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Learning how to become a good oil painter is a difficult undertaking. In fact, it is more than likely one of the most difficult painting mediums to master. Things like color mixing & theory, perspective, techniques and materials can really intimidate a beginner artist.

So how do you get the most out of your oil painting and become a more accomplished artist?

You must make it a point to learn the fundamentals of oil painting, practice often and have an enormous amount of patience.

You must start with the fundamentals of oil painting first. You cannot expect to produce Rembrandt quality paintings in the beginning. In fact, the first paintings you produce will probably be a lot worse than you may have anticipated. Frustration will more than likely come into the picture (pun intended). They key is to learn from your mistakes and do not let them defeat you.

So what are some of the fundamentals of oil painting? What information should you study and learn first?

Below are some topics of interest that you should definitely study further when you have time:

LEARN HOW TO DRAW

You will be amazed at how much learning how to draw will help improve your oil paintings. In fact, years ago art students were not even permitted to pick up an oil painting brush until they learned the fundamentals of drawing. My advice would be to find a few good books on drawing fundamentals and start there. Drawing is an art form all by itself and you should not be expected to master drawing as an art form, unless you want to of course.

Here is an excellent book to help you learn drawing fundamentals:

“The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence” by Betty Edwards

COLOR THEORY

You MUST learn about color theory if you plan on producing quality works of art. If you don’t understand how colors work, then you might as well hang up your brushes now. There is much to learn about colors like temperature, hue and intensity and how colors interact with one another. This is a very important aspect of oil painting and must not be overlooked.

Here is an excellent book on color theory:

“Exploring Color: How to Use and Control Color in Your Painting” by Nita Leland

PERSPECTIVE

Learning about perspective will teach you how to translate a 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional canvas or other support. Learning perspective is a necessary ingredient toward producing convincing oil paintings.

Here is an excellent book on perspective:

“The Art of Perspective: The Ultimate Guide for Artists in Every Medium” by Phil Metzger

MATERIALS

Materials to an oil painter are like what a guitar is to a guitarist. A guitarist cannot play without his instrument nor can he play without understanding how his instrument works. Your painting materials are your instruments. They are what enable you to express yourself, so learning more about them is pretty good idea. Get to know the different kinds of brushes and what they do. Know your paints. Not all colors behave the same. Some are more transparent or opaque than others. Know your supports and the difference between them. The list goes on.

Here is an excellent book for learning more about oil painting materials:

“The Oil Painting Book: Materials and Techniques for Today’s Artist” by Bill Creevy

TECHNIQUES

There are a myriad of oil painting techniques that you can utilize to create your paintings. So much so, that it is beyond the scope of this article. Techniques like wet on wet, glazing, alla prima, knife painting, etc. should all be explored. Working with various techniques will help you develop your own unique style.

Here is a great book on oil painting techniques:

“The Encyclopedia of Oil Painting Techniques: A Unique Step-by-Step Visual Directory of All the Key Oil-Painting Techniques, Plus an Inspirational Gallery Showing How They Can Be Put into Practice” by Jeremy Galton

LEARN FROM THE MASTERS

Masters like Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt van Rijn , Johannes Vermeer and many more, were all able to successfully translate our 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional surface in such a way that it grabs the viewers attention and keeps it there. Their paintings engage the viewer and bring them back time and time again to look some more. Why? What is it that these paintings have that make them so popular? Well, one way to find out is to study them. If at all possible, make it a point to visit a museum as often as possible and study the works of the masters. Find paintings that grab your attention and draw you in. Then, when you have time, try to find books and other resources on those artists so that you can learn more about them and their techniques. When you are ready, pick a painting that you are quite fond of and try to reproduce it.

Here is a great book on learning from the masters:

“How to Paint Like the Old Masters ” by Joseph Sheppard

The search for better ways to use green products, methods and technology leads facility managers to painting strategies that not only consider the welfare of the environment and incurs lesser costs, but at the same time still maintain high quality paint performance.

