So You Want to Become an Oil Painter? Well Come On In . . . Let Us Help Get You Started!

Welcome! Pull up a chair, pour a cup of coffee, and settle in. This post might get long, and will be picture heavy, but after years of buying art supplies and setting up a working studio on a barely-working budget, we can help you set up your own little oil painting studio in any available corner of your home without needing a second mortgage, or  breaking your bank. All you need is to keep on reading, some patience, a friend or partner to take shopping, and maybe a pen & paper for some list-making. Oh and if you used the last scoop of coffee this morning? Save your coffee can or tub. You'll need it!

Every thing highlighted & bolded in this post is something you need to buy or can go on your list of "items needed".

Some of this post is going to refer to Bob Ross, and his painting style, as the people specifically requesting this blog post from me also specifically want to try the Bob Ross style of painting. And they also specifically dont want to spend the hundreds of dollars needed to buy Bob Ross's line of paints and supplies. Good news! I can help!

Let's start with the basics. . . . these are the things you do actually need in order to be an oil painter.


CANVASES
First of all you're going to need some canvases, and the very best place to buy pre-primed canvases is Michaels Arts & Crafts store. They have nice packs of five canvases 18x24 for $20. 18x24 is the typical size of a Bob Ross painting.  Using their weekly 50% off one regular-priced item coupon (go to michaels.com on your smartphone, put in your zip code, the weekly deals will show up as well as the coupon. You don't even need to print it, they can scan the coupon right from your phone!), you will only pay approximately $10 plus your local sales tax. Not bad! You can buy smaller sizes too, same price and more quantity. Now as we go on with our list, you'll see why you need a friend or partner at Michaels. They can help by purchasing extra items you need with the 50% off coupon, too! See? We're already saving you money! 

Examine your canvases when you get home. It's common for one to be flawed because people aren't really gentle with them. And unless it's completely destroyed and then you need to take the whole set back: use it for practice. ESPECIALLY if you are doing a Bob Ross. Because you know what? Painting with a palette knife is not as easy as it looks, and having a practice canvas will save you a lot of frustration if you palette knife a mountain, or a wave, or a cabin, on the practice canvas first -- before you hit your working canvas.

BRUSHES
Next, you are going to need brushes, but how many brushes, and, what kind, and where do I buy them? Well, here's where the patience and the friends come in (again). You can check for sales at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I understand some people won't shop at Hobby Lobby, and that's your prerogative. I am just going to tell you that their individual brushes are on sale at 40-50% off quite often, and they carry Master's Touch brand, which I rather like using. They have a MUCH LARGER selection of brushes than Michaels. They've also seemed to grab the corner market on Bob Ross products away from Michaels. I've never used his brushes, so I can't comment, but lately have wondered about his "blending brush" since everyone (but one little tiny guy) I have bought: sheds. And there is NOTHING more annoying than putting time and effort into an oil painting only to blend your paint and see a trail of hair behind your blending brush.



If you are attempting a Bob Ross style painting and want the big 2" and 1" brushes? Guess what? Bob Ross' brushes are a lot like the brushes you can buy at the hardware store! The price difference is amazing, and do yourself a favor -- spend the extra few bucks at ACE Hardware to buy the natural brustle brushes. Go with a good brand like Shur-Line. They work the same and are about 1/4 the cost! HOWEVER, they are not so great for blending. You might want to use a smaller bristled brush for blending. It may take longer if the brush is small, but it's worth the time. These bigger brushes just make a mess and can even muddy up or groove your paint. That's not good.

My brushes here are "angled" but you really want the flat, or straight brushes.

For the other brushes, we need to talk a bit more. For one, you should try for patience in order to catch them on sale. Or do the bring-a-friend thing to either Hobby Lobby or Michaels and buy them with the coupon. MOST arts n craft stores will tell you what the brushes are used for in their signage. When we're talking about oil painting, you want a firm bristled brush. Oil paint is heavy. Oil paint needs a firm bristle to apply. And in order not to waste money and drive yourself crazy in frustration, pull on the bristles a little bit. Do they stay in the brush? Good. Do they pull out with a gentle tug? Bad. Put it back. You don't need the brush made from the nose hairs of a hippopotamus to have a good brush. You do need one that has enough strength to apply oils, and blend oils, and be dunked in paint thinner and beat out numerous times! If the bristles bend easily with the slightest touch and feel really soft? Those are watercolor brushes and won't work. You'll be applying oil paint with the stick part of the brush!

