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Oil Painting Tips

Ms. Helms’ Oil Painting Tips

  1. Use the right brushes

  2. Know your shapes and textures

  3. Know the orientation (direction) the brush moves

  4. Brush pressure matters

  5. Light pressure is the best, fewer lines and ridges, smoother finish

  6. Paint Quality is a real thing

  7. Better paints, easier painting

  8. Know your paint mediums (things mixed into your paints)

  9. Solvents, oils, and other chemicals

  10. Keep your palette clean – keep your colors pure

  11. Use clean brushes, wipe them off often

  12. Don’t get crazy mixing your colors everywhere, have a plan and stick to it

  13. Stick to 2 color mixtures

  14. Practice your color theory and color mixing

  15. Simple is best!

  16. Don’t over mix

  17. Allow the colors to be chunky, it allows brighter colors and “painterly” shapes

  18. Wet-on-wet or Drybrush?

  19. Sometimes it is better to paint on top of a layer of paint that is still wet, sometimes you need to let it dry… experiment

  20. Have fun!

Oil Paint:

Titanium White

Mars Black

Lemon Yellow

Cadmium Yellow

Alizarin Crimson

Cadmium Red, medium

Ultramarine Blue

Phthalo Blue

Optional:

Burnt Umber

Burnt Sienna

Oil Paint brushes (stiffer bristles)

“Bright” size 4 (small/medium)

“Flat” size 8 (large)

“Round” size 1 (small detail)

Paint Palette (your choice)

I prefer large wood oval

Cleaning:

The Masters Artist's Hand Soap, 4.5oz

The Masters Artist’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver, round container

*Turpinoid, low odor (you will not need this for the tutorial)

*Plastic or glass container with a lid to hold Turpinoid

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