Here are the essential oil painting supplies that I recommend for beginners
When starting to oil paint, I recommend beginners start with just these 4 basic oil painting supplies
1. an oil paint set
2. small canvas panels (or value-priced stretched canvas)
3. an oil paint brush set (or use brushes you already own)
4. an oil paint medium
Optional:
5. an easel
6. a palette to mix your paints on.
7. a palette saver to keep your paints from drying
8. painting knives instead of using brushes
Supplies to dream about:
9. a pochade box (so cute) for traveling and painting outside
10. Belgian linen canvases. These are considered premium canvases.
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Why I’ve chosen these oil painting supplies for beginners
I know from experience how confusing shopping for oil supplies is:
- there are so many choices!
- labels are too vague
- every teacher recommends something else (ugh!)
But I also think there’s another problem: most advice given to beginners isn’t actually the best for them.
From my experience, most teachers recommend their favourite items. These are great …for professionals … but but can be counter-productive for a beginner.
“What if I ruin it? It’s so expensive!”
Not good!
Want instructions on how to set up your mini painting studio with stuff you can find at home?
Download my FREE Quickstart Guide to Oil Painting.
You’ll also get my 10 steps to a real fine art painting – a simple process that makes oil painting easy!
1. Oil Paint Set
Why buy a set?
Buying a paint set is usually is less expensive than buying single tubes.
It’s also simpler. The colours are pre-chosen for you. This is helpful for an absolute beginner because there are a lot of different pigments (colours) to choose from. It can be overwhelming to learn about them all, and what makes them special or different.
What’s important is to just get started. And that’s why painting sets help. They have pre-chosen the colours for you. You just need about 8 colours to be able to mix all the colours in the world.
If you want to buy your own individual colours, or have inherited some oil paint colours, I recommend using the split-primary palette (click to read the article). You will just need to buy 7 individual tubes of paint.
Which type of oil paint: traditional or water-mixable?
Water-mixable paints can be thinned and cleaned with water which means you don’t have to worry about solvents. Solvents are thinners and cleaners for traditional oil paints. Common solvents are turpentine and OMS (Odourless Mineral Spirits). You have to be careful when painting with these because they emit aromatic compounds which need a properly ventilated space.
If you have proper ventilation, or are going to paint outside, then you needn’t worry about solvents and can choose whichever paint is calling you.
I use both. I find that when I am painting small, there is very little difference between the two paints. The water-mixable dries faster on the palette, and may be a little less slippery, but if you want a solvent-free house, water-mixable is perfectly fine.
#DumaDoArtTip Don’t worry too much about which type of paint you want to try. You can mix your water-mixable oil paints with traditional ones. But just take note that the water-mixable paint will lose its ability to be thinned with water and will act like traditional oil paints.
Which grade: professional or student quality?
Most reputable paint brands have a student quality and a professional quality oil paint. Student quality paints are less expensive than artist quality paints because they have less pigment in them and/or they use a lower quality pigment.
Good quality pigments are important for mixing colours. You will be able to mix more beautiful colours when you use artist quality paints than the student quality.
#DumaDoArtTip: Buy the grade you can afford but that won’t make you “miserly” with the paint.
As a beginner, you don’t want to worry about wasting paint. In fact, you should make it your goal to waste a lot of paint!
Beginners should be playing freely and liberally with the paint. That’s how we learn. So if you feel using artist-grade paints will make you anxious, or worried about wasting paint, choose student grade paints. They are fine for students.
#DumaDoArtTip: You can always start with a student-grade paint, and then start adding artist-grade colours one by one. This will allow you to experience the difference between the paints, too.
Important: don’t buy cheap, dollar-store brand paints … you will never get nice colours from them. That’s way too frustrating. Pigment quality matters when it comes to colour mixing, so stick with name brands and at least student quality.
BONUS Content: don’t forget to download my Quickstart Guide to Oil Painting. It’s got my 10-step process for creating perfect paintings (almost) every time. And it’s FREE!
