Art of Oil Painting - Practical Basics

By using right materials and techniques, all the artists can become a part of our history. Only the most permanent materials should be used, the ones that have been tested with the time or with special organization known as ASTM. Don't forget that all those materials have to be used wisely and with the right technique. Good painters are characterized not only by their ability to paint well; their mastery is in knowing how to use all those permanent materials. All that can be reached by studying from the right literature or with a good teacher. But it's not enough; you have to do some testing to make something by yourself and you need to go thru some small failures, it always happens with the beginners, so it's important not to give up. All those small failures will add some knowledge to your memory, and this will further you.

Painters always search for permanent Painting Surfaces, because they want their paintings to last for as long as possible, better forever. There are suggestions that the most stable support is a panel to which a canvas has been laminated. The canvas is adhered to the panel with neutral pH glue, then the canvas is sealed with a size, and after this the ground is applied. But you can use only the panel or only the canvas that is sealed with a size and having a layer of ground (take a look at the figure below). Which panel, canvas, sizes, grounds to choose is up to you, here you can read about different kinds of those materials and their properties.

Three kinds of possible painting surfaces

Oil colors are important too when speaking of paintings' life. Good oil colors are made from permanent pigments and quality oil. But we'll discuss it more properly in the "Oil Colors" section.