Also, do yourself a favor now, and hear me well: DO NOT BUY THE MULTI-PACK OF CHEAP BRUSHES!! you will be so sorry. They are rarely good and I do mean RARELY. The only good pack of brushes we bought was a set of small liner brushes. They have black handles and a knife-type, blending end. I believe we found them at Hobby Lobby and so if you see those? Fine, go for it (you know the tiny blender I was talking about above? It was in this set!)! But other-wise, unless you are buying a reputable brand, forget it! Even reputable brands put their cheapest, shedding, lame ass brushes in multi-packs. So just walk on by that part of the aisle.

So let's talk about your brush list. You should probably have at least one of each to start:

Flat Brush: you know where to get those! You can buy Bob Ross brand or you can go to Ace for the big guys. But it's a good idea to have some flats in smaller sizes, too. Grab a 1/2" flat to add to your set. I also have some nice artist brand bigger brushes in 1-2 inches. When painting trees and clouds and such, having a variety of brushes means a variety of textures and looks on your canvas.

Small flat

Large flat

Filbert: These are rounded at the tip of the brush. Bob Ross has referred to them as a "Curved" brush on his Joy of Painting show, and being nosey, I went to go see if maybe there was a crimp in the bristle holder to make it truly "curved". Nope, it was just a filbert. I like my 1/4" and 1/2" filberts, and I use those a lot. Especially when painting faces as they are marvelous blenders. I recently bought some large filberts (on sale!) and have yet to use them, but am doing a landscape here soon that I plan to give these large filberts a try. So maybe start with a 1/4-1/2" filbert and see how you like it. Or size 2-4 if you're BR'ing it.  He also uses these to make rocks in rivers, etc. During the time of writing this blog, I used my big filberts. The smaller of the two shed like crazy and is completely useless! See what I get for not pulling on the bristles?

Filbert

Angled: Also called "Angled Shader" I use these A LOT in my oil paintings. For some reason I can better paint a straight line with a consistent paint flow using angled brushes. I don't know why, but they work for me. Start with just one -- again pick a 1/4-1/2" and see if you need to use it. If you get frustrated with a flat brush, pick up an angled. You might be like me and just need a different shape than straight and flat. 

Angled

Round: These are the brushes you picture in your head when you picture and artist at an easel with a classic round brush in his hand. Naturally rounds come in every size, and bristle length. I have a very large round that I LOVE (makes some amaze-balls clouds) by Windsor & Newton in size 12. It does some amazing round or bulbous style trees, too! I have small round brushes. I have medium. I think I've made it a personal goal to own every size. But basically all you need is one large round anywhere from size 9-12, a medium round in 4-6 and a small in size 1-2.  This is another one you need to watch closely and touch to make sure you are buying OIL brushes. They can be very soft as they are the most used brush in watercolor. So be sure it has a nice, stiff bristle.

Round Brushes

Fan: Oh the good ole fan brush! There is no cooler brush in the artists set than the fan! It does the neatest of tricks and the greatest of applications of paint! I can't sing it's praises enough!~ So what do you need? 3 of them. One small fan brush -- I use a number 10/0. A Medium in size 1. and larges in 3 and 4. Pick one, or buy both! But buy the fans! You'll thank me.

Fan brushes, all sizes. The one on the far right is watercolor.

Liner: You really only need one or two of these, and the bristles should be anywhere from 1/4" in length to 3/4". They should be very tightly spaced, firm enough to handle oil, but pliable enough to twist and turn on the canvas. Start with a smaller liner and use it like you would a pencil.

Liners. The black handled brushes are the only set that was worth it.

Sea Sponges: Both Michaels and Hobby Lobby have three packs of sea sponges that all have different textures on their surface for some seriously great effects. They can be a bitch to clean though, and as they soak up a lot of paint, they also soak up a lot of paint thinner. Do that, squeeze out what you can and then rinse rinse rinse.

Blenders: This is basically and soft, round or flat brush that you can very gently wisp over the top of oil plaint in order to blend it, or to make fog or mist appear in a landscape, etc. The large bursh here I bought on a clearance table at Michaels as it had been opened. I paid about $3, and I use it as a duster. Any blank canvas, or drying canvas that has been sitting for some time in my office could use a good dusting before a varnish. Also nicely wisps away eraser debris. 