Which brand of oil paint?
Ok, now that we have chosen:
- water-mixable or traditional, and
- artist-grade or student grade,
Now we can choose a brand.
NB: This website is reader supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission but at no cost to you.
Student quality Paints
Traditional oil paint sets
Winton Oil Colour
Winsor & Newton, Winton Oil Colour Paint Starter Set.
10 x 37 ml Tubes.
Gamblin 1980 Oil Colors
Gamblin’s student quality paint set comes with 8 x 37 ml Tubes, plus a cradled wood panel and solvent-free gel.
Artist quality Paints
Traditional oil paint sets
Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour
Winsor & Newton Artists professional quality paint, 10 X 21 ml Tubes.
Water-mixable oil paint sets
Artisan Winsor Newton
Artisan is Winsor Newton’s water-mixable oil brand. 10 x 21ml Tubes.
2. Canvas panels
You can paint on anything that’s deemed suitable for oil paint: that includes canvas, wood, hardboard (Masonite), copper, aluminum, and even glass.
But for beginners I recommend small canvas panels because:
- they are ready to go and need no further prep (wood and hardboard need sealing and priming with gesso), and
- they are really economical. A 5×7 inch value brand will cost under $ and they are perfectly fine. Even dollar store brands will do if you are practicing.
- You can finish a 5″x7″ painting in an hour or 2. It’s not too hard to find 2 hours to paint, so that means you will paint more and FINISH more. And the more paintings you finish, the better you will get!
The difference between dollar-store and pro-grade canvas is that the latter is designed to last hundreds of years. It’s doubtful your early pieces will be hung in a museum, so you don’t need to worry about longevity. Beginners need to work on QUANTITY. And that’s where cheap canvas panels work great.
#DumaDoArtTip: Buy lots of small canvases. Stock up during sales! Or buy in bulk. You want to practice OFTEN!
Blick Economy Cotton Canvas Panel Classroom, Pack of 24
Stock up on these when you’re practicing. Two dozen 5″ x 7″ for just over 50 cents each! Perfect for exercises and studies.
Blick Studio Cotton Canvas Panels and Packs
These panels are better quality than the economy pack, but still under a $1 if you buy in bulk. They are built not to warp. Double-Primed cotton, and acid-free.
Fredrix Value Series Cut Edge Canvas Panel Packs
Good quality but at an incredible price because the edges aren’t wrapped. Primed, 100% Cotton.
3. Brushes for oil paints
Natural bristle brushes are the traditional choice of oil painters. They are the stiffest and make those nice brush marks in the paint.
But you can also use synthetic brushes. These are softer resulting in smoother brushstrokes. A lot of artists are now avoiding bristles that come from animals because of stories of cruelty.
They come in different shapes and sizes.
You won’t know what brush you will like until you try it, so try them all. If you have brushes at home, try those. Some painters like expensive brushes, and some like cheap brushes. My favourite painter uses housepaint brushes.
#DumaDoArtTip: use bigger brushes than you think you need. Most
beginners use brushes that are way too small. Your biggest brush should
be about 1/6 the width of your canvas. So if your canvas is 6″, you need
a 1″ brush.
A small note: If you are painting with water-mixable oil paints, you will notice your natural bristle brushes will get soft and soggy over time. This is because the bristles absorb water. So, if you are using water-mixable paints, you may want to stick with synthetics.
Natural bristle brush sets
Blick Academic White Bristle Set – Small, Set of 6
This set would work well for small panels. Remember to have one brush at least 1/6th – 1/8th the width of your panel.
Princeton Aspen Series 6500 Synthetic Brushes and Sets
I really like this stiff synthetic hogs hair brush. You can buy a set of 4, or individual brushes.
4. Oil Paint Mediums
Paint mediums are added to paint to change its flow and texture.
For traditional oil painting, I recommend starting with artist-grade linseed, walnut, or safflower oil. These are called drying oils because they will dry to a hard finish. These are also the ones used when making oil paint, so they are a good basic choice to start with.
