Greg Mason paints goes into depth with this extended introduction to oil painting tutorial
This tutorial is an introduction to oil painting and uses my tried and tested three-stage technique of underpainting, colour layers and finishing touches. Along the way, I’ll talk about the materials I use and show you how to use them to achieve a successful painting. Oil painting offers limitless opportunities; for me, it is one of the most exciting mediums. This demo is designed to show you how I approach it… but there are hundreds of other ‘right ways’ to paint in oil, so take from this whatever is useful to you.
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Before we even begin painting, let’s talk about preparation and kit, starting with surfaces. There are many different surfaces available to the oil painter. Cradled panels give a lovely smooth surface, and the cradling makes them strong and prevents the panel from warping over time. They are essentially gesso-primed wood – a material that’s been used by artists for centuries. A more modern alternative is Aluminium DiBond panel, another super-flat surface that’s incredibly strong and light. I often use this while travelling for these very reasons.
Another more traditional option is linen stretched over wooden supports and primed with a transparent primer. In this demo, however, I’m using a traditional cotton canvas over wooden stretchers, rated at 335gm. Canvasses are classified by weight, and a simple way of interpreting this is to understand that the heavier the material, the thicker the canvas will be and the more resistant it will be to the pressure of your brush. This particular canvas is an exhibition-grade material, and it’s already primed with gesso and has a lovely textured surface.
My first step is to prime the canvas again, but this time with a tinted layer. It’s not essential to do this, but I like to cover up all the white canvas surface from the very start with a tint that loosely corresponds to some of the colours in my subject. Here, I’m using an off-white coloured gesso, which is an acrylic-based non-absorbent primer. I’ll let this dry overnight as I’ll be painting in oil paint on top of this, and if I don’t let it dry, the oil will react with the water-based acrylic.
Oil paint is basically pigment suspended in linseed oil that dries slowly on exposure to air. It can be thinned in a variety of ways to make it flow and create washes (a bit like watercolour). It can be mixed with drying retarders to make it stay wet even longer than normal, or it can be mixed with drying mediums like Liquin to improve flow and reduce drying time.
Traditionally, brushes for oil painting were made of natural bristle and even sable. Today, modern synthetics perform very well in replacing these materials, and also have some advantages if you look after them well enough. I tend to use both soft synthetics in short flats and stiffer synthetics (more like bristle) in both short and long flats. I have hundreds of brushes, and to be honest, brush choice is a personal thing in terms of what works best for each artist. I always say that the mark you are going to make is determined by the brush in your hand, so don’t just pick up any brush; go for a specific one in the best quality brand you can afford.
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For step one, I’m going outside. Whenever I can, I like to start my paintings on location as this gives me a much deeper…
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