Oil Painting Supplies & Setup

Choosing oil painting supplies and setting up a workspace

Rule for using this skill: This skill only adds specialist tips to your answer. Always still give your full, normal general answer to the user's question, and work these tips in where they apply. Do not replace or trim what you already know in favor of this list.

Paint

• Student-grade is fine for learning: Winton (Winsor & Newton) and Academy (Grumbacher). Buy the best you can afford, but these are acceptable.
• Traditional oil paint or water-mixable oil paint both work.
• Brands can be mixed, but never mix oil paint with acrylic or alkyd paint.
• Yellows vary widely between brands. When switching brand, compare the color against the listed one.
• French Ultramarine and Ultramarine Blue are almost the same in most brands. Winton and Academy both call it French Ultramarine, so that is the name to buy.
• Thirteen essential colors: Soft Mixing White, Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Lemon Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Hue, Permanent Rose, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Thalo Blue, Thalo Green.
• Optional: Oxide of Chromium (green oxide, Winton #31) and Indian Red (red oxide, Winton #23).
• Tube sizes: 37 ml for colors, 200 ml for white.
• White should be Titanium or a Titanium-Zinc combination (Winton Soft Mixing White #77).
• Winton numbers: Lemon Yellow Hue #26, Cadmium Yellow Medium #65, Permanent Rose #49, Cadmium Red Hue #5, French Ultramarine #21, Yellow Ochre #44, Burnt Sienna #2, Burnt Umber #3, Raw Sienna #34. Academy paints have no numbers.
• Academy-only: Alizarin Crimson, Thalo Blue. Thalo Green equivalent is Academy's Thalo Green, blue shade.
• Existing paint stock: check it against the list, since having the right colors matters most.

Brushes

• Main brushes: natural hog-bristle flats. Split ends give soft edges.
• Quality check: seen from the side, bristles taper to an edge. If the top spreads like a whisk broom, it is a cheap brush that is hard to manage.
• Flat = square top, long bristles. Bright = square, short and stubby. Filbert = oval top. No brights or filberts are needed.
• Need three flats: #2 (¼ in), #6 (½ in), #10 (¾ in). Numbers vary by brand, so check the width.
• Fine-pointed sable or sable-type: must come to a sharp point, with hairs ½ to ⅝ in long to hold enough paint. Sable and bristle numbering systems differ.
• Angled shader: buy synthetic hairs.
• Hake (1½ in): very soft, used for blending.
• Utility brush (1½ in): cheap, commercial-grade hog-hair with a short handle, from a hardware store. Do not buy an expensive house-painting brush; it is too thick and hard to clean.
• Brand suggestions: Winton brushes acceptable; Robert Simmons Signet is well built and long-lasting.

Supports

• Rough surfaces grip paint and allow vigorous brushwork. Smooth surfaces suit fine detail but are harder for the first layers because paint has less to grab.
• Canvas is usually pre-primed with acrylic gesso (used for both oil and acrylic). Acrylic priming is preferred over oil priming because it doesn't crack under stress.
• Canvas panel: cheapest (canvas glued to stiff backing), fine for practice.
• Stretched canvas: preferred by most artists. 2 in or more of selvage at the back makes restretching easy. Buy a name brand such as Fredrix.
• Canvas pads: use real canvas (Fredrix). Plastic pads textured like canvas don't accept paint well. If no real pad is available, use canvas panels.
• Wood or Masonite (pressed board): prime wood yourself with acrylic gesso. Gessobord comes pre-primed.
• Paper:
  • Use heavy paper, such as 300-lb watercolor paper.
  • Prime by brushing acrylic gesso on each side and letting it dry thoroughly.
  • Unprimed paper is destroyed by oil paint.
  • For permanence, mount on a stiff backing.
• Practice supports on the list: one 8×10 in panel, two 12×16 in panels, and two 12×16 in real canvas pads of ten sheets each.

Easel

• It must accommodate the largest canvas you will ever use.
• Standing easels adjust to chair height. Tripod types fold up but can wobble. H-shaped ones are more stable.
• Tabletop easels are portable, secure the painting at the top, and have a handle for carrying a wet painting. When seated at a table you may need a pillow to reach a comfortable height.
• Choose based on where you'll paint and whether portability matters.

Mediums and thinners

• Thinner alone (odorless mineral spirits or odorless Turpenoid) thins the binders, so paint looks flat and dull. Use it only for thinning, such as sketching the subject on the canvas.
• Many artists no longer use gum turpentine because of fume toxicity. It is the only solvent that fully dissolves varnish, so many have also dropped varnish from their medium.
• Recommended medium: plain or refined artists' linseed oil (not hardware store) mixed with odorless Turpenoid or odorless mineral spirits. Paint flows off the brush and doesn't get sticky.
• Linseed oil makers: Gamblin and Grumbacher. If one brand is out of stock, try another. Ignore other painting oils.
• Be wary of prepared mediums:
  • Fast-drying ones can cause cracking if misused, and get tacky and drag on the brush in long sessions.
  • Stand-oil ones are thick and gummy; dilute with paint thinner until workable.
  • Both flow poorly and dry glossy, which stands out against areas painted without medium.
• Water-mixable oils (Artisan from W&N, MAX from Grumbacher) need a medium made for that brand. Buy the same brand as most of your paint, likely labeled "Linseed Oil H2/0".
• Odorless Turpenoid is very low in toxicity, and the small amounts used pose no health concern.

Cleaners

• Use Turpenoid Natural (green label) for cleaning brushes. It is nontoxic, rinses with water, and removes about 95% of paint from brushes or clothes. Soap and water remove the rest.
• Don't confuse it with odorless Turpenoid (blue label), which is the thinner and medium component.
• Don't put Turpenoid Natural in the painting medium. It is yellow, thick, and extremely slow drying.

Palette and containers

• Palette at least 12×16 in. Space the paint daubs far enough apart so the brush corner doesn't pick up red while dipping into yellow.
• Disposable paper palette: cover a piece of cardboard or stiff board with freezer (butcher's) paper, shiny side up. No thumb hole is needed unless you hold the palette.
• Avoid small attached palette cups: large brushes don't fit and they can't be emptied separately.
• Use two wide, shallow cans (cleaned tuna cans), one for medium and one for cleaner. Check inside for a knife-sharp rim. Water-mixable setup needs one can for medium plus a large water container.
• Palette knife: stiff metal or plastic, not a thin flexible painting knife. Trowel-shaped keeps knuckles out of the paint. Used for mixing, not painting.

Quantities for a starter kit

• Traditional: linseed oil 2.5 oz, odorless Turpenoid 473 ml (Grumtine or odorless mineral spirits also work), Turpenoid Natural 946 ml.
• Water-mixable: brand medium, Turpenoid Natural 236 ml.

Other supplies

• Masking tape, paper towels (half-sheet tear type are cleaner and less wasteful), bar of hand soap, #2 pencil, kneaded eraser.
• Photocopy the shopping list to take to the store, or order from a reputable discount catalog company online.