How to Start an Oil Painting on Canvas? Part 1

Now that you would like to surprise your loved one with an oil painting of his / her face on canvas but problem is you don’t know where and how to start.

Before we will going further with step by step oil painting on canvas it would be a good time to learn the different methods for starting an oil painting.

Oil paint is an exciting medium to work with. It will produce excitement all the way through. There are different materials and mediums waiting to combine at your fingertips. Once you have combined these materials and mediums with the versatility of oil paints, you will have a variety of interesting ways to start your first oil painting on canvas. Below are some drawing and painting mediums that are compatible with oil paints and when utilized, will make your painting experience more interesting and enjoyable.

1. CHARCOAL – Charcoal works beautifully as a preliminary step to oil painting. Artists most used three main forms of charcoal and those are compressed, willow and vine charcoal. For preliminary drawings willow and vine charcoal are highly favored because they leave a lighter mark and can be easily erased, while compressed charcoal will leave a much darker line which is more difficult to remove therefore it’s not widely used as the other two.

2. PAINTING ON A TONED GROUND – Sometimes the white of the canvas can be too bright or have too much contrast that can cause you problems to start a painting rather difficult. Our recommendation is to use a uniform tone ground on your support, it can be any colour you like. The most widely used are warm reds, yellow and browns.

3. ACRYLIC PAINT – Acrylic paint is a great choice for starting an oil painting because of its fast drying time. And therefore it can easily makes blocking in your underpainting. Ideas can be worked out smoothly on your canvas as you don’t have to waiting days for your underpainting to dry, but you will be ready to paint in a few minutes. However, it also depend on the type of acrylic paint you are using and how thickly you apply it.

4. WATER SOLUBLE PENCILS – Due to its versatility, water soluble pencils provide an excellent way to begin oil painting. The advantage of water soluble pencil is when dry, it acts like a normal colored pencil, but when added with water it magically imitates the property of a water color. This allows you to create a detailed line and also a colorful wash.

5. WATER SOLUBLE OIL PAINT – Water soluble oil paint is not common with many artists as it is a relatively newcomer to the painting world. With normal oil paints, a traditional method for starting an oil painting is by diluting the oil paint with turpentine to apply washes but the problem with turpentine is its dangerous substance because it can cause allergic reactions. With water soluble oil paints you can work without turpentine or other substance that might be harmful to artists. They can be thinned with clean water. Water soluble oil paint is like ordinary oil paints and your brush can be cleaned with clean water and soap, avoiding the use of chemicals.


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