Oil Paint Supplies

Oil Paint Supplies ....for new painters

To get started on painting, you'll need a canvas. You can purchase a pre-stretched, pre-primed canvas at most art stores. Price started from Rs.100 for primed canvas. You can also stretch and prime a canvas on your own. You can buy the canvas in miters and cut them according to your requirement and put primer on it.  There are lots of other surfaces you can paint on. For example: 

Masonite board 
Popler
Paint on Paper (but it would have to be gessoed/primed) 
Canvas board is another option. 

        

Oil Paint colors:

All the different colors of paint on offer are very seductive, but start with a few essential colors, get to know each well, and you'll learn about color mixing more quickly. I suggest these colors:

• cadmium red (medium) or naphthol red

• phthalo blue

• cadmium yellow (medium)

• phthalo green

• burnt umber

• titanium white (opaque)

• zinc white (transparent) and

• Payne's grey

There isn't a black on the list; mixtures of the other colors will give more interesting dark colors for shadows. Be careful with cadmiums and getting it on your skin as cadmium pigments are poisonous. If it worries you, pick a hue version. When a tube of paint says 'hue' on it, for example cadmium red hue, it means that the color will be almost identical to genuine cadmium red, but the pigment is something different. A tube of paint labelled as a 'hue' may be a cheaper or blended version, it may be that the original color is no longer produced (such as Indian yellow), or it may be that the original was not lightfast (such as Hooker's Green).

Best Oil Paint Brushes

There is a very large selection of paint brushes to choose from. A great brush to start with is the filbert. It's tempting, but truly you don't need loads of brushes in all the different sizes and shapes. You'll develop a preference for particular sizes and shape, as well as type of hair. To start, I recommend getting just two sizes of filbert brush, with stiff hairs, such as an 8 and 12. A filbert is a versatile brush shape that gives a range of strokes, from wide to narrow, depending how you're holding it. (Note: Brush sizes are not standardized, so a size 10 in one brand won't necessarily be the same size as a 10 in another brand. Check the width if this is stated.)

While oil paint will stay wet and workable on a brush for some time, you will at some stage need to clean them. Fewer brushes equals less cleaning!

Use a Palette for Oil Paints

A palette is another very important item you'll need to get started painting. Palette paper is another great option because it is disposable and easy to use. A palette knife is great for mixing paints.

Oil Paint and Solvents

Solvents are very important for oil painting. They help thin the paint and clean your brushes. They can also be used within mediums. The use of solvents will accelerate the drying process. Solvent is used to thin oil paint and to clean brushes easily. If you do use solvents with your oil painting, ensure your painting space is well ventilated, even if it is a low-odor variety. You don't have to use solvents, you can oil paint without it and use only oil medium to thin your paint and clean your brushes (but you'll need more patience because the paint doesn't "dissolve" in oil like it does in solvent).

Because solvent evaporates quickly, it means the oil paint will dry more quickly than when you're using an oil medium. It also "dissolves" the paint easily, which makes rinsing paint out of a brush faster.

Palette knife/spatula

Using a palette knife or spatula  instead of a brush to mix colors on a palette means you don't end up with a very mucky brush to clean and it also wastes less paint. It's also also easier to mix colors together well. And, when a painting goes horribly wrong, you can use a palette knife to scrape the wet paint off a canvas.

Use a Medium for Oil Paint

Medium is another important item you'll need for painting. There are a number of different mediums available depending on the type of paints you are using. Mediums help you stretch out paint, making it a little easier to blend.

Other Oil Paint Essentials

An easel is another important item to have while painting. Gesso or primer keeps the paint from being absorbed into the canvas. Painting rags are another great item to have on hand. You can also use paper towels or old rag and old t-shirts. 

Happy painting.