Oil Painting – The Ultimate Guide For Beginners :
Introduction
Oil paints are one of the most popular artistic mediums and for good reason. They are versatile, archival and economical.
But oil painting can be a struggle to pick up. There are some "rules" you need to be aware of and the techniques can take some time to become familiar with.
This guide covers most of the fundamental areas of oil painting to get you started.
Why Oil Painting?
Why would you use oil paints over some of the other alternatives like acrylics or watercolors? Here are some reasons:
- They are versatile. You can vary the drying time and consistency of your paint dramatically using paint thinners and additional oil. This allows you to work with a wide range of painting techniques, including blending, glazing and scumbling.
- They were favored by the all-time greats of painting. It is hard to argue the downside of using oil paints when so many amazing artists used them to such success.
- Oil paintings seem to be held in higher regard by art collectors compared to acrylic paintings (there are some exceptions to this of course).
You really cannot go wrong with oil paints. If you are just starting out with painting, I suggest you jump straight into oil painting unless you really want to practice acrylics or watercolors.
If you think oil painting is too complex for you, then I urge you to reconsider. There are really only a few "rules" which you need to understand in oil painting (discussed later in this post) and the rest is pretty straightforward.
What Is Oil Paint?
Oil paint is comprised of ground-up colored pigment suspended in a drying oil, usually linseed oil. The quality of oil paint varies based on the quality of the pigment used, how fine the pigment is and the medium which is used.
You can make oil paint more fluid by mixing it with more oil, or by adding a solvent, however, this also weakens the paint. Oil paint is generally at its most stable form straight from the tube.
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