3 Tools You Didn't Know You Needed for Oil Painting

Hi fellow Artists! Today I am sharing three totally essential oil painting tools that you may not have even realized you needed, but will never be able to live without once you have used them!

(And I even include a fourth one at the end that you could literally implement today for free!)

The Goods:

(Here are a few affiliate links to the items I'm sharing today. Any purchase here helps to support my channel at no extra cost to you - thank you!!)

Tube Wringers:

Metal:https://bit.ly/3lDCo7O

Plastic: https://bit.ly/3EkuDu8

Mahl Sticks:

Metal: https://bit.ly/3SbXPZW

Wood: https://bit.ly/3IkwyAa

Chamois so you can make your own: https://bit.ly/3KjpoOX

Neutral Lights:

Table Clamp: https://bit.ly/3kaNJMl

Standing: https://bit.ly/3EmoLQZ

(and there’s more through these links if you peek around!)

2.19.2023

Testing New Oil Paints :: Paul Rubens Art

I was recently asked to review a set of oil paints from a relatively new art company, Paul Rubens Art. I had never heard of them, and I’m assuming you probably hadn’t either, so I was excited to test them out for both of us and see how well they stand up to some of the more familiar brands I have in my paint box.

Upon first opening the set of 18 colors I was pleasantly surprised to see the actual paint swatches on the tubes. That’s usually a sign of real care taken when preparing the paints because the label is not generalizing the color, instead it’s showing a sample of that specific batch, making it all the more accurate when choosing what paint to buy or use.

You can watch the initial unboxing here…

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Large bright tubes of fresh oil paint sure are inviting! Now let’s bust them open and see how they fare…

First Impressions..

First impressions are that they are very uniform in consistency and texture. Often oil paints vary in consistency due to the variety of minerals and their chemical makeups represented in different colors. Usually artists simply make up for the inconsistencies by using a medium such as linseed or walnut oil to get the paint to their own preferred thickness as they mix their colors.

I have used quality brands before though that were more consistent in their viscosity that I believe was just accounted and adjusted for during the manufacturing process to be more easily used and mixed by the artist right out of the tube. One of my all time favorite brands literally never needs medium mix in it.

In a nutshell, consistent viscosity could be a positive or a negative, depending on how ‘oiled out’ the pigment is in order to reach the desired flow right from the tube, as well as the preference of each artist. Some artists like more control and others just like to be able to mix effortlessly without needing to work the pigment.

Now getting into them..

The Cadmium Red and Lemon Yellow both had a very smooth flow and were easily spreadable with good opacity on the canvas.

The Permanent Purple was a little dark right off the bat, but adding varying degrees of Titanium White produced nicely sumptuous tones, which is a plus considering how difficult purple can be to make by mixing red and blue (oddly way harder than you’d think, to those who haven’t tried it!).

I would also say that the brightness and the ease with which the various paints mixed was very appealing - they are like painting with something you might find in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! The red and yellow mixed well into a vivid orange, and I was able to make some nice ombre transitions quite easily with those and from the Cad Red to a Yellow Green.

Now for the real test!

Next I decided to test the Paul Rubens sets against some of the brands I have in my arsenal that are a bit pricier and probably more familiar to you to see how they hold up. Most of them actually did quite well and had no noticeable discrepancies!

The only con I found was that a few of the colors, like the Cadmium Blue and Burnt Umber, were a little less intense pigment wise. They came out of the tube in vivid colors, but did not exhibit quite full capacity when spread over the canvas. As I tried to lay on a substantial layer, the brush would scrape away the paint and reveal the white of the canvas coming through a bit. If you are someone who paints with a really thick application then this would likely not be an issue for you but for someone like me who tends to blend relatively thin layers, I would feel the need for an underpainting.

I would also say that as a person who paints people quite often, I would also like to see at least one more brown in the collection. I most often use ochre yellow, burnt sienna and raw umber. This set has a good Ochre Yellow, but the Burnt Umber fell a little flat for me. I think having both a raw umber and burnt sienna is important because then you have both a warm dark brown as well as a cool dark brown that are both seen often in skin tones. But of course no paint set will have every single color an artist wants, so it doesn’t necessarily make a set undesirable that you may need to add a few colors once you figure out exactly what you need, just like when you become better at anything and learn how the equipment works more precisely and what benefits your personal skills the best.

