What colors should you use to paint an oil painting? Tips for those who want to start painting with oil paints

Oil painting - great way painting on canvas. Classic paintings such as the Mona Lisa were painted in oils, along with beautiful impressionist paintings by Monet or Van Gogh.

Steps

Buy good quality materials for oil painting, the best you can afford. If you're just starting out, you can find many of these items by looking at gift sets that include all or most of them, sometimes in a nice wooden box or on an easel. Minimum you will need:

• Stretched canvas size of the painting you want to paint. It would also be a good idea to purchase a few small canvas boards for practice and preliminary research. You can also use canvas paper or canvas, which is on a pad and is suitable for oil painting and for left-handed painting. Try to choose a small board with the exact proportions of your stretched canvas, but if there isn't one, get a large piece that will fit your canvas.
• Tubes of oil paint in the main palette. If you buy a set, it probably has all the colors you need. The simplest palette contains colors such as red, blue, yellow, burnt sienna and a large tube of white paint. If it's Winsor & Newton, you can get lemon yellow, permanent red, ultramarine, or French ultramarine (they're chemically close.) If you're initially choosing a large palette of colors, use a dark alizarin red or a more violet red, but not an orange-red. You can get by without the burnt sienna, but there are other reasons for this besides mixing. If your palette doesn't have this color, use reddish brown.
• Buy oil and thinner. Linseed oil is an oil traditionally used by artists. Some artists believe that walnut is better. If you want your painting to dry faster, choose a product such as Winsor & Newton's "Liquin" that will make the oil dry faster. You also need regular turpentine or odorless turpentine, sometimes called turpenoid or white mineral spirits. It is a liquid that has a strong or weak aroma. It is a paint thinner in the opposite environment. Odorless thinners such as Weber Turpenoid or Gamsol are generally considered healthier to use, but proper ventilation should always be provided to allow some components to evaporate. Oil paint itself is non-toxic, as is turpentine, which does not emit toxic fumes. But some oil paints contain toxic ingredients such as cadmium and cobalt, which can be quite harmful if ingested, so never eat, drink or smoke while using oil paint.
• Buy a coating varnish, something like Damar, designed for oil paintings. The varnish probably contains some toxic fumes and should be used on outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. You should definitely choose removable artist varnish. Varnish should be added after the oil painting is completely dry and will not change the chemical composition of the painting. At this point, you can apply a remover varnish to give the painting a nice glossy finish and protect the paint layer. Every 25 - 30 years, the varnish should be removed (either by the artist or the owner of the painting) with a varnish remover solution and reapplied, since varnishes turn yellow over time and should not be on the painting constantly. This is why very old oil paintings turn brown. They often just need a cleanup and a new clear coat of varnish to look as vibrant as if they were painted last year. You don't need to buy varnish until the painting is finished, since you won't use it until the painting is finished and completely dry. "Retouching" can only be used when the painting is dry to the touch. This will not damage the paint coat, but the painting must be completely dry and you should wait a full month before using varnish. If you want to sell the painting sooner, you can apply a temporary coating.
• Buy brushes. Preferably hard ones. Bristle brushes are less expensive, but good white synthetic fibers that are quite stiff, like bristles, can also be a great choice. Some oil painters also use soft, long-handled sable brushes for various effects. You can use large, small and sparse brushes, depending on the areas, shapes and objects you want to depict in the smallest details, if you like detailed realism. Soft "fitter" brushes with very long, thin, soft hairs are well suited for depicting ship rigs, cat whiskers, and other long linear details. This is done using very thin paints, which can also be used to write your name on the painting or for long flowing lines. As a beginner, it is recommended that you try different sets of brushes or synthetic brushes in different shapes and sizes to get a feel for what style each one conveys.
• A palette knife, paint knife, or non-serrated butter knife can be used to mix the paint. Palette knives are quite cheap if they are plastic. Metal ones are nicer because they don't stain and can last for years if kept clean. Painting knives have various shapes, from scoops to corners, each of which have different effects and you can use them instead of brushes.
• Charcoal or purple pastel pencil to paint on canvas.
• You will need a palette so that you have somewhere to put your oil paints while using them. This could be a palette with small holes, or you can improvise with cheap, simple ceramic, glass or melamine plate. From something that could interfere with the turpentine. Many artists prefer a gray palette because colors reflect best on gray. If you're using a flat piece of glass on your table (very cheap if you're getting it from a cheap picture frame), you can put gray paper underneath it so you have a gray, easy-to-clean palette at all times.
• Two small cups for oil (or Liquin) and thinner. Some kits come with a "double scoop" so they can be attached to your palette. If so, then your set probably also has a palette.
• Rags for painting. This can be any type of clean rags. Heavy paper towels will also work, but the cloth is reusable if washed. Used baby diaper fabric, if washed, even if worn and stained, is perfect for this purpose. Paper towels wear out quickly, so it's best to use old clothes, soft, like old T-shirts and the like. Try to use rags that you don't mind spilling paint on, as you may destroy the fabric design on the painted areas. Use rags that are at the edge of their usefulness unless you want to wash them and keep using them over and over again.
• An easel for working, either a tabletop easel or a standing easel. It doesn't have to be expensive. The cheapest "view easel" will fit any reasonable sized canvas at a comfortable working angle, and its legs should adjust to different heights depending on whether you are sitting or standing. If age doesn't interfere with you (or illness or injury that limits the amount of time you can stay on your feet), it will be much better to stand at the easel. This will also allow you to look from the side after every few strokes to see how the painting looks, which is definitely better for painting. You can also lean the painting on a chair or other support, or improvise something similar. A “picture horse” is a bench with a board sticking out at the end that you sort of saddle up on and prop the canvas up into a groove.
• You must decide on the tools. How will you make your sketches, with a pencil or charcoal, on a sketchbook or whatman paper, or maybe even on used paper. They shouldn't become an archive, but if you like your sketches, you can create a sketchbook from them and use a soft pencil/pen/marker for this. These are just sketches to draw something, something selected. Your usual sketchbook and favorite drawing tools.
• A safe, dust-free place for your painting to dry, where nothing happens that could damage the paint on the canvas. Drying time for oil paintings varies from several days to several months. Some oil paintings will take a full year to dry before they can be varnished.

