5 Ways to Start an Oil Painting - Art Techniques for Beginners and Advanced

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About me (bio) :

I am an artist living and working in France. I learned the techniques of the Atelier of the Nineteenth century and now I try to share some of my knowledge with the rest of the world, because I think that beauty still has an important role to play in artistic creation. I do mostly drawing and oil painting, and my goal is always to provide techniques and explanations that can be useful to anyone, from beginners to more advanced artists.

The material I use most of the time (not necessarily in this video) :

Drawing
Equipement
✓ Kneaded eraser
✓ Plumb line
✓ Small mirror
✓ An old synthetic brush
✓ Masking tape
✓ Cutter
✓ Sandpaper or sanding block
✓ Mahlstick or Hand rest (DIY)
✓ Level ruler
Graphite
✓ Pencils 2H, HB and 2B
Charcoal
✓ If available: Nitram charcoals (H, HB and B)
!!! Or, if not::
✓ Square Venetian charcoals Lefranc and Bourgeois
✓ Natural charcoal box (check that the heart of the stick is not spongy and hollow)
Black and white chalk
✓ Sketch pencil Conté white
✓ Square Conté noir : HB and 2B
✓ Chalk or pencil holder
✓ Pencil sketch Conté Pierre noire : H and HB
Sanguine
✓ Sketch pencil Conté : Blood and blood Medici
✓ Crayon Polychromos Faber-Castel : sanguine
✓ Sketch pencil Conté white
Oil painting
Palette
(Extra-fine paint, recommended brands according to availability: Lefranc Bourgeois, Winsor and Newton, Royal Talens Rembrandt, Sennelier)
✓ Titanium white PW6
✓ Yellow ochre PY42
✓ Burnt Sienna PR101 or PBr7
✓ Venetian red or English red PR101
✓ Permanent Alizarin crimson (Attention: do not use the traditional pigment, which is not very light-fast) PV19 or PR177
✓ Cobalt teal blue PG50
✓ French ultramarine blue PB29
✓ Raw umber PBr7
✓ Burnt umber PBr7
✓ Ivory Black PBk9
Brushes
✓ About ten filbert hog bristle brushes sizes n° 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12
✓ Some flat brushes
✓ Round sable brush or round Kolinsky sable n°10 (from the size of the nail (about one inch) or synthetic imitation
Medium
✓ Linseed stand oil
✓ Odourless mineral spirits
✓ Safflower oil
Surface
✓ Linen canvas, fine grain universal coating
✓ Canson oil-acrylic oil paper Figueras
Others
✓ Palette
✓ Foam and spalter brushes
✓ Palette knife in the shape of a water drop
✓ A few small pots, containers, jars...
✓ Paper towels

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Thanks for watching !

[lauriehuber]

I think I’m painting because my sister was an artist and mental illness took her life away too soon...😢
I’ve always loved art whether it was paintings to tattoos...
So when my body couldn’t do the work I used to do as a baker and cook... I needed to fill my time with where I used to get my sense of pride...of purpose.
I feel as Thomas does and most of the time I don’t feel that I am any good or worthy!
But Thomas....
If we don’t try to do something that we love...it will be too late to share our story in our paint..
I continue painting to honour my sister...
I love you Carol...wish you were here...💕💕

[Engelhafen]

Yes I like to preserve the white during the entire painting - and that’s why I have paintings that are blank white canvases

[czechzican]

i start my paintings by staring at my palette, taking a belt of whiskey and uttering "I'll see you in hell!"

[murderballad]

i start and end all my paintings by setting fire to the whole studio and starting again and again.. i'm an arsonist.

[Marcblur]

I've been sketching with watercolor pencil, lately. Used dry, it will stick to acrylic gesso, but the lines can be removed with a brush and water or paper towel and water. Oil solvents will not interfere with or smudge the lines in the early thin wash/tone stage. I found out the hard way some colored pencils had a wax base that would smudge badly with thin oil washes. Silly me for using a red pencil to work on a mostly grey painting. I had a lot of pink to cover up.

[KathrynSpaulding]

Thank you for posting this. I was sketching on canvas at my son's school when his classmate joined me. They said that they were told by their art teacher never to sketch before painting. This made the student so afraid to paint that they have barely touched the canvas again and they have such talent that it saddened me to see them react to an "Everything I do is the only way" art teacher. I told them that it was "ok and that many artists used different methods", and now I can share your wonderful video with them so they can see another artist using the method.

[moty]

Excellent! I've learned a lot from you. You are very good teacher.

[thirdyapuli]

Outline Tone Construction 0:59
Outline 1:03
Tone 1:20
Construction 1:46
OPTION 1 {Draw with Graphite or Charcoal} 2:04
OPTION 2 {Draw with Colored Pencils} 3:08
OPTION 3 {Draw on a Surface toned with Acrylic Paint} 3:37
OPTION 4 {Do an Oil Transfer} 4:19
OPTION 5 {Do an “Imprimatura” and Draw with Paint Directly} 5:03

[TheMarkEH]

I am about to try using oil paints, and as a hobby artist I found this tutorial extremely helpful. Thank you.

[KingdomDV]

I use a blue seamstress marking pencil it doesn’t smudge and totally disappears. It works best on a smoother surface otherwise it must be sharpened repeatedly as it wears down quickly. I find it very effective if doing a complicated work where accurate positioning is necessary

[saltandiron]

Thank you for mentioning all of these options.

[TartantazCreates]

How I start a painting really depends on how I feel at the time and whether I'm using oils or acrylics. I guess the complexity of the pose also influences how I chose to start. I have used drawing first as well as drawing directly with the paint as you did in your demonstration. I like both ways for different reasons. 😊

[pravinmediainproduction]

Yes I did few times the last technique but for complex ones, it is hard so I use only pencil. Thanks for all this precious knowledge ❤️

[priscillaallen]

Oh boy! I've always used you last method. But had recently been convinced to start more carefully. Guess I'll go back to my old ways. Getting the paint on the canvas is the fun bit! Thank you for all you are teaching us.

[johnnyk]

Thanks for making the effort to demonstrate. Useful tips. Bravo!

[tuckersossaman]

I’m brand new to painting and have only used the last technique, but I am excited to give the rest of these a chance, and let it evolve! Thanks for the tips

[timwelford]

Love your videos.
I usually start mine, paint direct to toned canvas as In your last demonstration.
But the last three oil paintings I’ve done I drew in charcoal and a good fixative if you haven’t got fixative is hair spray 😊👍🏼👍🏼

[denizkaptan]

Thank you Florent! This video is really straight to the point and helpful.

[Missykris]

This is amazing- I’m totally going to use the last technique!!

[delorisgilmore]

Thank you! I usually draw my composition on my canvas. I liked number 5 and I want to try it.