Oil Painting on a budget, the basics I will need to paint?

I am interested in buying oil paints but I'm afraid since I am new to oil paints I don't know where to start with. I was looking at tubes of paint but they are about $7 for a tube!! If i plan on getting about 12 tubes of color it will be expensive.


I know i need oil paint, brushes, and a palette but what kind of paper can i use? Are mediums required?


What about water mixable oil colors?Oil Painting on a budget, the basics I will need to paint?
A decent student grade paint is all that you should be looking for when you are concerned about the costs. If money was not a consideration I would steer you to a level of paint that would introduce you to oil painting at the highest level you could appreciate at this stage. You should use the highest quality of materials that you can afford. Yet there is a point when quality is wasted so your materials should also be appropriate for the level you are at.





Winsor %26amp; Newton Winton Oil Color is what you should look at. The colors in 1.25 fl oz (37ml) tubes range from only $2.99-$6.89 on sale at Madison Art. All colors are the $2.99 with the exception of three:


http://www.madisonartshop.com/wintonoilp鈥?/a>





These colors will enable you to paint any subject whether the figure, portraits, still life or landscapes:





Burnt Umber $2.99


Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue $2.99


Yellow Ochre $2.99


French Ultramarine Blue $2.99


Viridian Green $6.89


Cadmium Red Hue $2.99


Magenta $2.99


Titanium White $2.99 (get two $5.98)


Ivory Black $2.99


Burnt Sienna $2.99


Lemon Yellow Hue $2.99 *


Cobalt Blue Hue $2.99 *





Total = $42.77





* You could skip Cobalt Blue and Lemon Yel making this $36.79





Mediums are used for a variety of specialized purposes. When a medium is used it should be used in the smallest quantity. The Winton line of paint is fairly consistent straight from the tube. At this point you do not need a medium. Unless you understand what a particular medium is designed to do and desire that effect avoid using anything mixed in your paint with one exception. It will be a benefit to you at this stage to have your paint dry at a reasonable rate. Oil is a slow drying paint. This varies depending on the pigment, type of oil and thickness of your layers. Use M Graham Walnut Alkyd Medium and your paint will generally dry overnight depending on the color and thickness of your layers. It is a safe product with virtually no detectable odor.





It is $6.51 for a 4oz. bottle (scroll down to the bottom of the page):


http://www.artsupply.com/mgraham/oils.ht鈥?/a>





Without overloading you when you do not have very much experience with oil painting, you generally work thinnest to thicker and follow a rule known as ';fat over lean'; which means you do not add mediums or additional oil to the first layers of paint. Often the first layer is a wash created with paint straight from the tube thinned with turpentine or mineral spirits. The oil content of the paint mixture increases with each layer if it varies at all. You do not want to have more oil in the lower layers with less oil in the outer layers.





Oil paint oxidizes and dries from within not through evaporation. If the lower layers have too much oil they will shift while the outer layers dry. This change in structure can cause wrinkling and cracking in the outer layers.





It is best to keep things simple and pure.





Do not use any of the M Graham Walnut Alkyd Medium in the first layer. Do a block in of basic shapes with slightly thinned paint from the tube. Wait til this is dry. If just a thinned wash it usually is dry overnight.





Oil paint is considered thoroughly dry after 6 months. Because it oxidizes and dries from the inside the process is more like thoroughly cured. Dry to the touch or surface dry is misleading. This just describes a stage when the paint does not lift or wipe off when touched.





Only use gum turpentine or mineral spirits for thinning paint and mediums.





Avoid using products like Turpenoid for anything other than washing brushes.





Recommended Brushes:


Robert Simmons Signet Series (Excellent Sale Ending 12/4/09)


I use mostly Filberts and Flats


http://www.aswexpress.com/discount-art-s鈥?/a>





Creative Mark ProStroke White Bristle -a bargain though not as nice as RS Signets


(also on sale ending 12/4/09)


http://www.aswexpress.com/discount-art-s鈥?/a>





For canvas start out with canvas pads and some prestretched canvases like Fredrix. If you like something and want to hang it the pads can be framed and you can mount them on a wood panel if desired. With the pads you can do a lot of painting at very little relative cost. They are great for practice and you do not need to feel like you are wasting a better canvas on experiments or studies.





For a palette use a sheet of glass with a white or gray (better) paper underneath. You can also use palette aper that comes in a tablet but the glass is idea, especially for mixing. The glass can come from an old frame or you can buy one from a shop.Oil Painting on a budget, the basics I will need to paint?
ive used the mixable colors before and I dont see anything wrong with them, they blend nicely. If you are going to use those then you should think about varnishing the paintings afterwards (when completely dry) so they look more saturated and vivid. The mixables (as well as some expensive oil paints) can look dull when dry.





colorwise you are going to want cadmium reds and yellows, dioxazine violet, alizarin crimson, titanium white, mars black, sap green, hunter green, burnt sienna, raw umber. You dont necessarily need an orange- the cadmiums can make nice oranges, but you will want separate purples and greens. If you are going to buy the mixables then you should just buy a pack of them instead of separately. Also, if you still want real oils then check online on ebay, amazon, and stores like danielsmith.com and dickblick.com for sales.





the only paper you could use is gessoed canvas paper. Oils have to be used on gessoed canvas or gessoed wood panels because they can ruin surfaces over time if they are not properly prepared.





Mediums aren't required, but they might be nice to use if you are wanting to cover a lot of space or certain mediums help speed or slow the drying process and amount of glossiness. You should check out gamblin products.