Oils: an education
Painting with oils is easy, right? You just slap it on and there you have it, job done and bring on the exhibition stand because you have a work of art. Only that isn’t really true–
Anyone who has ever painted with oils will know that it is not as easy as it first seems. Yes, the paint may be easy to ‘slap on’, but it takes skill, care, and a degree of specialist knowledge to create a work of art that you are actually happy with…that isn’t a right muddy mess. Here are a few pointers for those starting out:
1) Get the right brushes. Oil paint is a thick and heavy medium that can ruin brushes fast, thus using watercolour brushes will not work, because they’ll just fall apart and the bristles will get stuck in the paint, not always the look you are going for. The same can be said of poor quality brushes that look the part but are actually bad quality. Buy decent ones to begin with if you are serious. Think of them as an investment and they will aid you in the long run.
2) Contrary to popular belief you don’t need to splash out money on the best canvas, you could even have a go at stretching your own! Even better just use an old bit of board from the back of an unwanted painting. In all honesty nobody will care if the end result is good, and the best thing is it costs very little!
3) Don’t rush it. Oil painting needs time, so you won’t be creating a masterpiece overnight. It takes a few weeks to build up the layers, allowing each one to dry in between, so have patience. It will indeed pay off!
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