Oil Painting Tutorials

All of the tutorials on this page involve the use of oil paints. Oil painting dominates the world of artistic painting when it comes to medium choice. Oils have stood the test of time and are still the preferred choice of painting medium for many artists.

Oil paints are slow to dry, which allows the artist to work areas in a painting for a long period of time. This can be viewed as an advantage, but also a disadvantage if the desire of the artist is to cover areas of color with a new one. Drying mediums are available that can speed up the drying times of oil paints to help with this. Oils can be used on just about any surface. The most popular surfaces for oil painting include canvas and panel.

Take a look at the tutorials below to improve your oil painting techniques.

OIL PAINTING LESSONS

Knife Painting with Oils
Learn how to paint with painting knives in this video in which a landscape painting is created.

How to Choose The Right Paint Brush
Everything you need to know about paint brushes. Brush hair types, shapes, marks, and parts are all covered in this video, comprehensive guide, and infographic.

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Oil Painting with Painting Knives - Full Length Video (1:08:47)
Paint a landscape in oils using painting knives in this recorded live lesson.

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Water Mixable Oil Paint Part 1 - Full Length Video (59:43)
Learn how to paint with water mixable oil paints in this first part of a series of recorded live lessons.

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Water Mixable Oil Paint Part 2 - Full Length Video (1:06:19)
Water mixable oil paints are used to further develop the still life painting in this second part of a series of recorded live lessons.

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Water Mixable Oil Paint Part 3 - Full Length Video (1:06:49)
Water mixable oil paints are used to complete the "fall-themed" still life in this third part of a series of recorded live lessons.

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Oil Painting Basic Forms- Full Length Video (1:20:30)
Learn how to blend oil paint in this full length recorded Live Lesson on painting basic forms (cone, sphere, cylinder, and a cube).

The Interactive Color Wheel
Learn color theory the easy and fun way with The Interactive Color Wheel.

Digital Oil Painting
A step by step walk-through of the creation of a digital oil painting using Adobe Photoshop.

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Alla Prima Painting with Oils - Full Length Video (56:08)
Paint a still life in one sitting using a wet into wet approach (Alla Prima).

Oil Painting Master Series - Introduction
An introduction to the video series, "Oil Painting Master Series".

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Oil Painting Master Series - Materials Part 1
A look at preparing a support for painting. Concepts include stretching a canvas, applying gesso, and preparing panel.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Materials Part 2
A look at preparing a palette, creating your own oil paint from pigment, and the brushes that are typically used for oil painting.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Pre-Painting Fundamentals
A look at adding paint to a palette, arranging warm and cool primaries, mixing secondaries, and using medium.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Blending Oil Paint
A look at isolating values in a painting and using the "stitch method" to blend smooth transitions of tone.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Underpainting
A look at creating an underpainting in which values and subjects are blocked in quickly.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Indirect Painting
A look at adding glazes to an underpainting.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Direct Painting
A look at adding paint to the surface using premixed hues and values.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Painting on a Toned Ground
A look at the advantages to painting on a toned surface.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Painting Cloth
A look at finding geometric shapes in cloth and directly painting cloth from observation.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Painting Clouds
A look at painting simple clouds in an oil landscape.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Portrait Study Part 1
Part one of a portrait sketch demonstration. In this tutorial, the portrait is drawn using thinned oil paint.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Portrait Study Part 2
Part two of a portrait sketch demonstration. In this tutorial, the portrait sketch is completed by applying layers of mixed skin tones.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Wet into Wet Technique
A look at the painting technique known as "wet into wet".

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Oil Painting Master Series - Knife Painting
This tutorial looks at applying heavy applications of oil paint with a painting knife in order to create a textured painting surface.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Impressionist Approach
A look at approaching a painting as an "Impressionist" by making bold applications of color and textures in order to capture light within a scene.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Non-Traditional Painting
A look at non-objective painting and using non-traditional tools and materials to apply oil paint to a support.

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Oil Painting Master Series - Painting Transparency
A look at painting transparency with oil paint. A glass of water is demonstrated in this module.

Oil Painting- Portrait
Learn the basics of oil portraiture in this free painting lesson video.

Oil Paint- General Info
General information about oil painting can be found in this free painting lesson including brush types, surfaces, and traditional techniques.

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