1. Sketch a "notan" painting in your sketchbook or on paper with a gray or black pencil or pen, using the pencil as the gray. If it's a square, it's a square. If it is a rectangular or oval painting, decide whether it will be a vertical "portrait" or a horizontal "landscape". Make the notan very small, just enough to accommodate the light, dark and middle areas of the painting. They can range from the size of a large postage stamp to business card. The idea is to see the picture in miniature. Make several variations until you find the best design without worrying about the details.

   Use charcoal or pencil to make a drawing in your sketchbook. It can be quite detailed and heavily shaded, or simple to show you shadows and highlights. This partly depends on how detailed and realistic you want the picture to be. A looser style of painting may have a more sketchy sketch, but should still have one with a more "white, mid and black" tone, so that you can tell where there are at least five values ​​- white accents, light, mid , dark, black accents. Some artists, to avoid using pure black and white, simply use "light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark" for the five views. It depends on the desired effect. If you don't like the sketch, keep trying different versions until you get something you like.

   • In your sketch, make sure that the light falling on a person, object, or landscape element is coming in one direction. Pay attention to where the shadows are coming from. They should all go in the same direction and be shorter if the sun or light is high, and longer if the sun (or the lamp the light is coming from) is low. The direction of the lighting makes all objects more three-dimensional. Draw the shadow shapes carefully and most of your subjects will look three dimensional at this point. This is good for impressionism or realism.
   • If you want to go abstract, sketch in pencil and decide where you want to see specific effects, such as splatter or strong brush stroke textures. Or you can skip the sketching step on paper and move on to the next one.
   • Paint your subject on a canvas canvas, tarpaulin paper, or canvas pad. Use charcoal or purple pastel pencil. Mark out the exact proportions of the canvas on the board, if they are not exactly the same shape, so do it as in the sketches. Make clear outlines. You can detail the markings of the eyes, mouth, all the important shapes on it, or you can just stick to just the basic shapes and basic shadow figures. Either way, it should look similar to the paint in the sketch. If you make mistakes, wipe off the charcoal or pastel pencil with a damp cloth, let the canvas dry, and do it again. This can be completely corrected.

2. Squeeze some paint onto the palette and mix the colors. Place yellow, blue, red and a large smear of white at some distance from each other. Additionally, use burnt sienna. Leave all other colors in the box if it was a gift set.

   Explore the paint "alla prima". Just draw directly on the sketch in each color area. Since it doesn't have to be detailed, you can try painting the color study with a palette knife or painting knife. If you don't like any of your color choices, use a palette knife to scrape off the unsightly smudge and set the unwanted paint aside in case you need a messy one. Brown color. A mix of all three primaries will harmonize in the painting and thus the mixed paint can be separated and mixed a little more to turn into pale browns or dark browns and grays. No waste with a simple basic palette. Keep playing with the color exploration until you like a simple, bold painting done with a fairly large brush and not a lot of detail. If necessary, make more than one of these until you decide which blends you like. You make this little painting with paint straight from the pipe. It does not require thinner or oil for this technique. If you like the way your test painting looks, you can make a larger one the same way, just using a palette knife and pipe paint with bold strokes on the canvas. No additional paint and no extra layer. This style of painting is fast and strong.

   Draw the outline using a soft pencil or a thin stick of charcoal. On landscape painting use a purple pastel pencil. This would be a good choice because this color works well with all landscape colors without darkening or staining light colors as much as black. Charcoal and purple pastel pencil are both easy to fix with a damp cloth or rag, so don't worry about making changes to the sketch! Draw on it, and if you get it wrong, wipe it off and try again.

