Free Oil Painting Tips, Tricks & Techniques For Beginners

There is a brand new home instruction course entitled Learn and Master Painting which is quite easily the best home instruction course available in teaching you how to paint with oils and acrylics.

Unlike most of the people promoting this course online, I am an artist and actually own this course, so rest assured you are getting an honest review..

The Learn and Master Painting course comes jam packed with 20 professionally produced DVD's, 3 Music CD's (you can listen to these while you are painting), a detailed lesson book with extra information, and a free support website.

Instructor Gaylee Levee will take you step by step through the process of becoming an accomplished painter. You will learn about perspective, how to organize your studio, how to care for your art materials, how to develop compositions….all of the foundational skills needed to become the artist you have always aspired to be.

I like to refer to Learn and Master Painting as an "Art School in a Box", because it is quite literally like attending a professional Art School within the comfort of your own home, but at the fraction of the price. The folks over at Learn and Master Painting have made this course extremely affordable for any budget.

Not only is the course professional and affordable, but unlike attending an art school, you have the ability to watch these courses over and over again. So if something does not sink in right away, you can play the DVD's again and practice something until it does. But the benefits do not stop there. Along with the 20 DVD's and course book, you also have access to an entire community of artists who have also purchased the Learn and Master Painting Course. Here you will find support and encouragement from instructor Gaylee Levee as well as from other students from all over the world.

I recommend this course wholeheartedly to anyone wishing to learn how to become an accomplished artist. There is no other home study course in existence today of this caliber.

One last thing. Do not buy this course if you are not serious about devoting the time and energy into learning how to paint or if you do not have patience. Without patience and hard work, this course will do you no good.

Click here to Learn and Master Painting!

Step inside the Artist's Studio and watch step by step how an artist creates a beautiful work of art. Whether you are an aspiring artist or simply a lover of fine art, you will find this book a wonderful addition to your library.

To download this book, please fill in your name and email below. Once your information is confirmed, you will receive a link to download your free book. Whenever an update is made to this book, you will be notified via email with a link to download the updated version.

You will also be automatically subscribed to the FREE Creative Spotlite Newsletter. The Creative Spotlite Newsletter offers free step by step art lessons, artist interviews, product recommendations and more. You can unsubscribe from this newsletter whenever you wish.

Buying art supplies is a difficult first step for beginners. It can be confusing when you first step foot in the store with all of the various brushes, paints, mediums and other materials there are to choose from.

Don't let yourself get stressed out and don't get sucked into going overboard and spending a fortune on supplies in the beginning. It really isn't necessary. You really don't need that much to get started. Just the basics will do for now. When you become more experienced, you can always experiment with more expensive materials.

I recommend investing in a simple beginners kit for now.

The following kit is affordable and has everything you need to complete your first painting.

Winsor & Newton Winton Oil Colour Studio Set

This set includes eight 21ml tubes of Winton Oil Color: alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow pale hue, burnt sienna, burnt umber, French ultramarine, phthalo blue, yellow ochre and viridian hue.

It also comes with one 60ml tube of titanium white, one 75 ml bottle of Liquin, two Winton Hog Brushes and an instructional booklet on Starting in Oils.

Click Here To Purchase This Beginners Kit Now!

II recently created a new lens on Squidoo that is all about oil painting supplies. I have included detailed information about oil painting materials like mediums, canvas, brushes and more.

Follow this link to reach my Squidoo lens on oil painting supplies!

Here are some tips for keeping a clean organized palette:

- Make certain you have the right type of palette for use with oil paints. The surface of your palette should be non-porous so that it does not absorb the oil.

- You may find it easier to work with a limited palette of colors if you are just starting out. If you work with too many, you may find yourself mixing too many different colors, which can result in a muddy painting. Start off slow in the beginning, then add more colors as you become more experienced.

- Here are the colors of my palette: Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Orange, Phthalo Blue, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Cadmium Red Medium, Phthalo Green, Titanium White, Ivory Black. I recommend purchasing 1.25 oz tubes of all colors except Titanium White. Purchase a larger tube of Titanium White, as you will be using more of this color.

- Get into the habit of laying out your colors the same way every time you paint. This is good practice and keeps the painting process organized. Arrange your colors along the edges of your palette leaving a lot of room in the center for mixing.

