Oil Painting
Do you want to learn to paint with Oils but it sounds too complicated, mediums, solvents, varnishes etc.. but by understanding some basic principles you can produce some fantastic work!
I’ve compiled a reference list of posts on Oils below, so you can easily find what you are looking for.
Getting Started
- Getting Started: Preparing a Canvas for Oil Painting – Why you need to correctly prepare a canvas when using Oils
- Getting Started: What are your Paints made From? – Understanding the basic components of Oil Paint
- Getting Started: A quick way to understand Brushes + video – Overview of brushes & video on brushes I use for a simple landscape
- Getting Started: Do you need a Bespoke Canvas? – ‘Off the Peg’ or Bespoke?
How to…
- How to choose a basic Portrait painting palette for Oils – How do you match skin tones?
- How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 1 – Step-by-step black & white self-portrait tutorial using classical oil painting methods
- How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 2
- How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 3
- How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 4
- How to Paint a Portrait in Oil – Part 5
- How to Paint a Portrait in Oils – Time-lapse video of the portrait tutorials
- How do you approach Lighting a Portrait Painting? – The differences between natural & artificial light
Still Life
Oil Painting Techniques & Terms
- Glossary of Oil Painting Terms – The essential guide for beginners
- Water-Mixable Oils vs Traditional Oils for Solvent-Free Oil Painting (Video) – Similarities & Differences for painting with real oil paints solvent-free
- The 5 key differences between Acrylics & Oil paints – a beginners guide – Are Acrylics or Oils your natural medium?
- A Beginners Guide to Colour Strings (and how to paint Quicker) – How to use Classical techniques to speed up your oil painting
- The 3 key Secrets of Portrait Painting Success – How to approach portraiture with an understanding of the basics
- The Importance of Contrast in Drawing & Painting – How tone & value are one of the most important things to learn when painting
- The 3 Steps to Becoming a Better Painter, by Painting Less – Inspiration for the overwhelmed ‘don’t know where to start painter’
- 7 Questions every Artist needs to ask before Varnishing an Oil Painting – The different considerations to think about when you’re working with Oils
Exhibitions & Old Master Oil Painting Techniques
- How to paint, sleep (and nearly die) like Cézanne – An adventure in Provence with a with a visit to Cézanne’s studio
- Inside Rembrandt’s Studio – A close look at the history and oil painting techniques used by Rembrandt, and a look at the lighting used in his studio in Amsterdam
- Singer Sargent & Friends – An exhibition review of the oil portrait paintings of John Singer Sargent and his influences
- Tate, Turner & Unlikely Partnerships – A look at the history and development of Turner’s style and influences
- Self Portrait Painting selected for Ruth Borchard Competition
- Discovering Zorn, the Petit Palais & Patisseries in Paris – A retrospective exhibition in Paris of the Swedish painter Anders Zorn
Online Courses
- A Beginners Guide to Glazing an Oil Portrait – 6 hours of step-by-step video tuition using classical glazing techniques to create a full-colour portrait over a grisaille underpainting.
- The Essential Guide to Black & White Portraits – 3 1/2 hours of step-by-step video tuition using classical techniques to create a Grisaille portrait with Oils