   Prepare some oil in one cup and solvent in another. Clean your brushes and palette knife. Rinse the brush if you used it for color research using a turpenoid: simply dip it in solvent and wipe with a rag.

   Apply a small amount of burnt sienna to your palette. Or, if there is no white or a lot of white in the tri-color mixture, use a thin layer of brown. Dip the brush into solvent, turpentine/turpenoid/Sansodor (Winsor & Newton brand is particularly good). Dip a wet brush into a small amount of paint until you have very thin, clear paint. It's easy. Use a little more paint, do medium light and successively dark areas with burnt sienna, still diluting it until it becomes the texture of ink. Even dark areas should have enough color. The thinner layer you use, the faster this clear coat of burnt sienna will dry.

   • Wow! Transparent picture Burnt sienna usually looks pretty cool at this stage. It's still easy to change if you end up too dark or too light color. Take a rag and wipe off the part of the paint you are not happy with and repeat adding the color you want. Or erase everything and change the shape. Gee, you thought oil painting had to be perfect? No, everything here is very easy to fix and make changes. This stage will dry fairly quickly, from a few minutes to half an hour. The finest pieces may be dry to the touch by the time you finish another corner. It is only necessary that the paint is dry to the touch.

3. Remember the "butter at an angle" rule. The first coat you apply may be very thin, almost all turpentine and very little oil. Just a little oil in the paint and it will look different. It can look almost like paper with watercolor applied in a thin layer. You can do sequential washing in different colors, if you want to have fun applying the wash coat. The next layer is "alla prima" or paint straight from the tube, as you did in the color study. This is a kind of medium fat layer, not too fatty and not too weak. After this, especially after the oil or Liquin that you added to the paint, the structure becomes fatter. The problem with oil slope is that the oil layer takes the longest to dry, so there needs to be quick-drying paint underneath it. Otherwise, the outside will dry out, but inside there will be a closed, soft, not dried layer.

   • IN worst case, a painting that is tilted may slide off the canvas on some hot day, losing the color connection.
   • Never use oil pastel under oil paint because their oil formula includes mineral oil which never dries out. If desired, you can add oil pastels to the last layer of your oil painting once it is dry to the touch.

4. Block colors for the main areas and then add a little more paint to make the details lighter or darker, redder, yellower or bluer. Mix half the colors on the palette, half on the canvas. Start with the basic directions of light and shadow, with the right overall colors, then add paint to change them. Shade slowly and mix the colors gently. Where you want the paint to be smooth, don't apply too many strokes. Apply lots of brushstrokes where you want strong texture, like in impressionist painting, or use a stroker knife to create bold textures. By contrasting smooth and bold textures so that some parts of the painting are lifted, the "thick layer" structure encourages all parts to be painted very thoroughly quickly. This changes the amount of "alla prima" texture you apply. Mix some of the oil into the paint if you want to apply thin and brushed strokes to keep the texture smooth. While it is still wet, you can mix more oil or more paint to make this layer thicker or thinner. But if it starts to dry out or tighten, don't add anything else that doesn't contain fat.

   • Unless you want to make an ugly special effect like painting a zombie's face, apply a thick layer of grease to the brush, then leave it to dry incorrectly, then tear off a piece so that the skin of the paint hangs down and a clump of brownish-red grease paint is exposed to the air and dries. , perhaps frozen in the form of drops. Almost any mistake can be turned into a special effect once you know how it works.

5. Oil paints stay wet for days! This means you can paint all day, fool around with them, go to bed, put an empty box on your palette so your cat won't walk on it, and tomorrow start all over again and make changes while the painting is wet. You can use a palette knife to scrape off entire areas before they dry and start over. The slow drying time of oil paint allows you to make many changes before deciding on final version and only then let the paint dry.

   Leave the painting to dry. This will take at least two weeks if you did not use Liquin as a base. Liquin dries faster than tube paints, so use at least some of it in the paint to ensure it adheres well. This is not fat, but oil straight from the tube. You can also add alkyd oils, which have alkyds (the main ingredients of Liquin media) directly into the paint tube. In this case, the painting can dry in just a couple of days to a week, depending on the thickness of the paint.

   One of the traditional techniques of the old masters is to not rely too much on the texture of the brush. Start as described here by doing a thin coat of burnt sienna using tube paint and cleaning it thoroughly, make a realistic black and white with all the details of your piece just using black ivory paint and titanium white. Let this "grisaille" or "dead coat" dry completely. It will look like a black and white photograph, very detailed. After this, start mixing the oil with all your colors, using them in a very thin layer, and begin to apply them to the grisaille layer. Covering a black and white painting with a variety of transparent colors will allow light to pass back and forth within the dried layers and give the painting a unique light spectrum. Only slow, layered use of colored pencil comes close to this effect. This is one of the things that oil painting is famous for.

   • You can try this method if you have a lot of time to wait for one layer to dry before doing the next. But, if you don't want to wait that long, just let the grisaille layer dry, add some oil, paint in the right colors and add one final coat of glaze when the paint is dry. You can use both complex and simple versions of oil painting.