- Do not be worried about using too much paint. Squeeze out a good amount . You will be more productive if you aren't continuously stopping to squeeze out more paint.

- Make certain to include all of the colors you think you will need to complete that session of painting as well. Again, this will make you more productive.

- When adding paint to the palette, sqeeze the paint out in long lines, as opposed to puddles. When you have puddles of paint, they tend to get soiled by other colors when mixing. With a long line of paint, you can just take paint from the end as needed and not dirty the rest.

- Keep some rags or paper towels handy for wiping your palette knife clean.

- Keep some alcohol handy so that you can keep the mixing area of your palette clean. There is nothing more frustrating then trying to remove dried up oil paint.

My personal preference is to begin my oil paintings by first sketching out the composition using acrylic paint. The usual approach to oil painting is to thin the paint with turpentine or other solvents. These solvents are quite toxic and I prefer not to work with them. Acrylic paints are safe and can be thinned down with plain old water. Acrylic paint also dries quickly enabling me to quickly block in my composition without the worry of dangerous chemicals.

You can also begin your oil painting by first drawing out the composition. There are a few drawing mediums that work quite nicely with oil paints. My two favorites are vine charcoal and water-soluble pencils. I prefer vine charcoal because it doesn't smudge like other charcoals and it can also be erased easier. Water soluble pencils are wonderful because they can be applied like ordinary colored pencils and the lines can be dampened with a brush enabling you to create colorful washes.

Alla Prima painting , also known as "direct painting", is a technique of oil painting where the artist usually completes the picture in just one sitting. You are probably familiar with the artist Bob Ross, who made this painting method quite popular on his TV Show.

The paint is applied wet onto wet directly onto the canvas usually with no underpainting or sketches. It might be a good idea in the beginning to lay down a sketch with some thinned down oil paint. This way you will have a general idea where your colors will be placed. You must be careful using this technique as your painting can become quite muddy if you do not apply the colors correctly on your canvas. It takes practice, so don't be discouraged if your first, second or even third painting does not come out the way you anticipated. Keep practicing and let your imagination run wild. As Bob used to say, "It's Your World".

Ihave a wonderful oil painting tutorial to share with you today by artist Karin Wells. Hopefully you remember Karin. I conducted an interview with her not long ago. If you did not have a chance to read that interview, I recommend you take some time to read it by clicking here and become better acquainted with Karin. She is a very talented artist and I am delighted to be featuring her work here again.

The following oil painting lesson will demonstrate Karin's oil painting technique for creating water drips on a vertical surface. This is part 1 of a 2 part series. The second part, "How to paint water drops on a horizontal surface in four easy steps", will be published next week.

Follow this link to learn oil painting techniques with Karin Wells...

The following oil painting lesson is part 2 of Karin's oil painting technique for creating water drips and drops. This tutorial will focus on how to create water drops on a horizontal surface.

Click here to learn this oil painting technique...

LEARN HOW TO DRAW

You will be amazed at how much learning how to draw will help improve your oil paintings. In fact, years ago art students were not permitted to paint until they learned the fundamentals of drawing. Drawing gets you more in touch with value, line and form without the distraction of color. Find a good book on drawing fundamentals and start there.

LEARN ABOUT COLOR

Nothing can confuse a beginner more than color. You need to have a good understanding of color theory if you intend on producing high quality paintings. Concepts like color temperature, hue and intensity are very important and should be studied. Once you have a good understanding of color theory, you must then learn how to mix your colors. There is much more to color mixing then meets the eye. For instance, you cannot mix any old blue with any old yellow and get the perfect green. Certain blues and yellows behave differently than others, so you must learn about the properties of each color.

PERSPECTIVE

Perspective in painting is one of the biggest hurdles for beginners. Sometimes a painting just looks "wrong", and often it is because the perspective in the painting is off. Learning about perspective will teach you how to properly translate a 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional canvas or other support. Learning perspective is a necessary ingredient toward producing convincing oil paintings. There is of course an exception to this, if you are producing an abstract work and your intentions are to warp the perspective.

MATERIALS

Materials to an oil painter are like what a guitar is to a guitarist. A guitarist cannot play without his instrument nor can he play without understanding how his instrument works. Your painting materials are your instruments. They are what enable you to express yourself, so learning more about them is an absolute must. Learn about the different kinds of brushes and what they do. Know your paints. Not all colors behave the same. Some are more transparent or opaque than others. Know your supports and the difference between them. The list goes on....