For water-mixable paints, you will need to buy specially made mediums for water-mixable paint.
If you want to paint solvent free (solvents like Turpentine and OMS have aromatic compounds that can be toxic over time) choose solvent-free mediums.
You can also use mediums to clean your brushes while painting.
Artist-grade drying oils
Not only are these solvent free, but you can use these oils to clean your brushes while painting. That is a nice way to keep your painting area solvent free.
Blick Studio Linseed Oil
Perfectly fine for beginners and white label brands are less expensive than the others.
Liquin by Winsor Newton
2.4 ounces. Safflower doesn’t yellow as much as linseed oil, so many artists prefer it.
water-mixable oil Mediums
Cobra Artists’ Water-Mixable Oil Painting Medium
If you are using water-mixable oil paints, you need to make sure you buy a water-mixable medium or your paint will lose its ability to dissolve in water.
Daniel Smith Water-Soluble Fast Drying Linseed Oil
If you want your oil paint to dry faster, special fast-drying formulas may be for you.
Solvent-free oil Mediums
Specially formulated without solvent, for solvent-free painting.
Gamblin Solvent-Free Gel Medium Keep your studio free of the toxins with solvent-free gel
5. Easels
TABLETOP Easels
Great for small spaces, or if you’re painting small paintings. They just sit on our table, and can be folded away easily.
Dick Blick’s tabletop easel with storage
This easel is perfect for beginners. It has space to store your paints and brushes, and is portable. The solid back is also good for small canvases. Keep this near your painting area so that you will always be ready.
Best Deluxe Tabletop Easel
This deluxe easel is crafted. It will hold canvases up to 36″ tall.
studio Easels
These full-size easels are sturdy, won’t wobble, and will hold large canvases. These are a bit of luxury for artists who have the space.
Blick brand studio easel
This is a great, entry-level full-size easel, that is heavy enough to be sturdy, but still portable enough to be moved around the studio
Best Deluxe Studio Easel
For the serious artist, this well-built and sturdy easel will hold large easels and last a life-time.
6. Palettes
if you’ve read my QuickStart Guide to Oil Painting, you will know that I just use an old glass picture frame as my palette. It fits perfectly into my Stay Wet Palette which keeps paint from drying, so I’m happy. But here are some other options.
Disposable palette pads by Blick
No more clean up woes. Just tear off a sheet, use it for your painting session, then throw it away..
Wood palettes
Handcrafted by the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, these beautiful, lightweight wood palettes are the first truly ergonomic three-point design. They evenly distributes the weight between the hand, arm, and torso/hip.
7. Palette saver
Masterson Sta-Wet Palette Seal
Store your palette in an airtight container: it will keep your oil paint from drying for many days.
8. Painting knives
Gamblin painting knives
Knives are another way to apply paint to a canvas. They make it easier to apply paint on top of wet paint without disturbing the layers underneath.
Supplies to dream about:
9. Pochade box
Jullian Travel Pochade Box and Aluminum Tripod
Perfect for plein air painting and travelling, this easel has storage space for your supplies and is easily mounted onto a tripod
10. Belgian linen canvas
I hope you can see how starting to oil painting can be simple
Making oil painting easy for beginners to understand is my specialty.
These 4 oil painting supplies are all you need to start. They will cost less than $100 to buy. And since we are painting small, they will last a long time.
All you need is a table by a window! Natural light is the best.
So go ahead, say yes to painting. It really is so fun.
And if you want to learn more about oil painting:
- my Free QuickStart to Oil Painting Guide explains it all to you in an easy to understand way. Plus it has my Duma Do 10 painting process. Just 10 easy-to-follow steps that help you complete a successful painting!
- If you want an itty bitty oil painting practice that won’t take a lot of time, but will help you master oil painting fast, then you’ll love my itty bitty Intro to Oil Painting course.
Ready to try oil painting?
Download my FREE Quickstart Guide to Oil Painting.