Is Oil Painting for beginners? Oil painting 101

Are you interested in oil painting but feel intimidated and unsure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back! By the end of this guide, you’ll feel much more comfortable with the medium and ready to take the first step.

What Is Oil Painting & Why Use It?

Oil paint is pigment mixed with drying oils (usually linseed). Unlike water-based paints, oil dries through oxidation rather than evaporation. This makes it a slow-drying medium; while a painting might feel dry to the touch in a few days or weeks, it can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to fully cure.

Why artists love it:

• Easy Blending: You can create smooth gradients without rushing.

• Flexibility: You can return to your work days or even weeks later to tweak, adjust, and rework sections while the paint is still workable.

• Rich Colour: Oils offer a glowing, luminous finish that other mediums can’t match.

Solvents & Safety

The trickiest part of oil painting is maintenance and cleanup. Because oil and water don't mix, you can't just rinse your brushes in the sink.

• Wipe as You Work: Keep paper towels or rag cloths handy to wipe excess paint off your brushes between colours.

• Use Solvents Responsibly: Brushes are cleaned with artist solvents such as Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS) or traditional turpentine.

⚠️ A Note on Safety: Traditional solvents emit volatile fumes. Always work in a well-ventilated space. If you are pregnant, have respiratory conditions, or work in a space without airflow, consider solvent-free painting setups! You can use natural brush cleaners or vegetable oils (like safflower oil) to clean your brushes instead.

Famous Masters That Use Oil (That You Probably Know)

• Leonardo da Vinci: The iconic Renaissance master who used delicate, thin layers to create the Mona Lisa.

• Claude Monet: The Impressionist who used thick, visible oil strokes to capture shifting sunlight

• Georgette Chen: A pioneer of the Singapore art scene and Nanyang art style, known for her vibrant, structured still-lifes and rich colour palettes.

2 Essential Techniques

1. Direct Painting (Alla Prima)

Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), 1872, Claude Monet

Painting "wet-on-wet" in a single session. You blend fresh paint directly into wet layers without waiting for anything to dry.

2. Indirect Painting (Layered)

Building the artwork in dry layers over multiple sessions. This method almost always starts with an underpainting.

Plaintext

  [ STEP 1 ] Underpainting       -->   [ STEP 2 ] Color Layers

  Monochromatic base (values/light)    Full color applied over dry base

What is an Underpainting?

An underpainting is a thin, single-colour base layer (usually brown or grey) painted before applying full colour.

Why do we use an underpainting?

• Light and Shadow: Starting on a neutral base layer gives you an immediate mid-tone to judge light and dark (values) before you get distracted by picking colours.

• Optical Depth: Letting the base values shine through semi-transparent layers of color creates a glowing, luminous finish you can't get by mixing on a palette alone.

💡 Time-Saving Hack: Use acrylic paint for your underpainting! It dries in minutes so you can start painting in oil immediately. Just remember the Golden Rule: Oil over acrylic is great, but NEVER paint acrylic over oil.

We hope you learnt a lot more about oil painting today and feel inspired to take that brave first step into the medium! It's time to pick up the brush—if you'd like hands-on guidance, you can also book an oil painting lesson with us to start your creative journey!