Oil Painting Tips for Beginners

5 Pro Tips for the Beginning Oil Painter

Oil Painting can be quite tricky, especially for beginners. But with the right knowledge and the perfect paint and mediums, oil painting can be an amazing experience and you might find it better than using acrylics.

With the right paints and these oil painting tips, you’ll be a pro in no time!

Oil Paint Painting Example — Painted with SoHo Urban Artist Oil Colors

5 Great Oil Painting Tips

1. Find the right kind of paint for you.
It should have a buttery consistency so that it can spread evenly, have a high number of pigments for brilliant color and if you’re just starting out, go with something that fits your budget.
Our experts recommend for great oil and price: We suggest SoHo Urban Artist Oil Colors, the affordable, soft oil paint with genuine oil colors. It’s easy to spread and gives smooth full strokes with a brush but also works great on a palette knife. It uses pure linseed oil which extends drying time giving you more time to work and gives the painting a nice sheen.

2. You can erase your work.
If you feel like you’ve made a mistake or don’t like the way a layer on your oil painting has come out, don’t fret, you can wipe away that layer using alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is a powerful solvent that can easily clean away a layer of oil paint.

3. Don’t dry your oil paint in the dark.
This one might seem like a no brainer. How is it supposed to dry if there’s no light? But, did you know that keeping an oil painting in the dark allows a thin layer of oil to rise to the surface from the paints and can “yellow” your painting. Exposing it to sunlight can reverse this.

4. Paint “Fat over Lean” oil painting.
This simply means that painting thick layers over thinner layers. This method can prevent cracking. When your upper layers of paint dry faster than thinner lower layers, cracking happens as the paint dries. Its best to start out painting in a wash for this reason.

5. Brush Strokes can make the difference.
Brush strokes can do more than just put the paint on the canvas or panel. With strong brush strokes, you can emphasize certain areas of your painting or add texture to your work. The right brush strokes can bring a new dimension to your subject and become a real highlight to your work, so don’t take your strokes for granted.

Charvin Fine Oil Pants Painting by Tessa Nicole Smith

Soon, your Oil Paintings will look just like this one from artist Tessa Nicole Smith using Charvin Oils

Hopefully these oil painting tips will help you out as you begin a great journey of oil painting.

Need To Varnish?

Varnish your artwork to protect your painting long term, create an even gloss sheen and even protect the painting from dust, UV rays and yellowing!

We recommend you use only the best Oil Painting Varnish: InstaVar™ Gloss Picture Varnish is archival quality gloss, crystal-clear, non-yellowing, and nearly odorless. Saturates color and adds new depth giving your work an even gloss sheen