Please follow this link to view the rest of these oil painting tips

There are a LOT of ways to paint a portrait. I use several different methods (and sometimes combine them) depending on what I think is best at the time. Sometimes I even remember to take pictures of the process.

This portrait of Gwyneth (20x24, oil on linen), oil on linen) won the Certificate of Excellence at the Portrait Society of America's International Portrait Competition in Philadelphia this year (2008).

Follow this link to view the rest of this portrait painting tutorial...

Be sure to check out my Squidoo Lens on Portrait Painting & Drawing. It contains lots of great resources and information about portrait art, including lessons, books, videos & more..

Follow this link to reach my portrait painting & drawing lens!

One of the more important skills that a beginner oil painter should have is the ability to draw. I know that many beginners want to simply get right into the oil paint and skip the drawing process, but if you want to learn more about values, form and space, then you should take some time to learn more about drawing. You do not have to master drawing, as it is an art form all on its own, but try and devote some time to drawing and sketching your subjects before you work with color.

Did you know that in art schools, many years ago, students were not permitted to work with paint until they successfully spent at least a few years drawing first? They must have been quite impatient, but imagine how skilled they became before they ever lifted a brush.

Listed below are some recommended books on drawing from amazon.

Be sure to check out my Squidoo Lens on Drawing. It contains lots of great resources and information about drawing, including lessons, books, videos & more..

Follow this link to reach my lens on drawing lessons!

Learn to paint water and rocks more skillfully in Oil with this talented painter and teacher. You will improve your oil painting skills as you watch and learn from this Creative Catalyst Oil Painting video/DVD workshop.

Sunlight on Oak Creek - An Oil Painting instructional video by Martha Saudek

Join Martha Saudek, CAC as she proceeds through a series of considerations to best achieve a balanced, cohesive landscape painting. Martha chooses a subject from her source material and selects a canvas shape to best fit it. She creates a series of thumbnail compositions based on the shape to determine a design with clarity and focus. After planning her layout, Martha chooses a dominant color temperature and explores her options for value distribution. Making these key decisions early in the process gives her constant points of reference and frees her to intuit smaller details in the painting.

Martha Saudek emphasizes drawing skill and color theory to keep her composition interesting and balanced. She measures key distances on her photo and canvas to maintain the integrity of her design. She establishes her focal point as early as possible and uses it to determine the balance and level of detail in the rest of the painting. She blocks in her lightest lights then begins work on the cool color scheme she planned at the beginning of the workshop. As she works she pauses to evaluate her composition and balance. The ongoing analysis helps her make revisions early and stay faithful to her design principles.

Click here for more information including pricing, reviews and a free preview video!

About Aaron:

My formal training has been in the "Boston School" tradition, at the Studio of Peter Bougie and Brian Lewis (an Atelier), in the lineage of Richard Lack. While there, I was trained in portraiture, figurative, and still life painting methods, as well as a thorough study of academic drawing approaches. I studied with Mr Bougie and Mr. Lewis every day for five days a week, approximently 7-8 hours a day, for three and a half years. Ironically, it was while I was there that I came to love the landscape....

Click here to learn more about Aaron and to view his oil painting demonstration....

Richard Ancheta first began to paint at the age of 12 years old and took painting lessons with well known Filipino artist and illustrators. His devotion and vision as an artist are promising. He studied Multimedia Design at Montreal International Academy of Design. Richard works in various mediums: oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel and charcoal. His works have been featured in newspapers, magazines and books. He boast 20 years of experience in painting, illustration, advertising and graphic work.

Click here to view the oil painting instruction...

Dan Schultz was born in New Mexico in 1975 and soon began to take an interest in art. He enjoyed art classes through his primary and high school years, and studied commercial art at Pensacola Christian College in Florida. He received his degree with a focus on illustration and graphic design, but he never felt driven to pursue either as a career. After college, he continued to sharpen his drawing and painting skills by attending Cottonwood Artists' School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and it was there that he realized for the first time his desire for a career in fine art....



Click here to view this oil painting tutorial by Dan Schultz...

