SUPPLY LIST Introduction to Oil Painting Instructor: Ron Hauser Beginning Oil Painting This class is for beginning and intermediate students who want to brush up on their oil painting skills! Emphasis will be on familiarizing students with materials, techniques, color theory, and composition and will address the properties of oil paints, the mixing of colors, brush techniques, and a knowledge of under painting for depth and color. Plan to spend $65 to $100 for supplies and bring them to the first class. 1. Oil paint Oil Painting Supplies that every Beginning Oil Painter needs For beginners, I d suggest Winsor & Newton oil paint. It s a less expensive brand of oil paint, but the quality is fine. As far as colors go, here s a list of the must-haves: Titanium-Zinc White (the only large tube required), all others are standard size. Cadmium Red, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Pthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow dark, Cadmium Red medium, Indian red, Magenta (or Alizarin Crimson), Sap Green, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber (large tube), Flesh, Ivory Black (Not required at all). Buy each of these colors in medium size tubes. Technically those are all the colors you need, but you should also get a few greens and browns until you learn more about mixing colors. Pick up some Permanent Green Light, Burnt Umber, and Burnt Sienna to round out your palette. Please note: Occasionally Continuing Education courses are cancelled due to low enrollment. Cancellation decisions are made 3 days prior to the start date of a course. We recommend that you NOT purchase supplies and/or text books until you receive confirmation that the class is running. Continuing Education Department 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive Cottleville, MO 63376 636-922-8233
2. Brushes If you re just starting out, trust me, you won t need a ton of different paintbrushes. All you really need are a few natural bristle brushes in different sizes. I d suggest six: two small, two medium, and two large. They also do not have to be the highest priced. Packages are fine. If you re an oil painter you know that there are a lot of oil painting brushes available to choose from big, small, square, angled (my best choice to use), and everything in between. In the image above, you can see several common types of artist s paintbrushes: Round, Flat, Bright, Filbert, Fan, Angle, Mop, and Rigger. Besides the differences in shape, some brushes use synthetic fibers, some use natural hair, and some paintbrushes have a blend of both. I have several main brushes that I use; three of them are Angle, three Flats and three are Filberts, three are Rigger for fine detail painting. They re spread out in size, of course. If you re going to create paintings bigger than 18 by 24 inches, you should get a large paintbrush to speed up your painting process. I have an old house brush that I ve conscripted for use in my studio, and it comes in handy for blocking in large areas of paint or doing a neutral under painting over the whole canvas before I start. I will show you in the class. When it comes to synthetic versus natural, oil painting requires natural hogs hair brushes. Synthetic fibers are great for watercolor or inking, and can be used with acrylics occasionally. The average arts and crafts store might not have the best brushes (or paints for that matter) if you re planning on using oils. Go to an established painting supply store or order online from places like Dick Blick or Michel s or Hobby Lobby!
3. Turpentine (AKA paint thinner) Not Paint brush cleaner and conditioner Unlike watercolors or acrylics you can t clean up oil paints with just water and soap. Instead, you ll need to use turpentine to get the paint out of your brushes (and off your skin). An artist s most valuable tools are his or her brushes, and to keep a paintbrush lasting as long as possible can. It s important to get all the paint out of the bristles after painting. You re also going to need some liquid soap I use regular hand soap most of the time, but I ve also used Mona Lisa Pink Soap in the past and they both work well. The Pink Soap has some bristle conditioner mixed in, so it may prolong the life of your brushes better than regular hand soap. We will cover cleaning brush in class. 4. A regular pencil. 5. One Sharpie permanent marker. 6. Pallette When it comes to palettes, you don t have to be fancy. Whatever you choose, you ll need someplace to mix paint. Make sure it s big enough to hold all your colors AND have a lot of space left over for mixing. You can get a plastic box with a lid to keep your paints from drying out when not being used. 7. Comfortable, messy clothes If your clothes don t start out messy they ll get that way soon. Every painter needs a few painting outfits that they can get paint on, but make sure they re comfortable too. 8. A painter s easel (for use at your home studio) Easel is provided in class sessions. Every oil painter needs an easel but you may not need an expensive one right at first. At the very least an easel should be adjustable to your height (whether you like to sit or stand) and securely hold your paintings, whatever size they may be. 9. Canvas When you re ready to buy canvases, get a pre-stretched and pre-primed canvas then you won t have to worry about any preparation at all. Although almost any size can be selected for any given photo, here is our own recommendation for the smallest size which should be selected for any given number of subjects:
