Oil Painting Supplies

Oil Painting Supplies

In the beginning, getting the right oil painting supplies is not as daunting as it seems. If you look at it logically it won’t seem as stressful as it may sound when you are first starting out or for those of you who want to get a nice gift for the oil painting enthusiast in your life and have absolutely no idea where to start.

In a minute, I will be listing what you need for your oil painting set to get started. This is where you might be saying things like, “I don’t need to have this or that or the other thing and I can replace this supply with some other.” Let me just say, that if you have the right supplies from the get-go, I guarantee that you will have a more enjoyable first experience painting with oils. Of course, once you’ve been painting for awhile, feel free to change it up to your liking.

Paints: There are all brands of paints, in all colors and costs. At this point, I would recommend as economical as you can get them. Most people always have these colors in their arsenal: Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cerulean Blue, Raw Umber, and Titanium White. Depending on the brand, the following have different names and slightly different hues: blue, green, yellow green, yellow ochre, black. This is one of those things where you have to go with what hue you think is best.

Brushes: When you are starting off, I would recommend getting basic brushes. I would go for the cheapest brushes at this time. The price of the high quality brushes can be seriously daunting and may even prevent you from starting your art project and that would be a shame. Get brushes that are specifically made for oil painting and nothing else such as house painting brushes. Get for a flatbrush and filbert brush: 1 medium and 1 small for each.

Supports: Canvas board is recommended to begin with but you can conceivably paint on almost anything.

Palette Knife: Palette knife comes in handy when mixing paint colors, scraping off mistakes and cleaning up.

Easel: Depending on your use, you would want to get either a tabletop easel. It goes without saying that you will need a table to put the easel on if a tabletop easel is your choice. Otherwise a comfortable free-standing easel will do. As you can expect, the better the construction of your free-standing easel, the higher the cost unless you are building it yourself. Although they may cost a lot more, it will be worth it in the long run.

Rag: Some people like to have a roll of paper towels handy but I like to use old t-shirts, cut up in a few pieces, to clean my brushes and palette, etc. as well as to remove mistakes. Don’t use fabrics where the fibers will come off and onto your paint brush. The little fibers will ruin the look of your painting.

Cleaners and Paint Thinners: Personally, I recommend using Turpentine to use both as a cleaner and paint thinner as you can get this in bulk at any home improvement stores However, be aware that some would prefer to use Linseed Oil or other mineral oils as they are not considered as dangerous to your health as Turpentine.

Two Small Containers: Container 1: Fill with cleaner to clean your brushes. Container 2:  Paint Thinner

In my opinion, oil paints are the easiest painting medium to work with. If you make a mistake just remove the mistake and paint right over it. If the paint has dried, just paint right over the mistake.

Oil painting supply kits are available by many manufacturers such as FineArtStore, Winsor & Newton, Macpherson, Grumbacher, Royal Brush, ColArt and Art Advantage, to name a few.

Creating art is such a good way to relieve stress. Almost immediately when the first brushstroke hits the canvas you are transported to a meditative state. And, when your artwork is complete you can hang it on the wall and enjoy it for years to come, give them away as gifts or even sell it to make some money for more supplies.

I absolutely love to paint with oils and have been doing so since childhood so I have my stash of oil painting supplies from way back when. So you would guess that I became offended when someone bought me an oil painting starter set but I wasn’t because the Art Essentials Oil Painting Set by FineArtStore came in handy for taking along on outings and it came with a small easel and a portable tote! Nothing can be more frustrating than not having all the tools when inspiration hits you.