Oil painting for beginners: what you need, the rules that matter, and how to start

Oil painting is painting with pigment held in a drying oil, most often linseed oil, which hardens into a tough film as it takes in oxygen from the air.

The Tate describes oil paint as a slow-drying paint of pigment particles suspended in a drying oil that forms a tough, coloured film on exposure to air. Linseed oil is the most common, but poppy, sunflower, safflower, soya bean and walnut oils are also used (Tate (opens in a new tab)). Linseed oil is pressed from the seeds of the flax plant (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

Oil paint dries by polymerization, not evaporation (Canadian Conservation Institute (opens in a new tab)): the paint takes oxygen out of the air to dry (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)). Because it dries slowly, oil can be blended into soft, seamless shadows and worked while still wet (The Met (opens in a new tab)).

Oil painting is recorded in Northern Europe as early as the 12th century. Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden’s use of it in the 15th century was a turning point, and by the 16th century oil was Europe’s main painting medium; Van Eyck was later wrongly credited with inventing it (The Met (opens in a new tab)).

A few tube colours, a primed canvas or oil painting paper, a stiff bristle brush and a soft synthetic one, a palette, and either odourless mineral spirits or a solvent-free way to clean brushes.

Winsor & Newton advises choosing a few colours to start with rather than the whole range. Hog-bristle brushes are stiff and leave visible brush marks; synthetic brushes are softer, for smoother finishes. Oil painting paper is ready to use and good for practice (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)).

Gamblin offers beginners a palette of eight colours: Cadmium Yellow Light, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Green, Ivory Black and Titanium White (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)). A colour labelled “hue” uses alternative pigments, which can make it more affordable, less toxic, or both (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)).

A ready-made canvas usually comes primed, so you can start painting straight away (Royal Talens (opens in a new tab)).

In Elena Ant’s classes, students bring their own oil paints, and paint on a practice canvas, or on a stretched canvas for a final piece.

Each layer of oil paint should hold a little more oil than the layer beneath it: lean, thinned paint first, richer paint on top. The painting then stays flexible and is less likely to crack.

Gamblin explains that the under layers of a painting should be leaner than the upper layers, so that the painting stays flexible and cracks less over time (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)). Winsor & Newton calls it flexible over less flexible: each new layer should contain slightly more medium than the one underneath (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)).

The Canadian Conservation Institute considers lean paint to be half oil and half solvent. Later layers can hold more oil, so the paint beneath dries first and the layers dry through without cracking or wrinkling (Canadian Conservation Institute (opens in a new tab)).

Apply the next layer only once the one beneath is dry to the touch (Royal Talens (opens in a new tab)).

Thin layers are dry to the touch in about 2 to 12 days, depending on the colour, but oil keeps hardening for months. Wait at least six months before varnishing with a traditional varnish.

Oil colours become touch-dry in thin films within two to 12 days, and different pigments dry at different rates (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)). Oil paint continues to dry, getting harder with age over many decades (Tate (opens in a new tab)).

The Canadian Conservation Institute’s rule of thumb is to wait at least six months before varnishing (Canadian Conservation Institute (opens in a new tab)), and Winsor & Newton says the same (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)). Gamblin says a thinly painted picture may be ready for its own Gamvar varnish in as little as two to three weeks (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

To dry faster, alkyd mediums help: Winsor & Newton says its Liquin Original increases the drying rate by about half, and advises against drying paintings in darkness or high humidity, which can cause yellowing (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)).

Linseed oil thins oil paint, makes it more transparent, and slows its drying. Use it sparingly: too much oil makes paint wrinkle, yellow and dry very slowly.

Gamblin describes linseed oil as useful for thinning colours, making them more transparent, and extending drying time, and stand oil as a heavy linseed oil with the consistency of honey, which dries to a durable, glossy finish (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

Gamblin advises using oils and mediums in moderation, no more than 25% by volume, because large amounts can cause wrinkling, more yellowing, and very slow drying (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

Ventilate the room, use as little solvent as possible, never pour solvent or paint down the drain, and never leave linseed-soaked rags in a pile: the oil gives off heat as it dries, and a pile of oily rags can catch fire on its own.

Solvents can cause dizziness and nausea when inhaled, so use the smallest amount necessary, keep the studio well ventilated, and let nothing go down the sink (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)). In London, Ontario, the City’s Household Special Waste Depot at 3502 Manning Drive accepts paint thinners and solvents, at no charge to residents of London and Middlesex County (City of London (opens in a new tab)).

The oils in oil-based paints release heat as they dry, and if the heat cannot escape it builds up, which is why a pile of oily rags is dangerous. The Calgary Fire Department advises storing them in a tightly sealed metal container filled with water and detergent (Calgary Fire Department (opens in a new tab)). Gamblin advises putting rags in water or hanging them to dry before throwing them out (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

Some pigments need care: Gamblin warns that cadmium pigments are a health concern if their dust is inhaled, for instance when sanding a painting (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

To avoid solvents, Winsor & Newton’s Artisan is a water-mixable oil colour made from modified linseed and safflower oils (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)), and Gamblin makes solvent-free mediums and suggests cleaning brushes in safflower oil (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)).

Acrylic dries in minutes, by evaporation, and cleans up with water. Oil dries over days, by taking in oxygen, so it stays workable for blending much longer. Oil grows more brittle and yellow with age; acrylic stays flexible but can crack in the cold.

Acrylics dry by the evaporation of water and other volatiles, while oil colours take oxygen from the air (Gamblin (opens in a new tab)). Thin coats of acrylic dry in 10 to 12 minutes, and acrylic cleans up with water while wet (Liquitex (opens in a new tab)).

Oil paints become more brittle and tend to yellow with age; acrylic paint becomes prone to cracking below 5 °C (Canadian Conservation Institute (opens in a new tab)). Acrylic makes a stable underlayer for oil, but oil does not work under acrylic (Liquitex (opens in a new tab)).

Winsor & Newton says getting started in oil is easier than you think, and that oils can be scraped off, wiped away or painted over (Winsor & Newton (opens in a new tab)). For how acrylic compares with gouache and watercolour, see gouache vs watercolour vs acrylic.

A ready-made canvas comes primed and ready to paint. Raw canvas must first be sized or primed, because oil soaking into the fibres would rot them and starve the paint of its binder.

To paint on canvas with oil, the fabric must first be sized with a layer of glue. Oil that reached the fibres would degrade them, because the oil is acidic, and would be wicked out of the paint (Canadian Conservation Institute (opens in a new tab)). Golden also warns that oil reaching the canvas can rot its fibres (Golden (opens in a new tab)).