6. When you're done with your painting session, clean your brushes by dipping them in solvent and then use a rag to wring the paint out of them. Repeat several times until almost all the paint remains on the rag, otherwise it will require more solvent. Keep rags and supplies away from open flames/electrical circuits/heaters/things that may cause a fire. Place them in a metal can if you have one on hand. If you store the palette with wrung out paint in the refrigerator, this will slow down the drying process and you can use the paint longer. But don't let anyone eat it!

   Store damp paintings in a safe, dust-free place, dark and cool if possible. You can make a vertical drying rack in a cabinet of your own design, where you install pegs a few tens of centimeters apart so that you can lean on the painting. If you paint a lot of oil paintings, a garage is more suitable for drying. Since you are creating thinner vapors, it is a good idea to use the garage and other areas where people do not spend a lot of time or have very good ventilation. Storing these materials in vertical slots will reduce the amount of dust that falls on the paintings themselves while they dry. Dust will accumulate on the top end, and not on the paintings themselves.

   On a “gallery” canvas, which has a depth of 3.8 cm, you should not paint in oils. Just paint the sides, or wrap the painting/paint it black/do something fun with it. You don't need to buy a frame, or sell it to a gallery, or donate it. It is ready to hang when dry and varnished.

7. Wait at least a month after the painting is dry to the touch, then use touch-up varnish to give the painting a temporary shiny, finished look. Some varnishes dry out the matte surface; shiny ones may fade if varnish is applied to them. Wait another eleven months to apply dammara varnish or any other replacement varnish and allow it to dry in a few days. Your painting will now last longer than you.

   • Burnt sienna is good color base for mixing tones that convey the color of the skin, as long as it is not too black and has a bluish tint like African ebony. It will look special if you add a little yellow ocher to it, which can suit most skin tones, including some earthy ones. Add a little red and you can make your hair red or brownish.
   • Oil paint is much denser in texture than regular oil. The student version of the paint has more liquid because it has more oil and less pigment. So paint in a tube, if you like painting with thin liquid paints, will last you much longer than student paint of the same volume, because you add linseed oil to it to keep the paint thin and oil to keep it cheap. The pigments are better in professional oil paints, so they are more concentrated. You can save money by buying paint or impasto medium if you like to apply it thickly with a knife and if you don't want to spend a fortune using pure tube expensive Grade paints.
   • Flaxseed oil is an edible vegetable oil, but commercial and health food store flaxseed oil is not suitable for painting. Different kinds oils for painting have specific properties. Experiment if you like the medium.
   • Student grades of oil paints are very liquid and a small amount of paint can cover large areas.
   • Don't buy large pipes if you don't need them.
   • Once you are used to painting a lot, buy a large tube of ultramarine and a super giant tube of white paint. Ultramarine is used in much greater quantities than other colors. Except in portraits, burnt sienna can also be used often.
   • Always buy a large tube of white paint because this is what you will be using and mixing the most. If it's a mini kit where all the pipes are the same size, buy an extra tube of white paint.
   • When you paint well enough and other people are willing to pay real money for your paintings, in general people will pay more for oil than for another texture, even if they are equally durable and beautiful. People think of oil painting as something extremely valuable and permanent.
   • Use an easel if possible.
   • Do not soak brushes, nap side down, in a can of solvent. The hairs will be permanently bent and the brush will be destroyed. Hold the brush upside down so that the hairs of the brush are not bent and are in a loose state without touching anything (this is what the spring wire is for, to keep the brushes upright upside down without touching the bottom) or just lay the brush flat, where excess liquid can come out of it. Some small stones or something thinner may allow you to do this.
   • If you have an inexpensive student kit with liquid paints, use inexpensive brushes and work a little at a time. Explore the texture and try using thinner for a "skinny" layer before painting with an opaque color and then glazing with a subtle clear color. Practice on canvas boards and pads until you are ready for more expensive canvases and paints, or use a liquid texture to paint with a thin smooth the right kind on stretched canvas. When you don't have materials listed as such, use what you have.
   • Water-soluble oils are another new type paints. They come with water-soluble linseed oil and water-soluble thinner. They can also be diluted with plain water, but this sometimes changes the color a little or makes them a little cloudy. Use water soluble thinner to make wash on canvas and water to clean water soluble oil. Use only water-soluble media with water-soluble oils.
   • Alkyd oils are made by adding an alkyd resin mixed with an oil medium. They are designed to be touch dry quickly within a day or two rather than a week or two. Liquin medium can be mixed to turn regular oil paint into something that dries faster like alkyd paint and can be used in conjunction with it. Do not cover the oily layer like Liquin.
   • Gypsum is a primer for oil painting. You can take a canvas that has not been initiated, buy gesso, prepare and stretch it yourself to get the canvas dimensions you need. Or you can use gypsum to coat wood panels or chipboard panels, use it on the wall to make oil painting like painting. Gypsum has many uses. As a rule, it will not be in the starter kit. It is sold in black as well as white and others light colors, if you want to show the canvas color.
   • To make cleanup easier, if you are working with alla prima, try choosing the largest brush you can complete the painting with and using only that one brush. This saves a lot of hassle associated with cleaning. Single brush paintings tend to have a unity of texture and color, even if you create different textures with the same brush.

