Practical tricks to help you work better
Oil painting is one of the most popular painting techniques and is considered by many artists to be the ultimate discipline. This is not surprising, as oil paint has some tricky characteristics that beginners need to learn properly. Therefore, many hobby painters shy away from oil painting.
There are several reasons for this: Oil paints are more expensive than acrylic or watercolor paints, and the painting process itself is somewhat more complex. Oil paints take longer to dry (though there are ways to speed up the process), and cleaning brushes and palettes takes time. But the effort is worth it! With oil paints, you can achieve much more intense and larger color results. Additionally, it's easier to correct mistakes with oil paints: While painting, you can remove the paint with a cloth, which is not possible with watercolor paints.
Here are six tricks to help you work better with oil paints:
1. Buy High-Quality Paints
Of course, oil paints are expensive – but when purchasing paints, one should pay attention to good quality and not buy the cheapest paints. Cheap paints have fewer and weaker color pigments or are stretched with other pigments that desaturate the tone. As a result, you will end up using more paint and consequently paying more. Most brands offer different qualities, such as studio, academic, or artist quality. Artist quality has the highest pigment concentration. If you have a limited budget, remember that you only need 5 colors: magenta, cyan, yellow, white, and black. With these, you can mix almost any color.
2. Turpentine or Turpentine Substitute?
Turpentine is the traditional solvent for oil paints. It is used to clean brushes and can also be used to "thin" oil paint, or it can be mixed with other substances to create different types of "mediums." The vapors can be toxic if inhaled in high concentration. Therefore, at the Academy of Fine Art Germany, we prefer to use a turpentine substitute. However, even a turpentine substitute contains vapors that can be harmful over time, so it is necessary to use them in a well-ventilated room. Please remember not to pour leftover turpentine down the drain! It is very harmful to the environment. Some brands now offer safer thinners; look out for these if you want to be particularly safe.
2.1 Which Oil to Use?
Most oil paints are a mixture of pigments and linseed oil. There are different drying oils such as walnut oil, safflower oil, stand oil, and many others. Each of these oils has slightly different properties; for example, safflower and walnut oils dry much slower than linseed oil but also do not yellow as much over time. Find the oil that best suits your painting needs.
3. Proper Brush Cleaning
After painting, brushes should be thoroughly cleaned. However, you don't need expensive cleaning agents for this. We recommend simple, commercially available core soap. It works just as well as brush soap and is much cheaper.
4. No Time to Clean Up?
If you feel stressed and don't have time to clean the brushes, don't just leave them lying around: The brushes dry out from the paint and deteriorate over time. You can simply dip the brush in the turpentine substitute, wipe it with paper, and wrap it in plastic wrap. This way, they won't dry out. But don't forget to clean them thoroughly the next day.
5. Storing Paints for Oil Painting – Part 1
If you have leftover mixed colors or just too much paint, you can reuse them with a simple trick. Use a spatula to transfer the paint into a simple plastic syringe and seal the nozzle with tape. This way, you practically have your own paint tube. This method prevents the paint from drying out, and you can reuse it later. Oil dries by absorbing oxygen. So, if you store leftover paint in an airtight container, you can protect it from drying out for several days.
6. Storing Paints for Oil Painting – Part 2
Another option is to place the paint in a small container such as an empty watercolor box for children. Fill the container with some water (don't worry, oil and water don't mix), sealing it up to the brim. This effectively seals the oil paint and prevents it from drying out. Alternatively, you can store the paint in a Tupperware or similar container (without water) and keep it in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2-3 days.