Blenders and Dusters

Sponge applicators: I typically buy a variety pack of these for $1-2 and use them to apply Gesso to canvas. Be sure to rinse them well and immediately after application as Gesso dries uber fast and will ruin not only these, but all your brushes. 



PALETTE KNIVES

Yes, you need at least one. Why? Because you need to not only mix your paints, but if doing a Bob Ross, you're more than likely going to need one to apply paint to your canvas! DO NOT BUY PLASTIC PALETTE KNIVES! Those are not useful in oil. You need the nice, thin and "sharp" metal knives for a perfect blend and application. I use the rounded tip to blend, and also to pick up leftover paint from my palette and place in storage containers for future use (I told you we're frugal!). The flat-edged palette knife you see BR use on his show is just fine. If you plan on saving paint, get the rounded-edge, thin one too. Great news: they're cheap! They're only $2-3/piece! You'll find them near the brushes and paint supplies.

PAINT THINNER/CLEANER

One thing you must absolutely have on hand when beginning or ending any oil painting: odorless paint thinner. And not a teeny tiny bottle, either. Because not only do you need it to clean your brushes IMMEDIATELY after using them, it serves to clean up mistakes on the canvas (apply some to a paper towel, and wipe across the canvas to pick up paint mistakes), cleans up oil paint messes elsewhere (like clothes, and your studio stool, and hard floor -- but be sure to rinse the floors well after using mineral spirits on them!), cleans up your palette, and is needed to thin paint for the liner brush and is an ingredient in OIL PAINT MEDIUM. I use SpeedBall Mona Lisa odorless paint thinner. The really large 128fl oz. was $20 at Michaels. And with my coupon: $10 holla! They have a smaller tub, and it's only about $10. But trust me, buy a decent amount of it. There is nothing worse than running out in the middle of the painting -- because you have to stop and go buy more. I don't suggest turpentine, no matter how much money it saves at the hardware store. The smell is over-powering and headache-inducing. Just use the coupon and go odorless. You'll thank me.


PALETTES & EASLES
Ebay! Ebay! Ebay! Did I mention EBAY? I use small wooden palettes that I buy . . . well duh, on ebay! I pay less than $2.00 a palette and free shipping! You may like a larger palette like BR uses (his is plexi glass or acrylic, I believe). You can even use a smooth edged piece of glass (some people really like these as they come very clean with paint thinner. You can use a cheap thin foil pie tin (which I do use as my Gesso palette). Heck, you don't even have to buy a palette! You can use a piece of cardboard or a thin piece of wood! If you DO buy wooden palettes (I keep two on hand at all times. Because I do paintings of people, I use one as a flesh palette, which is very involved and can be up to 14 different shades of the same colors) be sure you spray it with varnish finish and let it dry before you use it. It keeps the staining to a minimum and makes it easier to scrape clean with a palette knife and then paper towel with paint thinner. It won't look new as oil paints do stain, but it will keep your mess to a minimum. Also, don't let your paint dry on your palette if you plan to reuse it. It will not come off.   

A couple of my palettes and some painter's masking tape.

A foladble table-top easel with a drawer & handle.

Easels don't have to be expensive. You can buy a very nice easel for less thna $30. I have a portable easel that rarely moves, but the fact that it folds up into a nice handy handled package is conveient. Especially when Spring hits and I want to paint outside. One thing I do recommend is buying an easel with a drawer or shelf to hold your brushes, pallets and paints. Not having that table area nearby is a real hassel, so do buy one with a drawer or shelf. You can use your Michaels or Hobby Lobby coupon, or you can check ebay and Amazon. There's some really ncie easels out there at a very affordable price. I even have a small table-top easel for painting on and storing small paintings. 


OIL PAINT
"From the moment you buy your first tube of paint, you also buy your artistic license, you are now an artist." -- Bob Ross

There is such a wide array of oil paints to choose from, where do you even start? Well, you don't start with those cheap multi-packs for $20. You also don't want to go for the cheap-O, student quality oils, either. Why? Because those are made to be used, seen, then tossed. You're not going through all the hassle and expense of doing your first few oil paintings just to throw them away! But you don't have to spend a fortune on the world's finest oil paints, either. What you want is a nice, happy medium "studio" grade of paint. Paint with beautiful, traditional and vibrant color, made with a nice oil vehicle that doesn't crack or yellow as it dries, and a good consistency for smooth application to the canvas. The typical paints sold in craft stores is Windsor & Newton or Grumbacher. I'm not a huge fan. In fact I only use those paints if I need a paint color NOW and can't wait for delivery. . . so I am going to link you and show you some of the best paints for a novice, straight on through to a professional, studio-class of affordable paint. But first, let's talk a little bit about oil paint. . . because what I am sharing is stuff you need to know, or are eventually going to ask.