   Warnings

   • Do not smoke, use flashlights, open flames, or heaters near oil-based paint rags, solvent containers, or flammable oil-based materials.
   • Do not flush sticky liquids, used solvent, or old dirty paint down the toilet. The liquid will leak into the environment and may be toxic. Worse yet, it can stick to your water pipe when dry and bring big problems. If you live with your parents, this can lead to a lot of trouble. If you rent an apartment, it’s the same. If you own your own home, you will have to shell out money for a plumber. So no matter how you look at it, the toilet is not the place to dispose of toxic paint! Use it for organic waste and spoiled food.
   • Use proper ventilation. If the smell of the thinner is irritating, it is probably dangerous. Unscented thinners are somewhat safer, but they're still not very good if you're drying your paintings in the same room you sleep in without an exhaust fan. An oil painting made with aerosol paint is very dangerous - toxic fumes can ignite!
   • If you are painting outdoors, be careful not to spill used solvent or paint onto the grass. It may be toxic to environment. Recycle your thinner with water and save dirty water in a bottle. Throw it away where toxic waste can be left in your city. Sometimes, if you are using very little thinner, soak it up with paper towels and clean with a minimal amount of liquid so that the toxic solids debris can be sealed and disposed of properly instead of having to deal with throwing away large quantity sticky things.

   What you will need

   • Linseed oil (from an art studio) or Liquin, or other medium. Water-soluble linseed oil if you are using water-soluble oil paints.
   • Thinner - turpentine, odorless white spirit, Sansodor, turpenoid or water-soluble thinner
   • Oil paint, minimal titanium white, lemon yellow, permanent red or alizarin crimson, ultramarine and burnt sienna
   • Easel (optional)
   • Brushes (optional if you want to try a painting knife)
   • Palette knife for mixing (can be improvised with a spoon or butter knife), optional painting knives of various shapes
   • Palette/flat piece of glass/disposable paper
   • Rags
   • Brush sink or solvent can, small cup or double ladle
   • Sketchbook plus pencil and pen, additional gray and black markers
   • Canvas or cheap canvas boards for preliminary color studies and texture tests
   • A safe place to dry wet paintings for weeks or months. Once they are dry, they can be cleaned
   • Removable varnish, such as Damar, for final varnishing after the painting has dried for a year. Even an alkyd painting should dry within a year
   • Additional varnish for retouching, as a temporary coating. Used after the painting has dried for only a month (if you want to sell the painting faster or urgently hang it on the wall)

Painting is a very calming and wonderful hobby. Taking paints and canvas in your hands, you can wonderfully relax and forget all the accumulated emotions after a hard day at school or work. Drawing helps you to know yourself, improves perseverance and hand motor skills. Thanks to drawings, humanity since ancient times has had the opportunity to experience this world in different shades and colors. The master class on oil painting provided below will help amateurs of this art learn the secrets of painting perfectly.

History of painting

Painting was revived again during the Middle Ages. Then she stood on the same step next to such significant elements arts like sculpture and architecture. It was honorable and prestigious to engage in such creative work as drawing, and oil paintings were a real treasure at that time.

In the 17th and 18th centuries painting became independent art. The images in the paintings become real people and events, after all Catholic Church is losing its position. Nature landscape, beautiful women, animals, birds - this is what is now beginning to inspire artists. Soon painting schools were created in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

In the 19th century and to this day, painting in the style of romanticism is relevant. The sea is what every artist considers it his right to paint. Now there are a lot of innovations in the technique of oil painting and great amount new methods and techniques. This is a great opportunity to display your inner world, your emotions, experiences and images.

Necessary materials

Before you start creating your masterpiece, You need to prepare the following materials and tools for beginners:

- Oil paints. Sold individually or in a set, cheaper to purchase in bulk online;

— Brushes for painting. A pair of regular bristles will come in handy different sizes, as well as a pair of core tools designed for small parts.

— A jar of thinner No. 3, linseed oil and drum varnish for diluting paints.

- Palette knife.

— Palette for paints. It is advisable to place the colors in the same place each time. Thanks to this advice, the hand will reach for the right paint herself.

— Canvas on cardboard. For more professional creativity, you can purchase a canvas with a stretcher.

- Easel.

— Plain water in a container for washing hands and hands.

How to depict the sea

At the beginning of the work, you need to prepare an example of a painting from which the image of the sea will be copied. Then place the canvas on the easel.

Make the first strokes on the canvas, drawing the main background. It is recommended to wait until partially dry. In this wonderful way, you can paint a complete picture with oil paints, using maximum imagination and desire.

