To start, it is necessary to have something on which to paint. Many of those who oil-paint use masonite or specially prepared artist board, which is a canvas-covered cardboard. Others use prepared artist cotton or linen canvas, this being stretched over a wooden frame. This specially prepared canvas is first coated with a water-base glue sizing, the purpose being to seal the cloth fibers so that the paint solutions cannot come in direct contact with the canvas. After this a primer coat of white lead paint is applied.
Still others, however, thinking of the expenses involved in buying specially prepared canvas, have prepared their own. This can be either cotton or linen of a coarse weave stretched over a wooden frame and then given a base coat of paint. If the cotton or linen is wet when it is stretched, it will shrink and become tighter when it dries. The paint used as a base coat can be ordinary water-base latex wall paint, which works very nicely as a base for the oil colors.
Oil paints come in small tubes in a wide variety of colors. However, if you are a beginner, you may want to experiment with just the basic or primary colors. Primary colors are blue, red and yellow. By using these, all the colors can be made simply by mixing; black and white can be added if you desire. Green is a mixture of blue and yellow; orange, a mixture of red and yellow; purple, a mixture of blue and red. The browns are a combination of the three primary colors. Many inexpensive color wheels or charts are available to help beginners to know which colors to mix to obtain other colors.
Still others, however, thinking of the expenses involved in buying specially prepared canvas, have prepared their own. This can be either cotton or linen of a coarse weave stretched over a wooden frame and then given a base coat of paint. If the cotton or linen is wet when it is stretched, it will shrink and become tighter when it dries. The paint used as a base coat can be ordinary water-base latex wall paint, which works very nicely as a base for the oil colors.
Oil paints come in small tubes in a wide variety of colors. However, if you are a beginner, you may want to experiment with just the basic or primary colors. Primary colors are blue, red and yellow. By using these, all the colors can be made simply by mixing; black and white can be added if you desire. Green is a mixture of blue and yellow; orange, a mixture of red and yellow; purple, a mixture of blue and red. The browns are a combination of the three primary colors. Many inexpensive color wheels or charts are available to help beginners to know which colors to mix to obtain other colors.