Q: Why are some paints way more expensive than others, yet in the same sized tube, and made by the same company?

A: The ingredients that produce the color are more expensive a "source" than others. The biggest example you'll find is in the Cadmiums. Cadmium yellow, orange, red, etc are all double the price of regular paint because cadmium, besides being toxic, is expensive. Yep, it's the same cadmium in batteries. Is it worth the extra money? Yes, typically it is. Especially when you first start out. You want the REAL color, and from there you can work within the different "hues" to find a close second to the original and is pleasing to you and your paintings.

Q: Why is Cadmium Yellow HUE less expensive than regular Cadmium Yellow? And what is a hue, anyway?

A: Hues are essentially trying to be the exact same color as the original, but using different, more common, and less expensive ingredients in order to produce the color. You'll notice with time and experience that the different oil paint companies have quite an array of "hues" that vary greatly from the original color they are trying to duplicate. While M Graham has the very best Cadmium Yellow in existence (in my opinion), Windsor & Newton has the worst Cadmium Yellow HUE in existence (again, in my opinion). So hue doesn't mean a "shade" of the color you want, it means it's trying to replicate, to the very best of it's ability, to be the color you want.

Q: What is the very best paint, should I decide after a couple of paintings and I find I am truly enjoying oil painting, that I might be willing to invest more money in my paint?

A: M Graham. There's a genuine and general consensus amongst oil painters that talk about it on the web: M Graham is the best. I have a few tubes of the stuff and I LOVE it. What makes it special? Instead of the typical Linseed oil vehicle, M Graham has walnut oil. I cannot even begin to explain how lovely and thick-yet-spreadable M Graham is. AND it adds unbelievable texture to paintings.

Q: I don't want to invest in expensive oils just yet, in case I find I don't much care for it. What is a good oil paint for a beginner and yet remains true to color and has a nice consistency?

A: I use Lukas Studio Oil Paint and find the colors to be spot-on, even in the hues, except one should order Cadmium Yellow LIGHT hue if ordering from Lukas. They're a German company and only sell to US customers via Jerrysartorama.com. You absolutely cannot beat the price for the quality! Most of the 37ml tubes are only around $5.

Q: Just how much oil paint does an oil painting take? What size tubes does oil paint come in? And what should I order when just starting out, before I know if I really take to the art?

A: Oil paint comes in mostly four sizes from smallest to largest (well largest is actually cans/tubs of the stuff, but that isn't really applicable here, so we'll stick with the three sizes of tubes): the tiny tube is 12ml, and isn't very cost effective, because even if you are doing a Bob Ross, you'll find yourself likely out of paint before you are even finished. The average, and workable size is 37ml, and provides enough paint for numerous paintings. The large tube is anywhere between 150-200ml, and is typically bought for working artists/studios. The ONLY time I would suggest a 200ml tube to a beginner is in Titanium White, as you will find yourself using quite a bit of it, especially when making your own "Liquid White", using the wet-on-wet painting method and doing a Bob Ross. 


Q: Great, I am ready to order, what's the most basic and simple list of oil paints I can order to really produce an array of colors via mixing. . . and/or what is the most common paint colors Bob Ross uses?

A: Grab a pen! I am going to list the paint colors Bob Ross uses first -- since those asking for this blog want/need them. Then I am going add a few more colors that I use often in painting, and are a good choice to have in your paint box!  

Bob Ross' Palette:

Titanium White

Phtahlo Green

Phtahlo Blue

Prussian Blue

Midnight (or "Lamp" Black) Black (Midnight Black is a more transparent black, but I believe Bob Ross might be the only one selling it these days, but have a look around on the internet and see if you can find some. In the meantime, Lamp Black works just fine)

"Dark" or "Burnt" Sienna (Bob says "dark" but again, he might be the only one selling it, burnt is basically the same color)

Van Dyke Brown

Alizarin Crimson (this is one of those expensive colors. The closest "hue" I have found is in Lukas Studio, but I also have a tube of the "real stuff" in M Graham, and it is hard to beat!)

