OK. I thought about seriously starting to paint. And now I need your help.

Oils.
What do I need? Oils, paintbrushes and canvas is enough? Oh, and, can I start learning on simple paper? Can you say me all + and - about this medium?


Acrylics.
The same question. Is it OK to start painting on paper? What are the advantages and disadvantages?


And gouache...
Till now I thought they were for little kids to play. But yesterday my friend said that in her art class they paint with it. What you can say about it? What's the diff between it and oils or acrylics?


Which medium is the best to start with? And where should I start? I have painted some paintings in the past, but most of them is now in a bin... When you start a drawing, do you draw some guidelines on canvas or paper?

I like to use acrylic. You can use them straight from the tube just like oils or you can add water and use them for watercolour painting – although you cant lift out when they are dry. I use hog , sable and synthetic brushes which need to be washed straight away after use. If using straight from the tube then you can paint on just about any surface but if using like watercolour I would use a 200lb weight paper. And above all, don’t but cheap paint – they will look chalky and dull when dry.

I don't know about oils and gouache, I only use acrylic right now. I've read acrylic is cheaper than oils and it takes much less time to dry. (Acrylic takes about half an hour, oil takes a few days, I think.)

I'd recommend starting with acrylics. That's where I started. (I'm planning to try out oils in a few years when I'm more serious.)

I don't paint on paper. I tried that a few times (copy paper ) and it got all wrinkled. I used to cut up old cardboard boxes and paint straight on that (it was cheaper) but I would not recommend it for finished products. Right now I use canvas board- it's thinner and cheaper than regular canvases.

Hope this helps a little bit.

P.s. I've read gouache is thicker watercolors. I've never used it though.

I don't know about canvas board being cheaper - over here (and probably the same over there) you can get canvases very cheap from a $2 shop (that's what we call our very cheap shops that have syocks of products no longer sold etc. The canvases that you buy are stretched on frames but usually need to be gessoed to give a better surface as they aren't prepared that well. Or you could get some of the canvases that have a black & white image already printed on them ready to fill in a bit like paint by numbers (again the cheap shops usually have the pics that no-one wanted to buy). And again in order to get rid of the printed image you'd need to gesso ( maybe two layers). These are quite cheap ways to get canvases to work on without having a conniption over the costs. Also if you do make a hash of what you're doing or don't like it when ite done you can always paint over the top or re- gesso over the picture if you want a balnk area again.

One more tip that I picked up from Wet Canvas is that to transfer a drawing onto a canvas try drawing the finished image that you you want transfrered onto a sheet of paper in dark pencil or even felt tip pen, the person stated that he used glass ( but I think heavy, clear perspex would be safer) cut to fit behind his usual canvas size ( so that it fits between the inside the frame at the back of the canvas. That way you can plce your drawing behind the canvass then sandwich it in there with the perspex, and the light will come through from behind for easy transfer.

Hope that helps.



Sue

The difference between oils and acrylics is that oils are oil based and acrylics are water based. Oils take a lot longer to dry, while an acrylic piece might just take a few hours (or less) to dry.

For oils you need will also need linseed oil and liquin, and turpentine aside from an array of brushes (I suggest before diving into oils you look online for a tutorial about using them). Also whatever brushes you use for them need to only be used for oils. NEVER use your oil brushes with water colors or acrylics. I like oils because the colors stay vibrant as they dry. I cannot really tell you the minuses of this medium because all artists are different. Sometimes the slow drying of oils can come in handy, but sometimes they can be annoying because they dry so slowly and you have to wait to paint certain areas, and the paint can become muddy very quickly on those areas.

For acrylics you will need less materials, plus it's a lot less expensive. All you need are some brushes and some water! A word of advice, if you want to thin it down do it with water, if you want to thicken it up mix your paints with caulk (I suggest buying a couple pallet knives to mix your paints with, you can also use your knives as a tool to paint with). Also when acrylics dry they are at times a little dull in color. If you use acrylic varnish/enamel, and paint a couple or few coats over your pieces it'll make them shine and bring the colors out. I do not suggest painting on regular paper with this material because it will bleed through, and bend your paper up as it dries. Use canvas or bristol board. Personally I use acrylics a lot because they are cheap, and I know how to brighten them up. They dry very quickly, which can be a plus, but also a minus, depending on what you are trying to do.



I don't really know about gauche, although I've always wanted to play with it.


Usually when I start a painting I have already drawn a few sketches of it before hand just to practice the composition. Then I will draw my composition on a gessoed canvas and start painting. Basically I just draw lines, and fill in the shadowing and details with paint.


I hope this helps and I am not echoing too much of what people have already said.


Also I don't know if the boards are cheaper...sometimes they are and sometimes they arent'. I always look for sales when buying canvases. You can also make your own canvases for a lot cheaper if you have a heavy duty stapler and a saw and some canvas from the fabric store....but I don't do this because I am kind of afraid of saws...

Thank you all very much

To get started with painting in oils, really all you need are obviously oil paints, brushes, a coffee can that you can use to clean your brushes uses turpentine (sp) a type of towel to wipe your brushes off after cleaning. I know the art store here has this round type of screen that you can put down inside the coffee can - then you can rub your brush down there and it will help wipe off the paint from the brush while the turpentine cleans it. There are so many great oil painting books out there, especially for beginners that go through everything. Infact, I have some good ones that explain all the different types of "materials" you can use for oil painting, if you are interested contact me and I will scan it and send it to you.

Hi. oil painters everywhere. I just bought canvas panels, and a set of 18 color oils, i have turpentine and i just wonder if the linseed oil is a must or i can go ahead and start my painting without it. Another question is do i have to gesso my panel before painting?I read a few tutorials and they don't mention that.After I paint an area, let's say the background i need to wait for the paint to dry before adding more paint, layers, etc?

Hi

I'm no expert but in laymans terms:-

I use Gouache along with watercolours. Almost always I use gouache white rather than any other watercolour white, chinese white etc -it's a stronger white (if you get my drift). Gouache is like a thick, strong, 'look at me'(!) watercolour - but as with watered acrylics it can't be lifted.