Hints and Tips


What is an oil painting?

Oil paints on the canvas. It's an indisputable definition, though oil paintings have more to them than just that. From the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th century artists used the seven-layer technique. Like music where there are seven notes, seven keys, and within each there are seven more. 7 days in a week. 7 Layers of Paint. Each layer in oil painting must dry for seven weeks.

Difference between the various types of paintings

Water colours : Water colors differ from oil colors in the point of transparency, and, while the latter pigment may be called opaque, the former is entirely the opposite. An oil color is made lighter by the addition of white, while water colors are made lighter by the addition of water.
Oil painting may be called body painting and the oil colors will cover any underlying tint or mistake, while water colors, which have no thickness or body, tint only in part, showing the color of the paper underneath.

Acrylic : Acrylic is a water-based paint, more opaque and slower drying than a watercolor. Many artists are using this medium rather than oil because it is faster drying than oil and does not require solvents for diluting or clean-up. The finished surface of acrylics is also non-porous. A disadvantage to acrylic is it will crack if subjected to below freezing conditions so care in winter should be considered. There is a recent trend of underpainting oil paintings with acrylics. Acrylics do not have the luminosity that oils create.
Chalk/Pastel : Pastel/Chalk is richer in color and offer the artist immediate results. There is less time waiting for the painting to dry. Pastels are pure pigment, ground and held together using a binder. They are formed into sticks that the artist (also called a pastellist) can use to draw and build up layer on layer of color to create the rich, distinctive textures of a pastel painting. The pigments (or pure colors) that are used in making pastels are exactly the same pigments that are ground to make oil and water-color paints. Pastels get their name from the paste that is created from, the mixture of pigment, binder and filler that is then dried to form the final pastel. Both oil and chalk pastels are made from pure pigments. They are different because different binders are used to hold the pigments together.

Prints and Editions: The term "print" is liberally used in the marketing of any artwork, which is put onto paper or canvas. There are two main categories of this broad term: limited and unlimited prints.
Unlimited prints will have no maximum number of prints. Posters, note cards, other similar products, and open editions are usually presented in unlimited numbers.

Limited prints (signed and numbered) means that the printer is creating a piece which has a maximum number of pieces printed. Each print in a limited edition is hand signed and numbered by the artist. If it is an edition of 500, the first print will be 1 of 500 (1/500), the remainder sequentially numbered until the last is numbered 500/500. The publisher should not reissue this print once the edition is completed. Artist's Proofs are printed when the limited edition prints are printed. These prints are selected by the artist from the regular edition for highest quality. The number of artist's proofs selected is typically 10% of what the regular edition will be. To add to our example above, there would be an edition of 50 artist's proofs.

Canvas Editions are done two different ways. The first method is inks printed directly on the canvas. The best inks should be of UV quality. The second method consists of a paper print applied over the top of canvas to create the texture of canvas. These prints are usually sealed with an acrylic or varnish finish.

Sketch : It is quickly drawn. It has very little detail. It is smaller than the finished picture. It is used to plan your picture and is not used to paint on


Tips for Oil Painting

Tip 1: Always lay your oil paints out on your palette in the same order so that, with time, you'll be able to pick up a bit of a color instinctively.
Tip 2: The proportion of oil (medium) should be increased for each subsequent layer in an oil painting - known as painting 'fat over lean' - because the lower layers absorb oil from the layers on top of them. If the upper layers dry faster than the lower ones, they can crack.

Tip 3: Avoid using Ivory Black for an underpainting or sketching as it dries much slower than other oil paints.

Tip 4: Pigments containing lead, cobalt, and manganese accelerate drying. They can be mixed with other colors to speed up drying and are ideal for under layers. (Student-quality paints usually contain cheaper alternatives to these pigments, generally labeled hues.)

Tip 5: Use linseed oil for an underpainting or in the bottom layers of any oil painting done wet-on-dry as it dries the most thoroughly of all the oils used as mediums.

Tip 6: Avoid using linseed oil as a medium in whites and blues as it has a marked tendency to yellow, which is most notable with light colors. Poppy oil is recommended for light colors as it has the least tendency to yellow (although it does dry slower).

Tip 7: Don't dry your oil paintings in the dark. This may cause a thin film of oil to rise to the surface, yellowing it. (This can be removed by exposure to bright daylight.)

Tip 8: If, as the paint on your palette dries it forms a lot of wrinkles, too much oil (medium) has been added.

Tip 9: If you're not sure whether a bottle of mineral or white spirits is suitable for oil painting, put a tiny quantity on a piece of paper and let it evaporate. If it evaporates without leaving any residue, stain, or smell, it should be fine.

Tip 10: If you want to clean away a layer of oil paint or oil varnish, use alcohol, which is a powerful solvent.



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