Sap Green

Cadmium Yellow (discussed above, again, the best "hue" is in Lukas Studio in Cadmium Yellow LIGHT hue)

Yellow Ochre

Indian Yellow

Bright Red (also know as Primary Red, or Carmine works well)

And that's Bob Ross' palette. Now for some additional colors I really like and use in my paintings:

Viridian -- it's a gorgeous, deep, emerald green. The kind of green of ferns and jewels. A nice addition to the pallete even when doing a Bob Ross. 

French Ultramarine -- another shade of blue, much closer to primary blue than Phthalo or Prussian, but a bit darker/bluer.

Cobalt Blue -- again, intense blue color, and I'm sure everyone knows what color "cobalt" is

Cerulean Blue: this lends it's way closer to sky blues and on the lighter side of the shade

Payne's Grey -- it's *almost* black, but has the shades of blue and grey shining through. It's a great color if you want something to be very dark and almost black, but not so stark.

Burnt and Raw Umber. If you already have Burnt Sienna and have to choose one, pick Raw Umber.

Raw Sienna -- a lighter, creamy brown.

Venetian Red -- is almost the color of blood, but can also be the color of roof tiles and all things clay pottery

Rose Madder or Permanent Rose -- it's a very hard color to mix from reds. Adding white makes a lovely pink

Magenta -- a deep pink-purple-red. Again, it's primary and as such it's very difficult to "mix"

Violet -- a true purple

Lemon Yellow -- an extra bright yellow

Cadmium Red Light -- it's an orangey-color and makes beautiful and bright oranges when mixed with birght yellows like the Cadmiums or lemon yellows. It's also a great color to have on hand, along with yellow ochre, for making light and medium flesh tones.

Alright so now you have you basic paint color list? What now? Well here we go! Sign up with Jerry's Art O Rama and receive their coupon codes in the mail -- and typically an introductory 25% off coupon! You can also try Dick Blick .com. I have found Dick Blick and Jerry's pretty much keep in tune with each other as for prices, as they are each other's competitor. While Blick doesn't have Lukas Studio, they do have M Graham and are also worth checking coupons for! Richeson Oils is also looking to be a promising oil paint brand and s cuyrrently on sale at Jerry's!

Lukas Studio: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/oil-color-paints-and-mediums/lukas-oil-colors-and-mediums/lukas-studio-oil-colors.htm

M Graham: http://search.jerrysartarama.com/search/Brand-M_Graham_%26amp%3B_Co.--Size-37ml--keywords-m_graham

http://www.dickblick.com/products/m-graham-artists-oil-colors/

And whom do we order what from? Well I pretty much went this way: the "expensive oils" like Cadmium Yellow and Alizirin Crimson I splurged, and with a coupon -- bought the M Graham. I even bought an Umber and a Sienna. Where I wanted bright, beautiful and authentic color with gorgeous reliable texture, I paid a few dollars more. With the more basic and easily made paint, I went with Lukas, like Yellow Ochre and Titanium White and Carmine. And I even bought a few big tubes of Windsor & Newton because they were on sale at Michaels, and you just can't beat 40% off!

My paint box!

Now that we know how and where to buy the oil paints, what do you store them in? Well I would say a regular old shoe box, BUT, oil paints like to leak OIL, and carboard likes to spread oil and then leech into whatever it's sitting on. You can buy a fancy, cloth-lined and handled box like mine when it's on sale ($10) or just buy one of those rubbermade handled bins and maybe line the bottom with a paper towel. Entirely up to you. Go free with a shoe box and mind where you set it, if you want. The only thing you need to be careful of is that oil paint is flammable, and acts funny if it gets too hot or cold. So don't store it in the attic or in the basement or even in the garage. Try to keep it nice and cozy at room temp, and no where near a heat source or open flame!

So now that we have the very basics covered, let's move onto a few things you'll also need for succesful oil painting.

MEDIUMS
You'll hear a lot about "medium" when you get into oil painting. The most basic and typical oil painting medium is a 50/50 mix of linseed oil (or walnut oil, which can be purchased in the same place as linseed oil, but is a bit more expensive, and they all can be found near the oil paints in your local craft store) and paint thinner. When Bob Ross says "thin the paint for your liner brush with paint thinner" in his show, try using this medium. It dries less quickly. It can be repaired easily if you hate it (with a Q-tip if your doing fine line work!), and yet it still dries in half the time as all the other oil paint.

