What do I need to start oil painting? How do I prepare the canvas?

According to Encarta:





Most artists today use commercial materials but some prefer to make their own paints in the traditional way. Oil paint consists of pigment ground in oil that dries on exposure to air. The pigments, or colored powders, must be lightproof, insoluble, and chemically inert. The oil is usually linseed but may be poppy or walnut. Sometimes varnish is added to the mixture, which is then ground. The stiff, creamy paste that results is packaged in flexible tubes.





The painting surface consists of a support, either a wood or composition panel, or more frequently, linen, cotton, or jute canvas stretched on a frame or glued to a board. The support is covered with a ground, a thin coating of gesso or other gypsum and glue, or size. The ground makes the support less absorbant and provides an even painting surface that is neither too rough nor too smooth. The ground may be white but is often given a toning coat of gray, tan, or pink.





Traditionally, oil painting proceeds in stages. First the design may be sketched on the ground in pencil, charcoal, or paint diluted with turpentine. Then broad areas of color are filled in with thin paint. They are successively refined and corrected in thicker paint to which oil and varnish are added. The paint is usually applied with brushes made from stiff hog bristle, although softer brushes of badger or sable hair may be used. Paint may also be applied with a flexible, wide-bladed painting or palette knife, or the fingers. The process may require only a few sessions or extend over months or even years.





Once the painting has dried, at least a year after completion it is varnished to protect it from dirt and to enrich the color. Because all varnishes eventually darken, the varnish used should be removable and eventually replaced.





Microsoft 庐 Encarta 庐 2006. 漏 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.What do I need to start oil painting? How do I prepare the canvas?
Looks good to me. I think you have it figured out although I buy mine and have added linseed oil to thin it out or give it texture. I usually paint a layer of white let it dry then go from there. I have never used varnish and you will need terpintine for cleaning brushes. Go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels or other art supply dealers look around if you are wanting to go abstract I would use a larger canvas and larger brushes. They can be pretty expensive but are also sold in sets.


Have fun I wish I had time to pull mine out and paint more often.What do I need to start oil painting? How do I prepare the canvas?
Buy a decent set of { http://pearlpaint.com/shop~ocID~8999~par鈥?/a> } tube colors, a mid-priced {nylon? bristle?} brush set and a couple of pre-stretched canvases or canvas boards. You'll need a palette knife, a couple of rags and some {odorless} turpentine. You might try a bottle of Liquin medium as well. ...Maybe some cobalt dryer or Japan dryer. Liquin should cover you though.





You don't especially need an easel or even a palette knife... you just need something to mix the colors. You can use a small sheet of glass, some of the china from the dining room or a piece of waxed paper as a palette.





You can manufacture a lot of the tools you need and not pay ';art supply'; prices. Don't bother with all of the junk you see advertised... the above list should be all you need to get started. You can add other stuff as you ';need'; it.





...I used to use an easel made from some of those adjustable shelving strips that you buy in hardware stores... I attached the strips to the wall and used the adjustable shelf holders to hold the canvas... it was cheap, held huge canvases securely and was really comfortable to use. {Of course you will want a dedicated wall for that sort of thing and probably a dedicated studio...} I have simply tacked canvas to the wall and painted on it that way... you definitely want a dedicated wall for that.





Check your library for books on process.
You can follow these steps or experiment on your own!!!
Buy oil paints that are more expensive, with better pigment quality. You can use different mediums to mix with the oil: walnut oil, which dries the paint faster; linseed oil, which slows down the drying process; or liquin, used for fine detail in paintings that use the glazing technique.


Instead of canvas, try using MDF (medium density fiberboard) gesso the board VERY lightly, then sand it until it is baby's bottom smooth. You must do this process about 7-10 times. This is how to prepare a panel.


Use soft vine charcoal to draw a very detailed sketch (well rounded modeling, shading and all) of your portrait.


Spray a fixative on the painting, let it dry...


Put a layer of prematura over the entire painting (50% base color...usually raw umber, burnt sienna or terra rosa, and 50% turps)


let it dry!


Start painting...first lights, then darks, then more lights...then color! Mix some sort of medium into the painting...