Using Canvases > The Paint Box and Palette > The Palette Knife and Other Tools > Oil Painting Brushes & the Home Studio > Care of Equipment & Brush Handling > More about Brush Handling > Arranging Colors on the Palette & Color Mixing > More About Color Mixing > Color Mixing Exercises