When finishing the work, you should decide on the name and be sure to put your initials on the product.

The painting is perfect as a gift for loved ones, as well as adding coziness to any interior.

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Oil paintings are bright works that can decorate any room. They look much more impressive than paintings made, for example, in pencil. The artist is required to invest considerable resources and effort. Therefore, if you decide to take up this art, then be prepared to spend money.

Instructions

1. First you need to stock up right away necessary materials: primer, brushes, glue, canvas, paints. You'll spend the most on oil paints. But you also need to be able to choose cheaper things correctly. Particular attention should be paid to the choice of canvas. The material it is made from directly affects your paintings. Therefore, you should give preference to canvas made of hemp or flax.
2. Do not start drawing right away; you must adhere to the established order. Pre-glue the purchased canvas so that the paint does not penetrate to the wrong side and does not wet it through. This is quite easy to do; wood glue is suitable for this. When you complete this procedure, take the canvas to dry in a room that is as ventilated as possible. By the way, check if you did everything correctly. An indicator of this will be the strength of the adhesive fold (it should not crack).
3. The next step should be to prime the canvas. Without this you cannot start drawing. Applying primer requires care and close attention. If you do this carelessly and carelessly, the material will not be distributed evenly and will simply ruin the painting.
4. Now you can proceed directly to the drawing itself. Take paints and brushes, start slowly and carefully apply strokes. There is no need to be afraid that smudges may form on the canvas (if you use oil paints, this is excluded, since they have a rather thick consistency). Once you have painted, let the painting dry.

Don't forget that to create a perfect drawing you need to stretch the canvas very tightly. Therefore, we advise you to buy a good subframe. If you do not use this tool, you may end up with only a drawing damaged by cracks.

Video lessons

For art painting They use oil paints, which contain pigments and oil. This provides rich, bright colors during the painting process and prolongs the durability of the painting on the canvas. This type The materials are not easy to use and require mixing with an organic solvent and special preparation of related products. Familiarize yourself with the rules for choosing paints and the range of manufacturers on the market.

What are oil paints

There are single tubes and a set of oil paints for general and artistic purpose. The latter are prepared by grinding pigments in bleached refined linseed or nut oil, and sometimes other drying components are added to it. The finished mixture is applied to a previously primed surface. Depending on the type, the chemical composition of oil paint differs.

Compound

The quality of pigments and binding components varies in composition:

• Standard ones consist of piments based on cadmium, cobalt, coloring earth.
• To prevent discoloration, non-yellowing oil is added, but the rest is based on linseed oil.
• Earthy colors in ocher, sienna and umber are made from naturally occurring pigments.
• The most expensive subtypes include light-resistant organic pigments, this allows you to achieve brightness and purity of the main color.
• The more expensive the pigments, the more balanced the drying time and the more natural the shade.

How to dilute oil paints

You can simply paint with paints, squeezing them directly from the tubes onto the palette, without diluting. To make them not so thick, a special component is used. Thinner for oil paints is oil - linseed, hemp, nut. It is sold in art stores, has no odor, but increases the drying time of the painting to several years.

Another substance is white spirit, but the artist does not need to use it for dilution - only for washing brushes and palettes, otherwise the quality of the primers will deteriorate. Professional artists mix thinners by pouring the solution into an oil can. Composition options may be:

• tee – equal proportions painting (dammar, mastic) varnish, hemp or linseed oil, white spirit thinner;
• Instead of white spirit, you can use turpentine.

Which oil paints are better?

Both beginners and professional artists know where to buy art paints. These are special departments for creativity, including online stores. They sell popular products from famous brands that creative people buy more often than others. Manufacturers rating:

1. Master class, Ladoga - produced by the Leningrad Artistic Paints Plant.
2. Gamma - a company from Moscow uses flax and poppy components.
3. Daler-Rowney is an old English company.
4. Maimeri – Italian brand with a palette of 80 shades.
5. Old Holland is another old company, only from Holland.
6. Pebble is a French line of highly artistic products for professionals.

Oil paints for painting

How much oil paints cost depends on the type of product chosen. The cost is influenced by the pigment used, the binder base, the volume of the tube and the reputation of the company. Domestic Sonet and Ladoga can be bought from 130 rubles per tube of 30-40 ml, products from foreign manufacturers cost from 200 rubles for the same volume. It is more profitable to buy kits - each tube separately will be much more expensive.

Podolsk Products for Artists

The domestic manufacturer offers high-quality thickly grated oil products at an affordable price:

• Model name: for oil painting;
• price: 109 rub.;
• characteristics: quantity 46 ml, natural resins, yellow amber;
• pros: thick, bright pigmentation, color purity;
• cons: expensive, no imitations.

Natural pigments are contained in another line of a similar brand, suitable for beginning artists:

• model name: Italian series;
• price: 104 rub.;
• characteristics: 46 ml, no brush;
• pros: original earthy colors;
• cons: poor range.

