Start Oil Painting for Under $100!

Do You Want to Learn How to Oil Paint?

Have you ever dreamed of making your own masterpieces in oil paint? Often considered the elite form of art making, oil painting can be both rewarding and challenging. I will walk you through the process of how to get started oil painting. When ordering your supplies, please start with this link www.dickblick.com where I am an affiliate partner. This will allow me to create lessons for free or at a low cost to you. You can begin painting for just $100!

The Oil Paints You Need to Start

What do you really need for oil paints? It can be overwhelming when looking over all the color choices of paints and brands online or in catalogs. My choice of paint brands has been the Utrecht for over 28 years. It is an affordable choice, has good consistency of paint, and outstanding color brilliance. From the colors listed below, you can mix most other colors. As your confidence grows as a painter, you can add more colors to your palette.

Oil Paints List:

• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Titanium White, 37 ml tube                  Item#: 02122-1013
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Cadmium Yellow Hue, 37 ml tube     Item#: 02122-4253
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Yellow Ochre, 37 ml tube                       Item#: 02122-4253
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Cadmium Red Hue, 37 ml tube          Item#: 02122-4253
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Alizarin Crimson, 37 ml tube               Item#: 02122-3063
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Ultramarine Blue, 37 ml tube              Item#: 02122-5133
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Phthalo Blue Green shade, 37 ml tube    Item#: 02122-5163
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Burnt Sienna, 37 ml tube                         Item#: 02122-8043

Brushes and Palette Knife to Start

The quality of your brushes can make a big difference in the quality of painting created. Brushes come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, material, and quality. I own about 100 different brushes that I use in different situations. These brushes have been collected over the course of 28 years of painting. I only throw away brushes that are completely hardened or have lost all their hair. If you follow my teaching, you will learn when and where to used different brushes in different situations. Here are a few brushes to begin with.
 

• Royal Soft Grip Golden Taklon Brush - Round, Long Handle, Size 4     Item#: 06006-1004
• SZ4 FILBERT                                                                                                                          Item#: 04627-2004
• Utrecht Natural Chungking Pure Bristle Brush - Filbert, Size 6, Long Handle      Item#: 04616-2006
• Blick Painting Knife - Style 46                                                                                      Item#: 03117-1046

Paint Cleaner and Thinner

To clean your brushes, you need some kind of paint thinner like turpentine. I highly recommend Weber Oderless Turpenoid. Regular turpentine gives off a strong oder and will cause headaches. You also need something to thin your paints when painting details or glazing. For this, I recommend Windsor & Newton Liquin. You will need some kind of jar for your Weber Oderless Turpenoid paint cleaner. I save all my used glass jars from things like pasta sauce and salsa. I clean the jars, remove the labels, and relabel with the contents of the jar. For cleaning my brushes, I use paper towels, but some people use toilet paper or newspaper pieces.

• Weber Turpenoid - 8 oz Plastic Bottle                     Item#: 00442-1005
• Winsor & Newton Liquin - Original, 75 ml bottle             Item#: 00445-2104

Weber Oderless Turpenoid

Windsor & Newton Liquin

What to Paint on? Canvas and Boards

Another area that can become overwhelming to the beginning painter is what to paint on. Canvas comes in all kinds of quality and sizes but sometimes other surfaces can be a good choice. Fredrix Canvas Pads can be a good way to begin painting and practice. I know many beginning painters like stretched canvas to allow easily hanging and displaying their art. I prefer the Blick brand canvas for the quality of price. I recommend starting on medium sized canvas like 11”x14” to have a good sized painting without being overwhelmed.


Blick Academic 5/8'' Profile Cotton Canvas - 11'' x 14'', Pkg of 2 
Item#: 07167-1114

Palette for Your Paint

You will need something to put your paints on and mix colors. For beginning artists, you can use disposable palettes, wax paper, or parchment paper. These all can be disposed of when finished painting.

You will need a few other miscellaneous supplies to begin painting. Sometimes I use a pencil or charcoal to sketch out my painting idea before applying paint. I also recommend some newspaper on any surfaces you don’t want paint and maybe an old rug or drop cloth under your painting area. Along with that, some old clothes to wear while painting. Oil paints are very difficult to clean off surfaces, clothing, and carpet.

Additional Materials You Can Buy Later!

As a beginning painter, you might want to skip an easel. You can place your canvas or painting surface on a table to work. Easels are nice to have your painting upright while you paint but not necessary. I use a Blick French Easel by Jullian - Half Box that can be set up any where and packed up when you are done painting. A less expensive option is a table top easel like Blick Tabletop Easel - H-Frame, Black. A more professional choice for a palette is a wood palette such as the 12”x16” Wooden Richeson Palette .

• 12”x16” Wooden Richeson Palette 
• Utrecht Oil Paint Titanium White, 200 ML Tube ​

              Item#: 02121-1015 

• Blick French Easel by Jullian - Half Box or full box                     Item#: 51588-1002

Or 

• Blick Tabletop Easel - H-Frame, Black                                                Item#: 50391-1006​

Blick French Easel by Jullian - Half Box

I also like to use an acrylic paint to cover the white surface of my canvas before I start painting. I like the Utrecht Studio Series Acrylic Paint - Yellow Ochre, 237 ml tube. The warm color of the yellow ochre provides a good color to paint on top of. You will also need something to draw with such as a pencil or charcoal.

• Utrecht Studio Series Acrylic Paint - Yellow Ochre, 237 ml tube    Item#: 01655-4048
• Dixon Ticonderoga Pencils - Pre-Sharpened, Box of 10                         Item#: 20305-1010

​​
I also recommend the following paints at some point. You can start with the listed colors above, but these colors will make mixing certain colors easier. I also recommend that you eventually buy the larger 200 ML tube of Titanium White, since you will use a lot of white when mixing colors.

• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Phthalo Green Blue Shade, 37 ml tube  Item#: 02122-7803
• Utrecht Artists' Oil Paint - Cadmium Orange Hue, 37 ml tube          Item#: 02122-4543
• Utrecht Oil Paint Titanium White, 200 ML Tube                                        Item#: 02121-1015 ​

Conclusion

I know that this list can be overwhelming, but we all need to take a first step to begin something new. Start with my basic list and you can always add more supplies as you gain confidence. Signup for my email list and watch for online painting classes. Get started painting with $100 in supplies and completely change your life forever!
Happy Painting!
Joe Kiefer 
www.joekieferart.com

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