Otherwise, I think it’s a pretty good spread of colors. Especially if you are interested in painting landscapes or nature scenes of any kind as there are a lot of blue and green hues especially.

So would I recommend this set??

I honestly think as a beginner set it’s quite good, especially for the price. Paul Rubens paints are vivid and there is enough variety that a new oil painter would be able to render many different subjects before needing to make their collection more robust. Some students get all flummoxed up with how much medium to use and since these are quite smooth already a newbie wouldn’t really have to worry about adding any themselves. They do feel better quality than some of the ‘student grade’ oil paints I’ve sadly experienced in my youth, and if a student brought this set into one of my ‘Introduction to Oil Painting’ classes I would be just fine with them using these all semester.

As far as for professionals, I think a few of the pigments would be noticeably different than pricier, more established brands. But honestly, advanced artists don’t really tend to buy sets of paint because they know exactly which colors they need and are usually just replacing single tubes when they go to the art store.

Paul Rubens has so generously shared with you….

Here is the link for Paul Rubens oil paints on Amazon. They are actually having a Black Friday Sale this weekend starting today (Thursday) and going until Monday Nov 28th where this set is a whopping 20% off! Not bad for perhaps an Xmas gift for that young artist you know who is dying to try oils but doesn’t know where to start (goes great with my ‘Complete Guide to Oil Painting’ video series too!)

____

I have been compensated for this review but the product link is not an affiliate link. Hope you learned a lot today! Happy holidays!

11.24.2022

The Complete Guide to Oil Painting is Here!!

It’s here! It’s finally here!!

The Complete Guide to Oil Painting has finally arrived in full to my YouTube channel, my Skillshare classroom and as a Workshop on my website! There are oodles of places you can watch it… even for FREE!

That’s right, you can watch this series as a playlist on YouTube or as a totally free course on my Skillshare, or you can download the series off my website for a small fee so that you can have it with you ready to work from whether or not you have internet access.

Enjoy this intro video today, then pop down below for links to all the places to see it in full!

And if you find yourself needing any new art supplies, using my special link helps to support the creation of my videos at no extra cost to you - thank you!!

1.24.2021

Expanded Oil Painting Palette :: Complete Guide to Oil Painting

As you get more familiar with oil painting, you will probably notice that you can't quite mix every color you need with the limited palette I introduced to you in this Basic 5 Color Palette video.

Today I'm sharing with you a second round of oil paints that I find very useful to have around. While you get more proficient as a painter you will surely find even more colors you need, however by then you will really feel comfortable around the art store.

My Oil Painting Basics Complete Guide debuts here and completely for free on my Skillshare Sunday January 24th! Here's the YT Playlist so far (Sorry about the delay! I wanted to have it ready for you before Xmas but moving 3 states away for an exciting new artsy job delayed thigs just a bit:)

Supplies

If you need any supplies, using my special links helps to support this channel at no extra cost to you so thank you very much!

Alizarin Crimson

Cadmium Red

Cadmium Orange

Cadmium Yellow

Lemon Yellow

Yellow Ochre

Burnt Sienna

Raw Umber

Magenta

Ultramarine Blue

Cobalt Blue

Cerulean Blue

Iron Oxide Green: (can’t find) +\- Chromium Oxide Green

Payne's Grey

Titanium White

1.17.2021

How to Clean Up After Oil Painting

Do you know how to properly clean up and dispose of old paint and rags once you've finished oil painting? Cleaning up is one of the more nerve-wracking components of oil painting for many newbies since it deals with chemicals that could pose a potential danger to you and your studio.

Have no fear though, your Birdie is going to break down exactly how to safely and effectively clean up your brushes, your paint palette, and even how to clean out your turpenoid jar when the time comes.

Make sure you catch my 'Complete Guide to Oil Painting' for TONS more great info!

1.10.2021

How to Mix Skin Tones in Oil Paint

Today is a long requested video about mixing skin tones with oil paint. And to make mixing these skin tones extra easy for you, we're only going to be using 4 colors plus white to create a large variety of skin tones for anyone across the world. These are the same five oil paints I recommend picking up as a beginner, so if you'd like to see how to create most of the other colors of the rainbow using just these same paints check out this video here

Check out my Complete Guide to Oil Painting here (More videos coming soon so make sure to save it!)