Nevskaya palette

The brand from St. Petersburg offers to buy tubes one at a time or in a set. The second one costs more:

• model name: set of artistic oil shades;
• price: 2620 rub.;
• characteristics: 12 colors, 10 ml each;
• pros: tube release form;
• cons: no brush, delivery.

Individual tubes can be purchased from the same brand for less, making them popular among students:

• model name: Sonnet;
• price: 376 rub.;
• characteristics: 10 ml, cardboard packaging;
• pros: bright, rich colors, cheap;
• cons: not the highest quality components.

Gamma

This is a popular domestic brand that produces a wide range of creative materials:

• model name: Studio;
• price: 155 rub.;
• characteristics: 46 ml;
• pros: wide range;
• cons: not found.

The second series produced by the company is the Old Master line, distinguished by its wide range:

• model name: Old Master;
• price: 155 rub.;
• characteristics: 46 ml:
• pros: comfortable tube;
• cons: not found.

Master Class

The Nevskaya Palitra art factory produces a Master Class series containing turpentine, acrylic and oil components:

• Model Name: White Lead:
• price: 186 rub.;
• characteristics: 46 ml;
• advantages: increased durability;
• cons: no discounts.

In addition to zinc and titanium white colors, the series offers a wide range of different shades to suit every taste:

• model name: Master-Class;
• price: 522 rub.;
• characteristics: 46 ml;
• pluses: wide range, shine;
• Cons: high cost, no sales.

Art Materials

Another Russian brand is the company Art Materials, which pleases consumers with a large palette:

• model name: NORMA PROFESSIONAL;
• price: 674 rub.;
• characteristics: 35 ml, light fastness level 4 and 5;
• pros: 84 tones, do not leave raised strokes, low consumption;
• cons: half of the shades belong to the high price category.

For painting oil paintings using the alla prima (wet) painting technique, another series from the same manufacturer is suitable:

• model name: professional series;
• price: 674 rub.;
• characteristics: metal tube, 35 ml;
• advantages: good adhesion, homogeneous creamy consistency, high pigmentation, environmentally friendly product;
• cons: expensive, no promotions.

Malevich

Set of paints with original name Malevich will be useful for beginners and professional masters:

• model name: set;
• price: 3860 rub.;
• characteristics: set of 14 colors, 40 ml each;
• pros: there is a brush, thinner, varnish and a metal oiler included, the light fastness rating is 7 points out of 8;
• cons: not honey, cardboard packaging.

In addition to the oil set, you can purchase separate, convenient, economical aluminum tubes:

• model name: Pro;
• price: 315 rub.;
• characteristics: 40 ml;
• pros: high-quality light-resistant components, can be written without dilution, fine grated consistency;
• cons: not found.

Ferrario

Italian craftsmen know a lot about developing creative products, so they launched the Ferrari brand on the market:

• model name: Da Vinci;
• price: 313 rub.;
• characteristics: 60 ml;
• pros: thin, high light fastness, suitable for canvas, cardboard, paper, wood;
• cons: among the thinners there is white spirit.

The ARTIST OIL series has been developed for professionals, which features a soft, comfortable transparent tube:

• model name: ARTIST OIL;
• price: 674 rub.;
• characteristics: 100 or 250 ml;
• pros: high pigmentation, thin consistency, can be applied with a brush or spatula;
• cons: 24 shades.

Winsor & Newton

The English Winsor & Newton is considered one of the oldest factories in Europe, which produces a rich palette:

• model name: WINTON;
• price: 600 rub.;
• characteristics: 37 ml;
• pros: high pigmentation, good coverage and light fastness, 47 colors;
• cons: sold only by piece.

For professional craftsmen, the factory offers a line of the same name, which differs high quality:

• Model name: Professional;
• price: 420 rub.;
• characteristics: 5 ml;
• pros: light-resistant natural components, you can choose different degrees of transparency, 96 colors;
• cons: small volume.

Maimeri

The Italian factory Maimeri produces tubes individually and in sets. The latter are more profitable because they cost less:

• model name: CLASSICO;
• price: 4750 rub.;
• characteristics: 12 shades, 20 ml each;
• pros: the kit includes a palette, no waxes or additives, safflower oil for light colors;
• cons: limited edition.

Wider color palette The classic line, produced in a professional volume, is different:

• model name: Idea;
• price: 605 rub.;
• characteristics: 60 ml;
• pros: suitable for different materials, textured effect;
• cons: expensive.

Sonnet

Sonnet brand products have been developed specifically for painting using synthetic components:

• model name: Sonnet;
• price: 179 rub.;
• characteristics: 46 ml;
• pros: same drying time, 51 colors;
• cons: suitable only for brushes made of kolinsky, synthetic, bristles or palette knives.

From oil paint sets from the same manufacturer, the following series in 12 mini-tubes is distinguished:

• Model name: Sonet oil set;
• price: 1564 RUR;
• characteristics: 12 pcs. 10 ml each;
• pros: light-resistant organic pigments, many pure colors, transparency, UV protection;
• cons: cardboard packaging.

