Hey there! Are you interested in learning how to paint with oils? If so, you should prepare yourself for a long, frustrating and fun ride! Learning the most imperative oil paintings techniques for beginners can be very tedious, so you will need to prepare yourself for a challenge. Thankfully, the process will also be fun, so you won't get too frustrated along the way. Below, you will find the best tips for improving your skills and progressively improving your finalized paintings.
How To Oil Paint For Beginners - Improvement Tips
Many people believe that they'll be able to improve their skills, by learning how to draw or using a ruler. Oil painting is different and these techniques can help, but practice makes perfect. Below, you will find the most important tips a painter could ever hear.
Use Limited Paints
One of the best ways to improve your skills is by using a limited palette. Learning how to properly mix paint is vital. Using 8 to 10 different colors for each painting will never force you to challenge yourself. Therefore, you should stick with a limited palette frequently. Only use the primary colors of red, blue and yellow. From these three colors and white, you will be able to create thousands of different colors. You can also use a black, but this is not recommended for those striving for an impressionist style of painting. Using a limited palette will also ensure that your paintings maintain harmony!
Start Small
Many painters will feel the urge to begin with 16x20 inch paintings. Although you will eventually get there, you should start with small paintings. I highly recommend purchasing 5-10 8x10 stretched canvases and a roll of un-stretched canvas. This will give you the ability to create 20-30 8x10 stretched canvases and will also force you to learn how to stretch your own canvases. This is how I proceeded and it forced me to learn various skills. By painting a small painting every day or every other day, your skills will improve immensely, within a month and even more in two months!
Study Works and Read Tutorials
Also, it is highly recommended that you study the works of the old masters. At this point, you likely already have an obsession with one or two painters. Replicating their style and reproducing their works can be tremendously helpful. It'll allow you to enter their mind and work through the painting in the same manner they did. Also, reading and watching online tutorials can be exceptionally beneficial. Signing up for forums, like WetCanvas, is a good idea and will allow you to learn from other artists.
Try all Oil Painting Techniques for Beginners
As a beginner, you should do your best to experiment with an array of different painting techniques. Learning how to glaze is vital and will give you the ability to add something special to each of your painting. Once you've practiced and mastered the skill, you can try painting a grisaille, or underpainting, and adding your colors through glazes.
Also, you should learn about scumbling, which was very popular among the impressionists. This simple, but effective, technique allows the painter to add broken color to their paintings. Claude Monet was a big fan of this technique and utilized it frequently.
You should also consider the impasto technique. This one is tremendously easy, but can add more life to your painting. Remember those Van Gogh paintings, in which the paint is thickly layered onto the canvas? That is impasto. Lay down thick amounts of paint and leave it.
Go Outside!!
Remember that you live in a world, which is mobile! Your phone can go with you everywhere and so can your canvas and paint tubes. By getting outside into the sun, you will be able to see your paint more clearly than you would in a dimly lit studio. This will also open you up to new ideas and force you to paint from life. Although this might be a challenge, at first, painting from life is fun and will give you a the option of growing more personal with your subject. Can you capture the light, before the sun shifts? The task can be a great challenge and will significantly improve your skills.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, learning how to paint is all about practice. Nobody will paint a beautiful painting on their first attempt. I may upload some of my first works, so everyone can enjoy a good snicker. Trust me, they were horrendous, but I stuck with it and have improved enormously. If I was able to do this, you will be able to do the same! Grow your skills, improve your confidence and the quality of your paintings will begin to improve slowly, but surely! Plus, your love for painting will transform into an overwhelming obsession.
Use Limited Paints
One of the best ways to improve your skills is by using a limited palette. Learning how to properly mix paint is vital. Using 8 to 10 different colors for each painting will never force you to challenge yourself. Therefore, you should stick with a limited palette frequently. Only use the primary colors of red, blue and yellow. From these three colors and white, you will be able to create thousands of different colors. You can also use a black, but this is not recommended for those striving for an impressionist style of painting. Using a limited palette will also ensure that your paintings maintain harmony!
Start Small
Many painters will feel the urge to begin with 16x20 inch paintings. Although you will eventually get there, you should start with small paintings. I highly recommend purchasing 5-10 8x10 stretched canvases and a roll of un-stretched canvas. This will give you the ability to create 20-30 8x10 stretched canvases and will also force you to learn how to stretch your own canvases. This is how I proceeded and it forced me to learn various skills. By painting a small painting every day or every other day, your skills will improve immensely, within a month and even more in two months!
Study Works and Read Tutorials
Also, it is highly recommended that you study the works of the old masters. At this point, you likely already have an obsession with one or two painters. Replicating their style and reproducing their works can be tremendously helpful. It'll allow you to enter their mind and work through the painting in the same manner they did. Also, reading and watching online tutorials can be exceptionally beneficial. Signing up for forums, like WetCanvas, is a good idea and will allow you to learn from other artists.
Try all Oil Painting Techniques for Beginners
As a beginner, you should do your best to experiment with an array of different painting techniques. Learning how to glaze is vital and will give you the ability to add something special to each of your painting. Once you've practiced and mastered the skill, you can try painting a grisaille, or underpainting, and adding your colors through glazes.
Also, you should learn about scumbling, which was very popular among the impressionists. This simple, but effective, technique allows the painter to add broken color to their paintings. Claude Monet was a big fan of this technique and utilized it frequently.
You should also consider the impasto technique. This one is tremendously easy, but can add more life to your painting. Remember those Van Gogh paintings, in which the paint is thickly layered onto the canvas? That is impasto. Lay down thick amounts of paint and leave it.
Go Outside!!
Remember that you live in a world, which is mobile! Your phone can go with you everywhere and so can your canvas and paint tubes. By getting outside into the sun, you will be able to see your paint more clearly than you would in a dimly lit studio. This will also open you up to new ideas and force you to paint from life. Although this might be a challenge, at first, painting from life is fun and will give you a the option of growing more personal with your subject. Can you capture the light, before the sun shifts? The task can be a great challenge and will significantly improve your skills.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, learning how to paint is all about practice. Nobody will paint a beautiful painting on their first attempt. I may upload some of my first works, so everyone can enjoy a good snicker. Trust me, they were horrendous, but I stuck with it and have improved enormously. If I was able to do this, you will be able to do the same! Grow your skills, improve your confidence and the quality of your paintings will begin to improve slowly, but surely! Plus, your love for painting will transform into an overwhelming obsession.