FREE Skillshare workshop coming Nov 2020!

Need any of these paint colors? Any purchases through my special Dick Blick link helps to support this channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Titanium White: https://bit.ly/2Uqiugo

Cadmium Yellow: https://bit.ly/30e3iWh

Alizarin Crimson: https://bit.ly/2S9HO8t

Ultramarine Blue: https://bit.ly/308ydmU

Raw Umber: https://bit.ly/2xrsAF5

11.8.2020

Oil Painting Thinners and Mediums

Don't get confused when it comes to oil painting thinners and mediums. There are a lot of options out there, but once you know exactly what these do, you'll feel confident stocking up for your studio on your next visit to the art store.

Paint thinners like turpentine or mineral spirits or terpenoids are to oil what water is to acrylic, and I recommend you get the least chemical-fume smelling, aka odorless, one for your own health and safety.

Mediums help oil paints retain varying degrees of elasticity as well as effect dry time, but they all operate in much the same way.

Check out my Complete Guide to Oil Painting here. (More videos coming soon so make sure to save it!)

10.18.2020

How to Blend Oil Paint Smoothly

Blending oil paints smoothly is actually quite simple and can be accomplished in a variety of ways depending on the feel you're going for throughout different ares of your painting. You don't need any specially-bought brushes to achieve these effects, and they're so easy you can implement them and improve your own works today!

Check out my Complete Guide to Oil Painting here (More videos coming soon so make sure to save it!)

FREE Skillshare workshop coming Nov 2020! https://www.skillshare.com/user/caleighbirdart

10.11.2020

Oil Painting Basic Color Palette

In keeping with sharing all my beginner oil painting technique and advice, today we'll dive deep into a great oil painting basic color palette. Along with the confusion of using mediums and paint thinners (video coming soon!), one of the most disconcerting things about oil painting is the sheer monetary investment in paints, brushes, and materials.

The good news is that you can start off with just 5 different oil paints to really hit the ground running by mixing a plethora of colors with a minimal oil painting palette. So before you wind up at the art store again wondering which paints to buy, let me break down the essential beginner artist oil paint colors.

Here are all the paints I recommend, and if you get anything through my special links it helps to support this channel at no cost to you. Thanks!

Titanium White: https://bit.ly/2Uqiugo

Cadmium Yellow: https://bit.ly/30e3iWh

Alizarin Crimson: https://bit.ly/2S9HO8t

Ultramarine Blue: https://bit.ly/308ydmU

Raw Umber: https://bit.ly/2xrsAF5

(Optional)

Payne's Grey: https://bit.ly/3arumV1

And find out all about the best brushes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOsnLq6dAXo

9.27.2020

Best Brushes for Oil Painting on Canvas

Going to the art store can get a little confusing so today we are talking about the best brushes for oil painting on canvas. You definitely do not need to break the bank in order to get a handful of the best oil painting brushes for beginners, you just need to be mindful about what the various types of bristles and what exactly you need for your chosen subjects.

I think it's really important for each artist to find out for themselves how to build their own personal brush collection based off of what they find themselves needing, but I wanted to include a few of my favorites.

If you purchase anything through these special links it helps to support my channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much!

Princeton Size 0 Round Brush: https://bit.ly/3bb05v9

Princeton Size 1 Round Brush: https://bit.ly/3gFb7cT

Da Vinci Size 2 Round Brush: https://bit.ly/3diLEEK

Da Vinci Size 2 Filbert Brush: https://bit.ly/2NdkwMv

Kolinksky Size 4 Sable Filbert Brush: https://bit.ly/3hy6Sk8

Bristlon Size 4 Flat Brush: https://bit.ly/2DZgbvC

Bristlon Size 6 Flat Brush: https://bit.ly/35yTCJE

Bristlon Size 10 Flat Brush: https://bit.ly/32nLvh0

Taklon Size 3/8 Angular Brush: https://bit.ly/3mj8b9S

Taklon Size ¼ Angular Brush: https://bit.ly/2RyvMpf

Size 2 Liner Brush: https://bit.ly/2XiUayS

Need anything else? https://bit.ly/36vvPr8

9.13.2020