12 Awesome Tutorials To Improve Your Oil Painting Skills

Of the different types of paint, most artists would agree that oils are the hardest to master. However, they’re also regarded as the finest type of paint because of the rich colours they produce and the lasting effects they have. We’ve gathered a series of tutorials and guides on oil painting to help you develop your skills, pick up new techniques and create stunning oil paintings.

  1. A simple guide to the basics of painting with oils

Oil paints can be tricky to work with. Watch this tutorial to find out the dos and don’ts of oil painting and to find out about the different types of paint (artist grade vs student grade) and the basic supplies you’ll need for a successful oil painting session.

2. Another useful guide to the basics of oil painting

Watch this video if you’re a beginner looking to find out more about oil painting, or if you’ve already started painting with oils and simply want to pick up some new tips.

3. Learn all about what colours to have an your palette

Deciding what colours to have on your palette can prove tricky; this video should make it easier for you to decide which ones to include.

4. How to decide what brushes to use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATyorIU_kTQ

When painting with oils, it’s especially important that you choose the right brushes to work with, as the brushes you choose can have a big impact on your painting. Watch this tutorial to learn why it’s important to carefully select the brushes you work with.

5. A tutorial on using painting knives with oils

This tutorial offers advice on how you can use painting knives to improve the quality of your work. The artist shows how painting knives can be used for creating landscape paintings.

6. A guide to blending and brushwork

Learn these two techniques and you’ll be on your way to mastering painting with oils.

7. A tutorial full of useful ideas and techniques

This tutorial offers you tip, tricks and techniques that apparently you won’t get from other videos. Watch and you’ll no doubt learn a bit more about how to perfect your oil painting skills.

8. A guide to mediums and fat over lean

Watch this tutorial to find out what mediums are, what fat over lean is, and how both can be used to improve your oil paintings.

9. A guide to glazing

Glazing is a technique that involves applying thin layers of glaze, a sort of varnish, to a painting to give its colours more prominence and to make them richer.

10. A guide to painting a wintry landscape using oils

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jla2OPT–6k

Once you’ve watched this tutorial, you should be able to confidently paint any sort of landscape, not just wintry ones.

11. Tutorial for tips on painting still life in oils

This video explains how to draw still life objects using oil paints without having to draw them first.

12. Learn how to paint realistic water with oils

Water can be especially tricky to paint, though it isn’t impossible. Master the art of painting water with this tutorial.