Some of these paints and coatings practices are the application of a second coating that not only requires little surface preparation, but guarantees longer life to the building and stronger protection against daily wear-and-tear. Another is proper paint storage and disposal to extend usefulness of paint for future projects. Another is the careful measurement of the area to be painted so that only the right amount of paint will be purchased, eliminating the cost of extra and unused paint. Lastly, there is the use of recycled paint as a greener option.

Recycled Paint

Recycled paint offers cost-saving opportunities and lesser dangers to the environment while still providing quality finish to buildings. Any water-based and latex paint can be recycled. For latex paints, recycling is done either through re-blending or reprocessing.

Re-blending involves re-mixing the paint and screening to eradicate any solid materials to improve consistency. Only neutral-colored paint and coatings can be re-blended, hence they are more appropriate to projects such as undercoating, graffiti removal, or exterior painting — where aesthetics is not an issue.

Reprocessing includes the addition of new components to the recycled paint, making the paint available in more tints and a wider range of applications.

For recycled paint sources, facility managers often turn to paint and coatings dealers who have passed certifications standards. The Master Painters Institute offers certification programs to recycled paint manufacturers.

Benefits of Recycled Paints

Some of the major benefits of using recycled paint and coatings are lesser hazards and zero waste disposals that lessen the danger to the environment. Another benefit is lesser costs due mainly to lower expenses, zero waste disposal costs, and lower transportation costs (because recycled paint is produced locally).

A performance and price comparison of recycled and non-recycled paints confirmed the economic and environmental viability of the former. The case of the Portland Water Bureau who used 100% recycled paint to re-paint their water tanks resulted to 75% lesser costs and generated cost-savings of $3,500 for the project.

Challenges in Adoption of Recycled Paints

One of the main problems in the adoption of recycled paint and coatings is the linkage gap between recyclers and users. To strengthen this link, the Internet has been used as a medium to bring recyclers and their markets together. Governments like the state of Michigan also sponsor an online directory listing for recycled materials.

To market recycled paints and coatings further, the EPA allied with environmental agencies and conducted a performance comparison of recycled paints and ordinary paints. The results for recycled paint were generally positive, such as its good performance in metal surface applications, user satisfaction and willingness to reuse, strength and resistance to various environment conditions, and cost benefits. Minor constraints such as wood surface non-adherence and color match problems were encountered.

Painting contractors know that paint and coatings play a crucial role in the green building trend sweeping the nation today. Because of the decline in construction brought about by the financial crisis, the green building idea is taking root and getting wider attention from construction stakeholders who not only appreciate a non-polluting and environment-friendly method of construction, but also welcome the significant cost reductions to construction projects.

The construction industry’s interest in green building projects challenges paint manufacturers and their raw material suppliers to ingeniously produce environment-friendly paint products and materials that comply with environment standards without sacrificing quality performance. The products are now populating the market, ready to be used by painting contractors in many facility projects.

Environment-Friendly Paints and Coatings

The result of paint manufacturers’ paint reformulation efforts is apparent in the wide array of green paints that painting contractors can chose from. One product is a result of many years of polymer research leading to a new and improved latex paint that eliminates the use of toxic solvents. Without the inclusion of such harmful solvents, air quality is maintained during and after painting application projects, protecting painting contractors and building tenants at the same time.

The presence of VOCs or volatile organic compounds is also a major environmental problem in regular paints. VOCs are harmful materials to the environment, polluting the air and causing health risks to humans. To address this problem, paint manufacturers make it one of their stringent goals to develop new products that contain little to zero VOCs.

Another coating innovation is the infusion of water-repellent characteristics to external coatings, resulting in a “self-cleaning” feature wherein dirt and water particles simply slide off the painted surfaces, leaving the building surface clean and impervious to soiling and the effects of the weather. The building surface remains dry and maintains its color over longer periods of time.

Green Raw Materials

Raw material suppliers have also been busy researching and formulating green materials. A new line of emulsion polymers, for instance, help paint manufacturers develop low-VOC and low-odor paints without the aid of detrimental coalescents.

