Top 10 Oil Painting Tips from Mia Abelson

 

Oil painting is one of the most revered, and possibly one of the most difficult mediums to try out for the first time -- but it really doesn't have to be. For those of you who are new to using oil paints, experienced oil painter Mia Abelson has put together a beginner's guide" to help you make those first vital steps. Painting in oil while following these ten simple tips will make your artwork clean and bright.

1.       To paint in oil, use natural bristle hair brushes, as they are perfect for this technique. You can find them of three types: flat, cat's tongue (like the flat ones but with a rounded tip) and round.

2.       For your colors to be clean, NYC artist Mia Abelson recommends that you use two different jars, one in which you will put essence of turpentine or white spirit (it is derived from petroleum and leaves no smell), and another in which you will put in equal parts touch-up varnish and essence turpentine. In the first, you will only vigorously clean the brush when changing color and then you will dry it with a little paper, and in the second you will wet the brush to execute a new mixture. This way you will not contaminate that mixture with the residue that you have left from previous mixtures on the brush.

3.       If you want your painting to be very bright, make a very fresh and colored stain at the beginning. Mia Ableson recommends that you do not use white in this first phase and that you clarify the colors by adding more of the turpentine mixture with touch-up varnish. That is, you will treat the oil like a watercolor and thus take advantage of the white of the support.

4.       To paint in oil you can use various supports (oil paper, board, canvas, canvas board ...). A good Goya linen or Velázquez linen are perfect for this technique. These fabrics must be prepared with a traditional filler, based on rabbit tail.

5.       The size of the brushes and the palette depends on the size of the painting you are going to paint. So now that you know, if you are going to paint a large work, get a large palette and large brushes.

6.       To paint in oil, a “rich” palette would be made up of the following colors: Titanium white, medium cadmium yellow, yellow ocher, natural sienna, tanned sienna, medium cadmium red, magenta, dark solid Garanza carmine, emerald green , turquoise blue, dark ultramarine blue, Prussian blue, earth shade tan and ivory black.

7.       The palette is for mixing, so put the colors on top and leave as much space for mixing. Establish an order that you will always use in terms of placement. The order in which Mia Abelson has listed the colors is perfectly correct.

8.       When painting in oil, do not abuse white, so your painting will not be milky. If you glaze, make a mixture of equal parts turpentine essence, linseed oil and touch-up varnish, and use this medium to create those fine veils, but always without white. If not, the later appearance will be something "dusty".

9.       Varnish your paintings when finished, but be careful, wait at least a month so that the surface layer is dry and you do not take all your work with you.

10.   Clean and properly care for your material after painting in oils, so it will last you a long time.