Loading... What are the basic supplies needed to take up oil painting as a hobby?

Something to paint on - canvas or board.

Something to prime it with - acrylic house paint will do fine. Professionals use Gesso.

Remember - paint is basically coloured glue. Surface preparation is critical. Some

base-boards (like wood) expand and contract over time. A well prepared base helps

to buffer this.

A charcoal stick for sketching prior to painting on top.

Some brushes.

A palette-knife.

Rags

Old clothes.

Somewhere safe to store wet work.

No cats or young children in the way.

Easel

A palette - you can use a white tile.

Solvent for cleaning brushes.

Soap - for cleaning the solvent off the brushes.

A medium like liquin or linseed oil (or both). Liquin speeds up drying.

Paint. You don't need black really. Dark brown and strong Blue will make a good black. You need white.

You can add as many colours as you like, but choose 6 to start with: a cool blue, warm blue, cool yellow, warm yellow, cool red, warm red. Many artists use only this or fewer colours.

As you get more experienced, pay attention to transparency and permanence.

Try to buy artist quality paints. They are more economical in the long run because they have more pigment than 'student quality'.

Paint in layers. Thick over thin otherwise it will crack.

Frame.

Picture hooks and wire.

Then maybe a book on composition and/or techniques and one on colour theory.

Oil painting tools and materials for beginners. Which are the best oil painting materials and tools to buy for a new artist? How do you choose the best art supplies? How do you avoid buying art materials that you don't need? This guide will help you get started with oil painting - economically. keep reading →

You don't need much when you're learning to paint in oil. When I started to paint some years ago, I only used primary colors tubs of paint(red,yellow and blue{black&white too}), some rags, cheap brushes,palette of pealable paper, turpentine, glass jars and ready to paint canvases.