As with paint manufacturers, raw material suppliers are determined to lower VOC in paints, hence a wide variation of low-VOC raw materials have emerged, from zero-formaldehyde solutions and neutral-PH wet-state preservatives, to multi-purpose additives and dry films that meet the standards for green paints.

Suppliers take VOC compliance to innovative levels with green ingredients designed for all types of coating applications, as well as shorten the application and drying time of paints, to the benefit of painting contractors and building residents. Biocidal products that contain almost zero organic solvents are also another area of enhancement, allowing paint to be manufactured more safely and easier to apply by painting contractors.

Green Building from Green Paint

Almost-zero VOC solutions that are less-harmful during paint manufacturing, application, and post-application are of paramount importance not only to paint manufacturers and raw material suppliers, but also to painting contractors, building owners and tenants. Even minute traces of VOCs must have no place in paint solutions to comply with green standards and ensure the building’s viability and sustainability.

The demand for green buildings is driving painting contractors to use only green paints and coatings. In response, paint manufacturers and their suppliers develop eco-friendly paints made out of environmentally-safe materials. These layered responses allow for a successful implementation of the green building trend to most commercial and residential facilities in the country.

As a painting contractor for many years, I have witnessed many blunders by well meaning homeowners who simply don’t understand just how unpredictable gloss paint can be on interior walls. In an effort to achieve durability and scrub ability, many sprint off to purchase satin or gloss paint without taking into account the hurdles that will shortly become very noticeable. With their dreams of rich color tones that gloss paint affords and the scrub able persona of the paint, some homeowners reason they simply can’t go wrong.
Most painting contractors would agree that one could certainly make a suitable line of reasoning for using paints with sheen; then again most homeowners are not aware of the problem to using glossy paint on their walls.

Below are problems coupled with using gloss paint.

1. One of the most widespread problems with using gloss paint is it causes minor defects in your walls to become detectable. Defects that are veiled by flat paint suddenly come alive when using satin or gloss paint. If you receive a fair amount of sunlight through windows in the room, it will be even more perceptible. Sheetrock tape joints that are faintly raised or depressed can become evident. Uneven texture in the walls can become visible, etc.

2. Paints with a sheen are notorious for causing a halo effect around trim. When walls are rolled in a room, the roller nap leaves a different texture than what a brush leaves when cutting in wall paint around doors, windows, baseboard, and crown moldings. Light reflects differently from the texture left by the brush than from the textures left by the roller nap. This is a very annoying problem that can ruin the appearance of your freshly painted room.

3. If you are planning to paint gloss over existing flat walls, you really need two coats of paint to avoid flashing (unevenness of sheen throughout the wall). Two coats improve consistency of sheen and enhance color tone. This of course, increases your cost.

If you must have sheen on the walls, then follow these suggestions

1. Use very low sheen paint. The use of eggshell, or satin sheens will help minimize the above problems associated with gloss paints.

2. Prepare your walls very well. Some of the problems may be beyond the scale of what you or the painter you hire can do. A sheet rock contractor may be your best preference for major wall repair.

3. Always cut your walls in first using a brush. Then proceed to rolling the walls. After the walls have been cut in with a brush, then roll the wall paint with a roller and nap within a quarter of an inch of your trim. Alternatively, you can apply blue tape to all your trim which will allow you to roll up to the trim. This will go a long way in reducing the halo effect. Additionally, obtaining a smaller roller frame and nap will allow you to reach tight areas a standard size roller can’t reach. If you touch your trim with the roller, then clean the paint off the trim with a cloth immediately.

4. Be sure and budget for two coats of paint to achieve the look and feel you want.

Low sheen paint can give you the richness and dept of color with reduced problems in particular in rooms that do not get a lot of light. If you are going to use flat paint, then understand not all flat paints are alike. Top of the line flat paints will clean with much less damage to the wall than lower quality paint. Make sure it is a scrub able paint. When you wash flat paint you should use a sponge with water and soap. Never use a cloth. Cleaning with a cloth will polish the surface, causing sheen to appear at that spot. My suggestion as a painting contractor is plan your project well. Consider the quirks of gloss paint and budget in view of that. Weigh the pros and cons of using sheen on your walls.