Beginners Tips From Oil Painting Experts
Back To Blogs List

A painter especially a beginner needs to keep certain intricate details in mind while doing oil painting. These kind of paintings take a lot of time to get dried up but the patience is totally worth it because oil painting is not only a challenging medium of art but also a fun experience for any novice. If the challenge freaks you out since you are a newbie, then Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci should works as an inspiration for you! Now lets make it a bit easier for you with the following tips which will guide through the process.
#1 You MUST make sure that your Painting is fully DRY
The daytime has been called the ideal hour for drying up an oil painting. Suppose you start drying it at 10:00 P.M. last night and when you wake up you find a narrow film has grown over the canvas. This is not a good sign! To avoid this you need to follow the methods of the Art Workshops and make a habit of drying your paintings during light.
#2 Stick to the FAT OVER LEAN method to layer paint
Be cautious of the proportion between oil and solvent. You should apply leaner paints which are guaranteed to dry up quickly for layers which are at the low and for top layers you put more oil to the paint. Be aware that paint gets heavy if you add oil to it and if you desire a ‘leaner’ paint, you blend it with an easily dissolvable turpentine . You have to follow this method or else the the upper layer dries much before the lower one and that causes the paer to recoil and ultimately crack.
#3 Give IMPORTANCE to ALCOHOL and also use VARNISH
If you give in to your whims and decide and on cleansing your canvas of a particular coating of paint, what do you do? You use alcohol! Yes, you read that right. Alcohol is an important tool for painters that will come in handy when they want to decrease the softness of a dry layer of paint.
Now coming to the topic of varnishing. You would surely want your oil painting to last for a great period of time, right? Well for that you need varnishing. Varnish is usually applied on wooden materials like floor. In order to protect your artwork from dust and change of climate, you need varnishing.
#4 Begin with a RESTRICTED PALETTE
Sounds illogical? Well this trick would save all you beginners some money and would also help you create interesting colours by mixing some basic shades like red, blue, yellow from your stock!
#5 The CANVAS should be PRIMED
Oil paints consist of acidic oils which might harm the canvas in the long run since it is delicate and thin. Thus priming your canvas is a crucial thing for all you painters. Make use of a big brush and after mixing your primer, unroll it evenly throughout the canvas.Let the first layer dry up and then you put on a second layer in the same way. After the second coat, wait for a while and then apply the third and last coat and be assured that your canvas is ready for your first masterpiece!
Comments