Oil painting is an art where the artists have the freedom to be as versatile as they can be. Experts in the field have created mind-blowing masterpieces by being imaginative. Those who wish to learn oil painting should however first grasp the basics well before moving on to that level. Beginners in the field of oil painting need to keep the following things in mind during oil painting.
Dos:
- Keep your palettes containing oil paints in the same order as you paint. This helps in picking colors easily.
- Increase the proportion of oil (medium) for each successive layer in an oil painting, keeping in mind to always apply it as ‘fat over lean’. This is because the lower layer absorbs oil from the layers applied above it. If the upper layer dries up faster than the one below then the painting may crack.
- To accelerate the drying time, you can mix pigments like cobalt, lead, and manganese, with colors.
- For lighter oil paints, use poppy oil as a medium as it doesn’t have the tendency to turn yellow.
- To clean away any extra layer of oil paint or oil varnish from your painting, it is recommended that you use alcohol. It is a powerful solvent and can easily remove the extra layers from the oil painting.
Don’ts
- Don’t use Ivory Black for an under painting or sketching. This is because this color takes much longer to dry than the other oil paints.
- Avoid the use of linseed oil as a medium in oil paint colors like whites and blues. The reason being, it has the tendency to turn yellow.
- Never let your oil paintings to dry in the dark. This can harm the painting as a thin film of oil tends to rise over it. Therefore, always dry your oil paintings in bright daylight.