My all time favorite medium is oil paint. Its rich and vibrant in colors, it dries slowly allowing you to take your time, and it blends beautifully.
For those of you who are just starting out with oil paint it can seem kind of intimidating. So I wanted to share some advice on using oils.
1. The key to oil paint is PATIENCE.
Oil has a slow drying time, unlike acrylic which dries pretty quickly. With that being said, You may only be able to work on a painting for an hour until it's too wet to do anything. Then you will need to allow it to dry ( keep in mind it doesn't always have to be fully dry before moving on). Sometimes it's ready for another round of paint the next day. Other times it may take a few days. This is where patience and good judgement really comes in handy.
If your not very patient they're are mediums you can use to speed up the drying time such as, Winsor and Newton Liquin Impasto
2. The main thing you should know is when to stop.
It can be hard to step away from the canvas at times. I struggle with this a lot when i'm in the zone. But it is HIGHLY important not to over work your painting and to stop before it becomes to wet. If you continue to keep painting then you risk your colors blending together and becoming sort of a muddy shade.
3. Remember to take a step back.
When your working on your painting it's easy to zone in on one section of your canvas and forget about the rest. So just remember every so often to step back and look at your canvas as a whole. When doing so it's a good idea to take some mental notes on what you need to add or fix later on. This tip not only goes for oil paint but for all other mediums as well.
Also, it's a great idea to take photos of your progress. I find it easier studying my painting from a photo rather than in person because the parts that need fixing seems to stand out even more in the picture.
4. Always Always Always clean out your brushes.
Never leave your brush out full of paint. Once the oil dries the bristols are going to become hard and the brush is going to be ruined. However, unlike acrylic, you can not clean your oil brushes with soap and water. Instead, you need to use paint thinner. My favorite brush cleaner is the SunnySide Odorless Paint Thinner
5. Know your mediums.
Mediums are used to change the consistency, drying time, and finish of your painting.
My top three mediums are:
Linseed oil - slows drying time
Liquin (my favorite) - speeds up drying time and gives a glossy finish.
Turpentine (solvent) - great for thinning the paint and for cleaning your brushes.
6. Work in Layers.
When painting it is best to build up your layers. Starting with a basic background and then slowly building up your colors and details in each new layer.
There are 3 different techniques you can use when adding layers:
Fat over lean - This is when you add more medium to each new layers making the layers more flexible than the one underneath. This also helps prevent cracking.
Thick over thin ( my favorite) - If you are painting with thick heavy colors, like the impasto style, it is best if you start out with thinner layers on the bottom and add the thicker layers of paint on top. This also prevents cracking.
Slow drying over Fast Drying - This simply means that you use your fast drying colors on the bottom and and slow drying colors on top to prevent cracking. So, thinner layers of paint with little to no medium will dry faster and go on the bottom and thicker layers of paint with more medium will dry slower will go on top.
I hope you found this helpful and if you have any questions let me know in the comments below!
This post contains affiliate links