subject: What Not to Buy When You're Starting Out Oil Painting? [print this page] What Not to Buy When You're Starting Out Oil Painting?
Some paints and materials aren't necessary when you're first starting out. Either they're too complex in the way that they must be used, or they're too costly. Either way, they interfere with the learning process. In the store, you see an absolutely bewildering array of special paints, varnishes, resins, oils, driers, mediums, thinners most in expensive 2-ounce bottles! We cover some of the items here and encourage you to think before you buy:
Very cheap paints: Be careful buying very inexpensive paints, especially if the brand is unknown. Generally, student-grade is great for starting out, but you don't want to invest a lot of money and time on paints that are faulty. If you're in a regular art supply store, you can ask whether the store is familiar with the brand, how it differs from other brands, and whether the line of paints has any drawbacks.
Varnishes: You have no reason to varnish a painting unless you plan to hang it in a smoky kitchen or bar. And in any case, varnishing a painting too soon after it's painted seals in the curing action and interferes with the process.
Soft body paints: This product is just paint with more oil in it. The most common type of paint you see is a soft body white. White is usually thicker and heavier than other tube paints. If you want a paint that flows more or has a smoother consistency, you don't need to purchase these soft body paints. Just add some linseed oil to the regular paint on your palette.
Really big or small tubes: Sometimes getting a large tube of white paint is a good idea, because you use so much of it. But oil paint lasts forever (coauthor Anita Giddings has some tubes that are 30 years old). If you get the large tubes, the repeated opening of the tubes stresses the metal, causing it to break open. And then you have 100 ml of paint in your box. Yuck! We recommend that you get the regular 37 ml tubes. And don't buy the little tubes unless they're on sale; they aren't worth the bother.
Toxic pigments: Always look for the ASTM D 4236 seal on every tube of paint that you buy. Don't buy lead white, Naples yellow, or cobalt violet. Plenty of other colors have a similar appearance and are also safe substitutes to these colors. Look for hue in the name and read the label for warnings.
