Oil Painting Materials List

Are you thinking about trying oil painting and wondering what supplies to get?

Here are the basics that I recommend to get started. If possible, shop at a local privately owned art store. They are magical places. If you don’t have one nearby, here is my list with Amazon* links.

1. Oil Paints: Winsor & Newton Artists' Oil Colour Paint Introductory Set

   You can buy a starter set and then fill in the gaps. My two favorite brands are Winsor & Newton and Gamblin.

   Here is the order in which I arrange my palette:

   Titanium White

   Cadmium Yellow Pale

   Yellow Ochre

   Cadmium Red

   Alizarin Crimson

   Burnt Sienna

   Burnt Umber

   French Ultramarine

   Viridian Green

   Sap Green

   Black

2. Acrylic Palette or you can use a styrofoam plate until you get your palette

3. Odorless Paint Thinner - my preferred is Gamsol or Mona Lisa

4. Brush Tank to hold your thinner

5. Fat based mixing medium like Winsor & Newton Liquin or my favorite is walnut oil

6. Palette knives: my preference is one small spade and one long paddle but any two will work

7. Selection of natural hair brushes. I started with just a few listed below. Here is a kit of brushes that has a wide variety.

   #2 filbert

   #2 flat

   #2 bright

   #4 filbert

   #4 flat

   #1 pointed round (optional for making clean lines)

8. Brush Soap: I use The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver

9. A basic table top easel

10. Canvas Boards: these are affordable, don’t take up much room and gives you a good place to practice without having to have a bunch of canvas. Canva ArtBoards are my favorite.

Couple of optional items if you really want to get into things:

• Palette box to store your palette between sessions

• Double palette cup set to hold small amounts of thinner and oil to use while painting

Other materials you may want

• Paper Towels

• Saran Wrap (to cover your palette between sessions

• Latex gloves or A&D ointment to protect your hands an make clean up easier

*By shopping through these links, I earn from qualifying purchases with Amazon so thank you in advance.

THE BASIC RULES OF OIL PAINTING

1. Simplify your subject. You need surprisingly little detail to capture the subject. If you are painting from a picture or a live subject, try blurring your eyes and capture that. If just starting out with art in general, pick simpler subjects. Know that faces and hands are generally more challenging. For complex subjects, trying using a grid. I will explain this in another post.

2. Oils stay wet for a while, hours maybe days depending on how thick you applied the paint. Set up where you can let your canvas sit when you are done. If you thin the paint with thinner, it dries faster.

3. Fat over lean. If you are working on a painting over a long amount of time and the base layer has begun to dry, add a small amount of fat (oil or liquin) to the paint. This will prevent the top layer from cracking in the future.

4. Use your mediums, thinner and fat. If the paint does not behave the way you want, explore adding small amounts of thinner, or oil, or some of both until you get the effect you want.

5. Don’t worry about perfection. Just go with it. If needed you can remove small amounts work with a clean brush with thinner on it.

6. Clean your brushes after every session and they will last for years. First, rinse your brushes using your brush tank of thinner by gently scraping the brush against the screen several times. Then move to a sink and use warm water and your brush soap. Swirl the brush on the soap bar several times. Then use the lid with a little warm water to build a lather with the brush. Rinse and repeat until the brush is clean and no more color appears in the soap lather. Clean the wooden handles with dish soap or Murphy’s oil soap. Do NOT swirl the soapy brushes in your hand to clean unless you are wearing latex gloves. Once clean, drag both sides of the brush across the bar of soap leaving a thin layer of soap on the bristles. Then reshape with your fingers. This will help the brush maintain its original shape for years.

7. Thinner can be used over and over again. Fill your brush tank so the thinner rises above the screen inside. Eventually, you will notice a lot of sediment gathering. Grab a clean jar with a list. Pour the used thinner into the jar to let sit for a few days. The sediment will settle at the bottom at which point you can pour off the clean thinner into another container for reuse. Let the jar sit outside without the lid so the sediment dries out. Once dry, you can throw it away.

   General cautions:

   Work in a well ventilated area. Although using odorless thinner, good air flow is still key.

   Oil painting materials are flammable. Don’t use near open flame or significant heat sources.

   Keep your workspace clean. Dirty paper towels should be thrown away outside once done.