Sennelier

The French brand Sennelier has been known since 1887, producing time-tested art materials:

• model name: Etude;
• price: 453 rub.;
• characteristics: 34 ml;
• pluses: brightness, intensity, light fastness, color range - 36 shades;
• cons: none.

Another line of the French company is Artists, suitable for professionals and beginning artists:

• model name: Artists;
• price: 392 rub.;
• characteristics: 40 ml;
• advantages: economical consumption, high-quality pigmentation;
• cons: none.

Royal Talens

The Dutch manufacturer offers several lines on the Russian market. Oil Van Gogh is popular:

• model name: Van Gogh;
• price: 2220 rub.;
• characteristics: 20 pcs. 10 ml each;
• pros: vegetable oils, color depth does not change after drying;
• cons: cardboard box.

If you don’t need a set of oil paints, you can buy tubes separately, but they will be more expensive than the collection:

• model name: ART CREATION;
• price: 765 rub.;
• characteristics: 200 ml;
• pros: brightness, color saturation, light fastness;
• cons: only professional volume.

How to choose oil paints

If an artist is just starting to work with oil, he will need advice on choosing materials:

• the more stars in the marking, the higher the light resistance;
• the level of shading of the square in the designation indicates covering properties, a completely shaded square indicates a high percentage;
• It’s better to buy in separate tubes;
• choose dark colors of smaller volume;
• Beginners are advised to choose Ladoga or Sonet paints, professionals - PEBEO.

Video

If you have a great desire to paint with oil paints, but you don’t know how, then it doesn’t matter. It's never too late to start learning to paint with oil paints. You can always try and create your own personal masterpiece.

How to paint with oil paints - choosing paints

In order to start painting, first of all, you need to purchase oil paints. The choice of paints must be given Special attention. After all, both the aesthetics of the painting and the success of your training depend on the quality of the paints; the question of whether you will engage in oil painting will be decided. Do not chase discounts and sales, as they often sell low-quality goods. At a minimum, you need to purchase 7 tubes of paint in primary colors. In the future, by mixing different colors, you can get any other color.

How to paint with oil paints - art tools

To paint with oil paints we will need:

• various brushes;
• canvas;
• palette knife;
• palette;
• solvent for paints.

Brushes come in round, bristle, and flat. It is advisable to purchase at least 3 brushes of each type, in different sizes. Please note that natural brushes are softer, while synthetic brushes are rougher. Also, do not forget to prepare a pot of water for brushes and rags.

How to paint with oil paints - workspace

The workplace should be prepared so that nothing disturbs you and it is comfortable to create. It is best to use an easel for painting rather than a table. It is advisable to place it where there is predominantly natural light. It's better to draw on fresh air because the paint has a strong odor. If this is not possible, then the room should be equipped with a window, an opening window or a balcony. You need to ventilate the room periodically. The easel must be adjusted in height to suit you. When adjusting the easel, it is worth taking into account your position, whether you will be standing or sitting. In order not to stain the floor, it is advisable to cover it with paper, polyethylene or fabric. Oil paints penetrate deeply into the structure of the fabric, so wear things that you don’t mind getting dirty. If you have long hair, then it’s best to braid them or put them in a ponytail, and to be sure, wear a scarf.

How to paint with oil paints - sketch

• When creating an oil painting, it is advisable to start with a sketch. The work begins with the layout on the sheet. It is necessary to think about where the main semantic center will be located.

• You need to decide on the color scheme. You can achieve the desired color on the palette. Since it is almost impossible to get the same color twice when mixing two or more colors, it is necessary to prepare secondary paint for the entire drawing. Oil paint that has not been mixed with other colors is called pure color. After creating the sketch, we begin to work with a brush and paints.

• Any drawing has a source of light and shadow. To make the drawing more realistic, you should add shadows and highlights. It is necessary to determine from which side the light falls in order to depict it in the picture. Evaluate the picture from the outside, add the missing accents.

• The palette must be lubricated with oil so that it is saturated with it, otherwise it will absorb the oil that is in the paints.
• Initially, manage the space on the palette correctly, leave the middle for mixing colors, the left for colored paints, and the right for white.
• To get more light shade, white should be added.
• To obtain a darker shade, add black paint.
• When painting with paints, adhere to the basic rule: first we paint with liquid paints, then with thick ones, and nothing else. If you do not adhere to this recommendation, then incorrectly placed layers will simply crack when drying.
• The paint layer dries for about three days. Take your time to apply the next layer.
• With a palette knife you can draw, for example, create a landscape.
• If there is any excess paint left after work, don’t worry, you can save it. Place it in a jar and cover it with film to prevent it from drying out.
• After work, do not forget to pay due attention to your brushes. They need to be washed, otherwise they can be thrown away.
• The finished picture needs to be opened with varnish.

Painting with oil paints is not difficult if you follow the tips above. Conquer the heights of your skills!