Art Lesson - Oil Painting - Material and Equipment

Soft pencil or charcoal is best for the initial drawing, especially on canvas. Hogs hair brushes are best suited for oil painting.

The main types are: flats, brights, filbert, and round. Sable, fitch, and squirrel hair brushes are also used, mainly to apply highlights and detail to the painting. A palette is essential for mixing paint. Shown here is a traditional style wooden palette, but any non-absorbent board will do, even an old dinner plate.

Palette knives are for mixing paint on the palette or applying large amounts of paint to the canvas.

Turpentine and linseed oil are used to thin the paint.

For the best results use good quality tubes of oil colour.

List of basic oil colours.

		Cadmium red		Alizarin
		Cadmium yellow		Yellow ochre
		Cobalt blue		Ultramarine
		Viridian		Cerulean
		Raw umber		Burnt umber
		Raw sienna		Titanium white

The surface to be painted is usually referred to as the support. Stretched canvas, oil painting boards and oil painting paper are the most common. Hardboard can be used but must be primed with at least three coats of acrylic primer.

There are several types of easel. Shown here is a radial studio easel, which can be adjusted for height and the size of canvas (support). A collapsible easel is very portable and can be used for outdoor work.(See step by step watercolours). A good supply of rags, for wiping surplus paint off brushes and cleaning the palette, should always be at hand.