Art Materials Required for Oil Painting Courses
Oil Paints, Artist Mediums, Canvases & Easels for Adult Art Classes
Oct 6, 2009
The student who wishes to begin art class will need guidance on what to buy in terms of oil painting, and which art suppliers offer value for money. Providing a shopping list for all art students will help provide an even footing for the painting classes to begin.
Which Oil Paints to Buy for Oil Painting Lessons
There are various types of oil paints available within art shops. The two main manufacturers, Daler Rowney and Winsor & Newton, are well-established and respectable producers of oil paint. They produce traditional oil paints in two main grades:
- Artist Quality Oil Paints: Designed for professionals and contain organic pigments, these oil paints are therefore quite costly.
- Student Quality Oil Paints: Are the cheaper alternative, yet still retain exacting standards. A set of 37ml or 38ml tubes, with a large tube of white will serve the art student well.
- Artisan Watersoluble Oil Paint: An alternative for those who are allergic to substances such as solvents. Artisan also simplifies the materials required, as only water is required to thin the paint.
The following pigments in oil paint should cover every requirement and includes the three primary colours: The colours are: Titanium white, permanent rose, cadmium red, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, pthalo blue, ultramarine, viridian, burnt sienna and burnt umber.
Art Brushes for Fine Art Classes
The beginner need not purchase lots of oil painting brushes. In fact, only two or three for the purposes of detail and impasto are required. The following are recommended:
- Size 1, 3 and 6 round sables for detail (a synthetic substitute is fine)
- Size 6 and 10 flat or bright hog hair or other stiff brush for impasto
Mixing Palette
A 12 x 16 inch (approx) piece of laminated wood or plastic, or an old plate would serve well for mixing oil paint. Alternatively the art student may stretch a piece of clingfilm over the palette and tension it with bulldog clips. The clingfilm can easily be disposed of at the end of the painting lesson without having to clean the palette.
Artists’ Mediums
Low odour artist’s spirits such as Sansador serve better than turps, which emit powerful odours and are harsh to the brushes. If the art student wishes to experiment, a small bottle of linseed oil will come in handy for applying glazes, or impasto medium for thickening the oil paint in impasto art.
Oil Painting Canvases, Dalerboards, Panels & Oil Sketching Paper
Oil paint can be applied onto canvas, wood, card or paper. Ready prepared supports such as stretched canvases are available in many outlets in fine, medium and coarse grain. Dalerboards and oil painting paper might work out a little cheaper. However, preparing one’s own painting surfaces with gesso or acrylic polymer primer will cut cost drastically.
Artist Easels
Unless one wishes to take up life drawing, an easel is not necessary. A drawing board with bulldog clips to hold the painting in place might serve just as well.
Other Oil Painting Materials
The following might serve useful for the art student.
- A tool box to store the materials
- Palette knives
- Pots
- Rags
- Pencils, eraser and scalpel
Art Materials to Buy for Oil Painting Art Instruction
The art student need not buy lots of art materials when embarking upon an oil painting course. The art teacher however should set out a handout listing the essential art materials required for the class. This will help the students feel they are on a level footing when they begin art instruction.
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