Oil Painting Tips
Brush care - Your brushes are an expensive investment. If you treat them properly they will last for many years. When you buy a brush you will need to remove the sizing by gently bending the bristles or rinsing in odorless turpentine. Never wipe your brush back and forth on a paper towel. This will ruin the chisel edge. Gently pinch the brush in a paper towel between your finger and thumb and pull. I do not use turpentine in my classes. Use Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean the brushes after your painting session. Pour some soap in the palm of your hand and press the brush on its side in the soap several times before pinching the brush in a paper towel. Continue to clean until you no longer see any color when you pinch the brush. You do not need to rinse the soap from your brush after cleaning or before painting again. You do need to rinse the soap from the mop brushes. After they are clean, use liquid soap and wash and rinse well. Let the brush dry laying down so the water do not go up into the handle.
Surface Preparation - Masonite - Sand masonite lightly with a fine sandpaper to give it tooth. I use 220 grit paper. Wipe away the dust. Use a dense foam roller (paint dept. at Lowes) to apply a coat of acrylic paint. Keep rolling until the surface is evenly coated without excess paint. Wrap the roller in plastic wrap between coats. After it is completely dry, apply a second coat, and possibly a third coat if needed. The surface should be smooth with an eggshell finish. If it feels rough, sand lightly with a piece of brown paper bag.
Spray Drying - I prefer to use spray drying only in a classroom situation where time is a constraint. Use Liberty Matte Spray. Spray outdoors only and away from plants or vehicles. Do not breathe the vapors and let it dry before bringing back indoors. Remove your watch as it can gum up the parts. Shake well and then hold the can about 15 to 20 inches away from your piece. Mist lightly the first time to set the paint. Then spray well, but do let it run. If you spray too much it can turn yellow on light surface or milky on a dark surface. Do not spray in the rain. Wait for the spray to dry between coats. Apply 3 or 4 coats or until you think it is dry. Your surface may look fuzzy or powdery, but the tack cloth will remove it. Test to see if it is dry by wiping very lightly with a tack cloth. If you see color, spray again. If there is no color, wipe a little harder until the surface is clear of fuzz. The paint under the spray is still wet. Be careful of using too much Blending and Glazing Medium or pressing too hard as it may go through to the wet paint.
You must use good quality materials to paint well. If you have worn or cheap brushes, you will not be able to have clean edges or smooth blending. Student grade paints do not have as much pigment as artist quality paints and will not cover as well.
Do not expose your paint tubes to heat or freezing conditions.
Do not eat or smoke while you paint. Some paint colors have hazardous materials in them.
Label your materials. Use a permanent marker to mark all your painting supplies. It is easy to mislay items in a classroom. Nail polish or colored tape on your brush handle works well.
Thick, soft paper towels such as Viva or Job Squad are easier on your brushes and the paint does not bleed through as easily as cheaper towels. Cut your paper towels in quarters, you have less waste.
Baby wipes are good for cleaning oil paint from your hands, table, etc.
A piece of brown paper bag make a very fine sandpaper.
Use a kneaded eraser to lighten pattern lines and to swipe your mop over to clean between colors.
Pattern lines should be as light as possible and still be able to see them.
Keep your tack cloth and kneaded eraser in plastic bag to keep them from drying out.
Keep your oil paint mixes longer between sessions by covering with plastic wrap and placing in a ziploc plastic bag in the freezer. It will not last indefinitely, but for quite a while.
Blot & Mop - Place a single ply tissue over your wet painting and dust lightly with a mop to remove excess paint before spray drying.
When mixing values, as you go up in value (lighter) the values get warmer and brighter, as you go down (darker) the values get cooler and duller.
The right color or value is relative to what it is next to, or on top of, in your painting. It may look perfect on your palette, but not on your painting. Test it, then correct it if it does not look right.
If you think you might like to paint the same project again some day, cover your palette with plastic wrap and let the paint dry. Then place the palette with your instructions in the plastic document protector for reference. Be sure to write the project name on the palette.