Here's a great new demo by artist Elin Pendleton. The title of this oil painting lesson is "Painting Horses in Landscape with Figures". This painting lesson will show how Elin moves from an original idea, through the entire process as she paints an equine subject in her studio.

Click here to view this oil painting demonstration...

Much research and experimentation has been done on color and how it can effect a persons mood and behavior. Certain colors can calm a person, while others can stimulate excitement or cheerfulness. That being said, you may want to think carefully on the type of color scheme you choose for your next painting. This article will talk about five different color schemes you can use to plan out your next painting. The tips in this article can be applied to any painting medium.

Painting is all about harmony. Harmony in a painting is when the arrangement of colors and objects are pleasing to the viewers eyes. As a painter you can either put too much into a painting or not enough. If your painting is too chaotic you may scare the viewer away. On the other hand, if your painting lacks something, it may be perceived as boring, and your viewer will not be engaged, so it's important to have balance in your color arrangements.

ANALOGOUS COLOR SCHEME

This color scheme uses colors that are next to one another on the color wheel. With an analogous color scheme, one color is usually the dominant one, while the others serve as an accent to the dominant color. You are limited in colors when using this scheme but that does not mean your paintings have to be boring. Just vary the intensity (how dull or bright a color is) and value (how light or dark a color is) to make your painting more interesting and pleasing to the eye. An example of three colors next to each other on the color wheel, that can be used in an analogous color scheme are orange, yellow and yellow-orange. Use only a few different colors with the analogous color scheme. If you add too many, you may destroy the harmony in your painting.

COMPLEMENTARY COLOR SCHEME

The complimentary color scheme is a good choice if you want strong contrast in your painting. Complimentary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Examples of complementary color schemes are reds with greens, oranges with blues and violets with yellows. You shouldn't feel limited when using this color scheme. For instance, instead of using plain orange, you could use colors on either side like red-orange and yellow orange. Instead of using plain blue, you could use combinations like blue-violet or blue green. You could also vary the intensity and values as well. It can be difficult to create balance with this color scheme. To avoid ruining harmony, choose one dominant color and use the complimentary color as accents. For instance in a yellow and violet complementary color scheme, you could make the main subject and background violets and accent remaining parts of the painting in yellows.

TRIADIC COLOR SCHEME

The triadic color scheme uses three colors that are evenly spaced or equidistant from one another on the color wheel. This scheme produces strong contrast but still retains harmony. This color combination is more challenging for beginners. You can get carried away by making all three colors too intense thereby destroying the balance in your painting. You should allow one color to dominate and use the two other colors to accent the rest of the painting.

MONOCHROMATIC COLOR SCHEME

This color scheme is probably the easiest for beginners to work with. The monochromatic color scheme uses variations in value and intensity of only one color. Beginners like this color scheme because they only need to create a value plan using one color, which makes things a lot easier. Your painting will not be as exciting as other schemes that utilize more than one color, but your painting will produce a peaceful and soothing effect.

SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY COLOR SCHEME

The split-complimentary color scheme uses three colors and is a twist on the complimentary color scheme. Instead of using the colors compliment, you will use the two colors adjacent to its compliment on the color wheel. For instance, Red, Yellow-Green and Blue-Green could be a split complimentary color scheme.

Don't let color theory intimidate or discourage you. Working with color in your paintings takes some getting used to. With time and practice you will begin to develop the eye of a good painter. A great way to learn more about the use of color in paintings is to view the art of experienced painters. Make some plans to head out to a museum or visit an online gallery. God Bless and Happy painting!

Do you want to learn how to paint ? You can start today! Visit http://www.creativespotlite.com/art-instruction.htm today for free lessons and tips on a variety of different painting mediums including step by step painting demonstrations from professional artists!

I just added a new oil painting demonstration along with a one on one interview with the very talented artist Jennifer Young.

This is a beautiful landscape painting that was inspired by her trip to Veritas Vineyards in Afton Virginia.

Click here to view the oil painting demonstration

Click here for the one on one interview with Jennifer Young

Nationally recognized, award winning artist Mike Callahan is a fourth generation Nevada native who counts himself privileged to grow up in what he believes to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains near Reno, Nevada where he still lives today. While he has been painting since childhood, he has only been painting in earnest for about the last 5 or 6 years.

Says Mike, "The topography of this area is simply phenomenal; one can go from the high desert to mountainous alpine settings in less than an hour. It is this beautiful and varied landscape that ends up being the subject for a vast majority of my paintings."