My oil painting medium mix, and my well used squeeze-bottle!

Japan Drying Oil. Add to paint for some gloss and extra fast drying between coats. Great for portraits.

There are many "mediums" than can be used in oil painting. Basic linseed oil is one you want to buy. I also buy Grumtine, which is a special paint thinner with the scent of oranges derived from real orange oil, and that is what I make my basic oil painting medium out of, and it's what I consider my "splurge" as it's between $6-$10 for a small bottle. There's Japanese Drying Oil which adds a nice gloss to your oil paint, and also dries that layer in a few hours/one day rathern than days of letting it dry on it's own. This is good if you are not using the wet-on-wet Bob Ross style of painting, but actually waiting between layers, as is often the case in detailed portraits and other types of paintings where you just can't risk a mixing of colors. There's also "Quick-Drying Spray for Oil Painting" that comes in an aerosol can and can be sprayed onto oil paint and allow you to paint again by the next day.  

Quick Dry spray allows you to add more layers without mixing colors in a matter of hours instead of days!

So between the paint thinner you already bought to clean your brushes and to use as a medium, and the linseed or walnut oil -- you'll need a capped, smallish plastic squeeze bottle or two to keep your medium in. Mine looks like it's well used (and it is) and I keep it handy in my easel to add to my pallete whenever I need it. And the golden rule of oil painting is "thin paint sticks to thick paint" (as you've probably heard Bob Ross say on his show). Well it's true, and if you have trouble getting paint to stick to paint? Thin it with your 50/50 medium then apply it -- but dont do it on a layer about to receive more paint! Or you will make mud of your colors! There are mediums you can explore in the future, but for now, all you need is a cheaply purchased squeeze bottle with a 50/50 mix of paint thinner and linssed oil.

GESSO

If you've never heard of this painting primer, let me give you a brief description. Gesso is a uber-fast-drying mix of water, chalk, glue, and tint. The basic Gesso is white, but you'll find Bob Ross often refers to Black Gesso and Gray Gesso. MOST canvases sold in the mass market at art supply stores are already primed in white gesso. Which mean you have nothing to do until you spread on the liquid clear or liquid white or black. Also called magic white, magic clear, and magic black for the wet-on-wet oil painting method. There is recipes for Gesso online. There's aerosol cans of spray Gesso too. We like to buy the nicer Gessos in Liquitex brand (use your coupons! Even for the cheaper Gessos) and keep both black and white Gesso on hand. If you are planning on doing a Bob Ross, you're probably going to want both, as he often calls for Black Gesso to prime a canvas, and sometimes gray. And why would anyone buy gray gesso when white and black are so easily mixed? And another good reason for having the Gessos on hand is to cover a painting on a canvas you consider a fail. Don't throw out the canvas! Just gesso it! If it has a lot of thick oil paint texture? Sand it first, then gesso it!  Easy peasy, reuse them things!




LIQUID CLEAR, WHITE OR BLACK

This is applicable to everyone doing a Bob Ross painting, or learning wet-on-wet oil painting techniques. When he says he applied Liquid White or Liquid Black or Liquid Clear, he has basically applied a mix of 4 parts linseed oil to 2-3 parts tint/color. Or for Liquid Clear? Just plain linseed oil painted thinly across the canvas. Unfortunately the word around the artist internet campfire is that Bob Ross' Liquid Clear dries horribly yellow and ruins the painting. This saddens me and makes me wonder if the company carrying on in his name post-humeously is using really cheap grade linseed oil. I can't see Bob Ross selling anything that would become ugly and ruined with drying, he just loved art far too much. So stay away from his Liquid Clear and just use Linseed Oil, and for the Liquid White and Black: make your own. It's easy, grab a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid from your kitchen (smaller salsa jars are perfect! Same with Better Than Boullion jars) and mix four parts linseed oil to 3 parts titanium oil paint, and for black, 4 parts oil to 2.5 parts lamp black. Stir with a palette knife, and then shake the hell out of it. Store with a tight lid and use as necessary. You don't have to fill the jar, heck you don't even have to fill half the jar, a little goes a looooonnnng way. I used teaspoon measurements (roughly). Make sure to spread it very thin on the canvas!



















