1. The paint
Working in different kinds of paint is similar to learning a new language: both require practise and patience. Take time to play about with different colours. Each type, tube and colour of paint has unique properties - your job is to understand how these different qualities work, and that can only be done through experimentation.
There are many varieties of each colour available, but for these exercises you'll only need to buy a restricted palette of the following basic colours: titanium white, lamp or ivory black, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, cadmium red, cadmium lemon, cadmium yellow, cobalt blue and ultramarine blue. From here, you can build up your personal collection with any tubes of colour, and any type of paint, you like.
Acrylic paints are good for the majority of exercises you'll find in this guide because they are quick-drying. However, this can also make mixing difficult, because in the time it takes to create a mixture, the paint may have dried before it can be used. To slow the drying process, mix some retarder into your paints. Acrylics are great for achieving smooth, flat colour, and they are easier to use pure (without being mixed).
Oil paints offer richer, deeper colour with more luminosity, but are far more complex to use. They take much longer to dry, simply because they are oil- rather than water-based. Each colour has a different drying rate. "Fat" colours (ones with a high oil index) usually dry more slowly than "lean" colours (with a low oil index), and should therefore not underlie lean colours, as they can cause the latter to crack. It is important to keep in mind this "fat over lean" rule.
Most manufacturers produce student-quality colours as an economical alternative to their professional ranges. These paints replace expensive pigments with substitute hues, so cadmiums, cobalts and viridian are replaced with modern alternatives. Although effective, these equivalents do not have the same characteristics as the original colours; in particular, they are less able to mix down to naturalistic shades. Although you may find the professional-quality colours expensive, they can make economic sense as they are generally stronger, meaning they last longer.
2. Mixing the paint
For most of the exercises in this guide you will need to mix carefully and extensively, and so you will need a flat, easy-to-clean surface. Traditional wooden palettes are mid- to dark-toned and they make judging the tonality of mixtures intended for white surfaces quite difficult. With a wooden palette, your mixtures may be too dark. A cheap solution is to buy an off-cut of white satin Contiboard from a DIY shop. Contiboard is easy to clean and durable enough to withstand years of mixing. Because of its weight, it is intended as a tabletop palette. If you are more comfortable holding your palette, buy a lightweight melamine one instead.
Palette knives are essential tools. They are generally flat and used for mixing colours and scraping your palette. It's best to mix paint with a knife rather than a brush, as brushes tend to absorb more paint, leaving very little for you to work with.
3. Applying the paint
You should buy an assortment of brushes as they can help you vary the types of mark you use in your work. There are three major parts to a brush: the handle, the hair or bristles, and the ferrule, which holds the bristles.
There are four main shapes of brush to choose from. "Rounds" have interlocking bristles that form a good point, which allows precise and flowing strokes. "Flats" are good for applying areas of colour and for creating straight edges. "Filberts" are tongue-shaped and allow you to create broad or narrow marks that can be tapered or curved. "Brights" are short flats, useful for applying short strokes of thick colour.
Brushes are made from hair or bristle, and this categorisation applies to both natural and synthetic brushes. Bristle is coarse and measures between 0.2mm and 0.3mm in diameter; hair measures up to 0.15mm in diameter. Real, hog-hair bristle and synthetic bristle offer greater precision, and both are suitable to use with oils or acrylics.
The best natural hair brushes for oils are known as sables. Sable brushes combine spring and precision and are available in the same basic shapes as bristle, as well as some additional specialist shapes. "Riggers" or "writers" are long rounds that regulate larger amounts of colour, permitting long, thin lines. Riggers are good for drawing with at the start of a painting and for making linear corrections. Synthetic hairs offer an economical alternative to natural hair and are more durable, although they hold less colour. Going for a natural/synthetic mixture is your best bet, because they hold colour and are durable.
Painting knives are great to use for applying paint. They come with many blade shapes and a cranked shaft, allowing you to apply paint much more delicately. However, make sure you don't use them for mixing or they will soon snap.
Colour shapers resemble brushes but have a blade of silicone rubber instead of hair or bristle. They are great for using in colour studies as they have enough flexibility to spread paint thinly. There are several shapes to choose from and two degrees of blade flexibility: grey are firm; white are more flexible.