Please follow this link to learn more about Mike and to view his step by step oil painting lesson....

F or this 18 x 24 studio painting I used Claessens double-oil-primed linen canvas, #15 (my usual painting surface), mounted on 1/2 Inch Gator Board. I applied an initial wash to the canvas with a color that I hoped would end up being pretty close to my final color for the creek bed in the foreground. I don't use any medium with my paint, just mineral spirits (Gamsol made by Gamblin) that I sometimes use to thin the paint (which I did for the initial wash, then lightly wiped it with a paper towel). I also laid out all my palette colors .....

Please follow this link to view the rest of this oil painting demonstration by Dan Schultz

Learn oil painting with Craig Nelson

Learn new oil painting methods from nationally recognized master teacher Craig Nelson. This instructional oil painting DVD workshop is the perfect tool if you wish to improve your oil painting. In Quick Studies in Oil, Craig Nelson shows you the progression from line (the sketch) to form/mass and finally to texture and light. Learn a system to improve your painting ability quickly.

Quick Studies in Oil

Craig Nelson, CAC, demonstrates two quick studies: A still life and a figure, from a photo. You'll see how getting a lot of "brush mileage" provides the opportunity for experimenting and problem solving without investing days in a single painting.

Get a close-up view as Craig demonstrates brush work, pulling strokes and color mixing, selecting the right quantity and viscosity of paint for his brush. Gain confidence, overcome weaknesses and improve brush skills while learning how to edit out unimportant details.

Click here for more information including pricing, reviews, and a free preview!

I posted a new painting demonstration today on my blog. It is by the very talented artist Philip Howe.
Click here to view the demonstration.

I hope you enjoy.

Learning how to become a good oil painter is a difficult undertaking. In fact, it is more than likely one of the most difficult painting mediums to master. Things like color mixing & theory, perspective, techniques and materials can really intimidate a beginner artist.

So how do you get the most out of your oil painting and become a more accomplished artist?

You must make it a point to learn the fundamentals of oil painting, practice often and have an enormous amount of patience.

You must start with the fundamentals of oil painting first. You cannot expect to produce Rembrandt quality paintings in the beginning. In fact, the first paintings you produce will probably be a lot worse than you may have anticipated. Frustration will more than likely come into the picture (pun intended). They key is to learn from your mistakes and do not let them defeat you.

So what are some of the fundamentals of oil painting? What information should you study and learn first?

Please follow this link to view the rest of this article on oil painting...

Dan's work spans a variety of genres, including novels, comics and film. He has worked for such clients as Disney, Universal Studios, Boeing Aircraft, Saatchi & Saatchi, Scholastic Books, Ace Books,The Greenwich Workshop, Penguin Books, Random House, Bantam Books, Tor books, UpperDeck, Wizards of the Coast, and Dark Horse Comics. Aside from freelance illustration, Dan also co-hosts a series of instructional demonstrations called 'Art Out Loud'.

Please follow this link to view this oil painting tutorial by Dan Dos Santos

In this oil painting demonstration, artist Barbara King shares her technique for painting beautiful Peacock Feathers.

About Barbara

Barbara A. King is a self-taught artist. Born in Irvington, New Jersey. Barbara took to art as soon as she was able to hold a crayon. Throughout her childhood, Barbara developed an appreciation for her majestic surroundings. She would often sit in tress for hours with pencil and pad, or sit in a meadow with a canvas. Years of artistic expression made it clear that Barbara's life would be centered upon her passion for art.

Follow this link to learn more about Barbara and to view her oil painting tutorial

You Can Learn How to Paint Like Monet: His Techniques and Color Mixing Approach

Have you ever wondered how to paint like Monet or wanted to paint like he does?
When you see his works, like the huge water lily paintings in the Orangerie Museum in Paris, you know that he was truly a master colorist.

Those paintings made such an impression on me that to this day I'm still inspired to follow in his footsteps. I want to venture outdoors, see the natural world around me, and paint it the way that he did. It is an invigorating change from the studio painting approach I normally use.

Learning how to paint like Monet is easy. There are three aspects to keep in mind: how he mixed his colors, his technique of applying the paint, and his process for creating paintings...

Read the rest of this free oil painting tutorial here.