PAINT AISLE ITEMS YOU MIGHT CONSIDER AND THINGS NOT TO WASTE YOUR MONEY ON

Skip the fancy brush holder, a tin can works just fine. Need a brush cleaner? Try a coffee can with a lid, a small metal section of sturdy screen (hardware store) a half an inch off the bottom and filled about 1/4 full of odorless paint thinner. Brush your brushes along the screen so the thick paint pieces fall to the bottom. Take a large kitty litter bucket, bend a dollar store cookie cooling rack in half and use it to beat your brushes against to clear the paint thinner and paint and practically dry your brushes. You've seen Bob Ross "beat the devil" out of his brushes! Make an indoor one yourself so paint doesn't spray everywhere. Do everyone a favor and mark both items "Flammable" just in case. Use an old sturdy outdoor chair if weather permitting, you can go out and beat the heck out of your brushes in the grass. But do pick up some cheap little air-tight paint holders. If you only have a certain number of hours and your painting isn't finished? You'll be glad to save this expensive paint in the holders. Some are all joined like the paints of our youth. Others are individual air-tight clear plastic jars. I typically use 3-4 jars to store unused paint in after every painting session.

Ledt over, air tight paint storage.

Also, oil paint can be frozen! I learned this recently, and boy, I was stoked to hear it. You just need a container slightly bigger than your palette and room in your freezer. When you want to pain? Take it out and defrost in a sunny, warm spot.

Cooling sheet bent in half and stuffed in kitty litter tub with a lid -- voila'! Brush Cleaner!

My lidded coffe tub I pour odorless paint thinner in, and clean my brushes. I change the thinner every few paintings.

Don't forget the squeeze bottle for your medium!

I use an old pate container to hold linseed oil to apply "liquid clear", and a jello cup for gesso.

Painter's masking tape. You'll use it more than you know, especially if doing Bob Ross.

Raid the kitchen! Empting a can of corn? Save that thing! Got a nice jelly jar with a lid? Guess what holds liquid white and black? Your kitchen, and what you might consider to be trash before, now suddenly becomes a dizzying array of wonderful painting tools!

You'll need paper towels in your studio. I cannot stress how much you'll use paper towels. From your hands, to wipe excess paint of a brush, to test brush cleanliness after dunking and banging away. You dont need the heavy duty blue ones, just a medium quailtiy that isn't full of lint. You can also use the used paper towel to soak up odorless paint thinner. You do not want to dump that in the drain or outside, it's best tossed in the trash.

You'll also need Varnish Finish for your paintings. I have seen some artists say they use a spray finish when their painting is complete, and then after 6 months -- that's how long it takes oil paintings to dry -- 6 months, -- they apply a coat of painted-on final varnish. So when you finish a painting, mark it on your calender then go back and give it a final coat of varnish after the 6 months. Let that dry. Then you can gift it, sell it, hang it where you want, etc. All these finish varnishes, both spray and painted-on can be found near the oil paints.

A sketch book and a basic set of drawing pencils is also a good idea to have on hand. Ocassionaly a "great idea' for a patining hits you, and being able to store allt hese great ideas in one place is super helpful. And nothing beats sketching for learning shading and tone ! It's a worthwhile investment to painting.

My personal sketch book and a painting that "came to me".

FLOOR PROTECTOR

If you are painting in your home, in a nice area that can't suffer paints drips like a concrete studio floor -- never underestimate the saving power of Thirft Stores! I suggest that since oil paints is oil and can seep through cloth, you get those cheap packs of plastic drop cloths, or Dollar Store table cloths, and throw an old sheet over it. Voila! Your floor is safe!

WHERE TO STORE DRYING PAINTINGS

Paintings hanging to dry.

Now that you know oil takes a half a year to dry, you're probably wondering how the heck your going to let it dry! Nails and a hammer, and a spare wall where they can peacefully hang out of dusty drafts or direct sunlight. Not in weather extremes either, as that'll make the paint crack, and that would just suck after all your hard work! So if you have a spare room or an office, hang them paintings up! I even have nails over a window in my studio that receives very little direct sunlight in a day and they hang over that. Once the oil paint is no longer tacky feeling, it can be set on it's edge and allowed to dry undisturbed in a closet or wherever you like. Again, just keep them out of temp extremes, prolonged direct sunlight or dusty areas.

And that's that! I think we have covered about all there is to set up a home studio for oil painting. Good luck, and if you have any questions? Leave them in the comments,  we'll be glad to answer what we can! Thanks for reading!      

K.C. Pedro
Most photographs were taken by my lovely daughhter: Ms. Eden Daniels.