4. Painting surfaces
You'll need something to paint on to, and this is known as a support. Supports come in various guises, from canvas and paper to hardboard.
A canvas is the generic name for fabric (cotton duck, linen or synthetic fibres) that is stretched taut on to a frame for you to paint on to. You can either stretch them yourself, or buy pre-stretched canvases.
If you're just starting out, don't worry about stretching your own canvas. Commercially prepared, stretched canvases are much easier. You can buy them from your local art supplier, but online material suppliers often offer a wider range of stretched fabrics in a greater number of sizes.
Wooden boards are useful as a hard surface to either fix your paper to or to prime and paint directly on to. Many art suppliers and manufacturers offer ready-made rigid supports, but for a cheaper option that is just as reliable, go to a local timber merchant and buy some MDF or hardboard - both hard, smooth surfaces.
Paper is great for compositions in oil paints and acrylics because it is cheap and easy to prepare. Basic cartridge paper is good enough, but you have to prime it beforehand so that it doesn't warp when wet, which will cause the paint to crack. For ease, you can buy pre-stretched and primed blocks of paper. However, it's not hard to do yourself: just wet your paper thoroughly on both sides with a sponge and lay it on a drawing board large enough to give a 5cm margin all around. Dampen some wide gum strip tape and attach the paper to the board, making sure the tape overlaps the paper by at least 1.5 cm. The paper expands when it is damp and contracts as it dries, but because it's been taped down, it dries stretched taut on the board. Once dry, apply two coats of acrylic primer and you're ready to go.
You always need to prime your painting surfaces so that the paint doesn't crack and the surface itself stays protected. Primers and gessoes that are suitable for both oils and acrylics can be used on a wide variety of surfaces - wood, paper, canvas - and can be applied by brush or roller for textural variation.
5. Preparing the paint
Paints in their pure form may be too thick to apply, so you will need what's known as a "medium" - generally a blend of oil, such as linseed, and solvent - to thin the paint and achieve the viscosity you require for the painting surface you've chosen. You can buy a wide range of acrylic mediums that cover every possible degree of viscosity. The medium you use also affects the final surface sheen; as with oil paints, you can use glossy, satin or matt mediums depending on the overall effect you'd like from a composition.
Solvent is used to clean the oil from your brushes after a session, but it is also used to dilute oil colour, reducing its consistency and allowing it to flow from the brush. Turpentine is the most traditional solvent, but you should purchase it from an art supplier only. White spirit can also be used, but an odourless thinner is the safest solvent to work with. Always make sure you replace the tops on bottles to reduce the amount of solvent evaporating into the air.
Mediums uphold the integrity of the paint film by replacing some of the binding strength lost in dilution. Stand oil, a form of linseed oil that is tough, non-yellowing and quick-drying, is one of the best to use. It also enables you to observe the "fat over lean" rule as you build up layers, ensuring your painting has a sound structure.
Cleaning tips and safety advice
Caring for your paintbrushes
At the end of each session, remove any excess paint from your brushes with a cloth, then clean them in solvent or, better still, vegetable oil. Finish the cleaning process with olive oil-based Savon de Marseille, found in health food shops. The high oil content of this soap conditions the hairs, keeping them soft and less likely to wear down quickly.
Health and safety
Working with paint involves using materials that can be harmful if handled incorrectly. Make sure you work sensibly and take precautions. If you are a messy worker, use barrier creams on your hands after you paint so you don't irritate the skin. Your work space should be well ventilated and you should consider using odourless thinners instead of turpentine or white spirit. Ingestion is also an issue, so never eat or smoke when handling colour or solvent.
All solvents for oil paints should be treated with respect. Solvent should never be put down a sink or toilet. Instead, allow the dirty solvent to sit for a few days, after which it will have cleared, leaving sediment at the bottom of the container. Pour the clean solution into a fresh container and wrap the sediment in kitchen roll before disposing of it. Cleaning your palette (with linseed oil) and brushes at the end of each session will also reduce your exposure to solvent.