16"x20": 1-3 subjects, head shot or full body shot 4 subjects, only head shot or landscapes 18"x24": 1-4 subjects, head shot or full body shot 5 subjects, only head shot or landscapes 24"x36": 1-6 subjects, head shot or full body shot 6-8 subjects, only head shot or landscapes That s the list! Good luck and happy painting! Please note: Occasionally Continuing Education courses are cancelled due to low enrollment. Cancellation decisions are made 3 days prior to the start date of a course. We recommend that you NOT purchase supplies and/or text books until you receive confirmation that the class is running. Continuing Education Department 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive Cottleville, MO 63376 ƒ 636-922-8233
How to Paint with Oils Oil Painting is a very exciting and versatile medium. A new artist is presented with endless possibilities for creating art with oil paints. Oil Paint can be applied in a thick buttery fashion or thinned down to a watery consistency. It can be applied with a painting knife or with various brushes. You can paint with oils straight from the tube or mix them with an assortment of exciting mediums to create beautiful and unique effects. It is because of this versatility that oil painting is such a popular choice amongst new artists. How to Prepare a Canvas for Oil Painting Preparing a canvas for oil painting includes creating an under painting in a thinned amount of paint to lay down a base color to start your painting. The oils will work better on the surface an allow you not to have dry raw canvas spots in your canvas. I thin a base color and brush on before or after I make a basic sketch, and wipe it almost dry with a paint rag. Photo to an Oil painting - the Process Going from photo to painting is a multi-step process, which involves the following: 1) the photo. It all starts with an image, which can be any kind of photo. Pick a photo from the past or the present to be your subject to make your oil painting from. The using of old photos or even a photo from a magazine will be great to start with a can make a fine work of art... 2) Painting size. Once you have selected the photo you would like turned into an oil painting, you will need to select the painting size. I am going to suggest that you start with a 16"x20", 18"x24", and no larger than a 24"x36 for this 6-week 3 hour session. Although almost any size can be selected for any given photo, here is our own recommendation for the smallest size, which should be selected for any given number of subjects: 16"x20": 1-3 subjects, head shot or full body shot 4 subjects, only head shot or landscapes 18"x24": 1-4 subjects, head shot or full body shot 5 subjects, only head shot or landscapes 24"x36": 1-6 subjects, head shot or full body shot 6-8 subjects, only head shot or landscapes 3) Customize your oil painting. One of the many benefits of turning a photo to a painting is the possibility to do a custom oil painting. This means that you as the artist can make any type of modification to your painting. Here is a list of things which can be customized.
i) The background - If you do not like the background of the photo you have selected, or would like a plain studio background, then you can paint it ii) The clothes - If the photo consists of multiple subjects, and has them looking perfect for an oil painting, maybe their clothes color or style do not match for a single oil painting. You can change their clothes so that they match in style and color iii) Combining photos - Let's say you would like to have a family portrait. However, you do not have a single photo of all the family members together. You could round up the best photo of each family member, and combine all the photos into one custom oil painting 4) finally, choosing the right photo to painting Uniqueness: When you are transforming your photos to paintings, you want something that looks individual in recreating your special image. Above all else, you don't want the painting to look like an assembly-line approach. It must reflect you. Experience: Going from photo to painting is a wonderful way to same a moment in time. My hope is that this class will arm you with the information, resources and inspiration to hang in there and become the accomplished artist that you always wanted to be. If you have any suggestions or comments, please contact me at 314-805-8011 or e-mail rhauser@peoplepc.com. I also invite you to visit mu web site at www.colorimageart.com/ron. I do plan to have students display their work at an art show on St. Charles Community College campus. It is very rewarding to see your finished work on display with other classmates. Thank you & Happy Trails, Ron Hauser aka The Canvas Cowboy