Oil Paint Colors

[mash3d]

Hi, I need to go shopping for some oil paints and was wondering if anyone has a suggested list of colors that I should get. Mainly for painting flesh colors but also for general all around work also.

I know with Red, Yellow and Blue you can mix pretty much any other color but I'd like to to get a little more specific and see what other people are using.
Thanks,

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Mash!
You truly will need your, 'Tin hat and Gas mask, for what is about to follow from other members as regards this subject! .. although do study what is said, and be patient.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Eludia]

There are almost as many palette lists online as there are porn sites and you'll most probably end up chasing your tail like I did and ultimately end up spending a small fortune (again, like I did).

Fine artists generally learn to paint with as few paints as possible (from what I've read), sometimes spending months (or years) just using black and white to learn about colour values and then slowly introducing colour. Personally, this is a method I'm exploring at the moment. Unfortunately I cannot unspend the money I've already invested in paint

Other approaches include a 3 paint palette (4 if you include white), 7 paint palette (2 reds, blues and yellows + white) or a colour wheel system with a dedicated paint to match each position on a standard colour wheel.

Or you can just hang the lot of them of course and just get the paints you want or may think will be useful. Some colours that I've found that are especially handy are burnt sienna, burnt umber, naples yellow and yellow ochre.

Have a look for posts by Einion on this site as he is a lot more knowledgable about paint and colour than I could ever hope to be and his posts have helped me a lot.

Cheers,
Billy

 

[theBaron]

I cheat. Rather than mixing flesh from scratch, I start with a commercially-prepared flesh color (for Caucasian skin color), but then I use some of the colors others have mentioned, to adjust the color, and certainly to shade.

Prost!
Brad

 

[megroot]

Oke, maybe I could help:
I have nothing more in the beginning then these: White, Raw Umber, Bunt Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Indigo, French Ultramarine, Sepia Extra, Mars Brown, Mars Orange, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Pine Green, Brown Madder Alizarin.

then I bought some more small tubes, but I do all my painting with the above.The fun of painting with oils is mixing the colors.

Marc

 

[mash3d]

Mash!
You truly will need your, 'Tin hat and Gas mask, for what is about to follow from other members as regards this subject! .. although do study what is said, and be patient.

Regards,

Mark

Thanks, I'm sure it's as bad as Oil Threads on Car and Motorcycle Forums

 

[mash3d]

Oke, maybe I could help:
I have nothing more in the beginning then these: White, Raw Umber, Bunt Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Indigo, French Ultramarine, Sepia Extra, Mars Brown, Mars Orange, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Pine Green, Brown Madder Alizarin.

then I bought some more small tubes, but I do all my painting with the above.The fun of painting with oils is mixing the colors.

Marc

Thanks that helps a lot.
I can never remember the differences between Cadmium yellow and Cadmium Yellow hue.
I think the Cadmium colors are considered a Primary Mixing color.
And Hues are just variations of those.

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Mash!

As a starter, I would suggest that you first look into the various brands of oil paint. and break down there individual properties. As an example, the W/N.. Artist & Winton ranges are really quite different when it comes to application! then look at others. Such as, Old Holland, Mig, M Harding. etc. What do you want? faster drying times, better coverage, cost effectiveness? All these elements need to be taken into account. As it help you to avoid the money trap! like Billy and myself, and an army of others have done in the past.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Mirofsoft]

My basic choice was W&N Artist ( because peoples like Max Longhurst or Lamb were using them in the 70ies, and explained during demo session here in Brussels, how they like those paints )
see the link http://ww3.winsornewton.com/products/oil-colours/artists-oil-colour/colour-chart/
on the chart you can see how transparent those colours are
347 Lemon Yellow Hue
086 Cadmium Lemon
089 Cadmium Orange
724 Winsor Orange
726 Winsor Red
178 Cobalt Blue
538 Prussian Blue
720 Winsor Green
447 Olive Green
422 Naples Yellow
552 Raw Sienna
074 Burnt Sienna
076 Burnt Umber
331 Ivory Black
644 Titanium White

If some colour are to transparent, I do not hesitate to put a first layer with Humbrol ( tone the lightest colour I want to reach )
And for painting ground, house,wood, etc ... any chinese oil painting set of 12 colours for 5€ the set

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Miro! .. what, no 'Raw Umber'? .

 

[Mirofsoft]

Miro! .. what, no 'Raw Umber'? .

Yes somewhere in the box with .. and with ... and....
Well you know
Best

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Yes Miro! I do know, about 50 other hues and shades! tucked away in plain view

Mark

 

[kansas kid]

Oh gee, I am really getting myself in trouble by even
responding to this original note. What the others have
said is correct. However, I will try to make it more simple.
Flesh tones are made from white, red, yellow, a slight hint
of blue and a lot of experience. You understand we do
learn by doing!!! Put in the time, .. . . and you will come
up with a process that works for you. That may not be
the same approach that the other fine gentlemen that have
written, those very cogent responses, above. However, I will
repeat that you do need to put in the time, as I said above,
.. . . and you will learn by actually doing it. . . . OK ????
The Miami Jayhawk

 

[socko47]

Mash!

As a starter, I would suggest that you first look into the various brands of oil paint. and break down there individual properties. As an example, the W/N.. Artist & Winton ranges are really quite different when it comes to application! then look at others. Such as, Old Holland, Mig, M Harding. etc. What do you want? faster drying times, better coverage, cost effectiveness? All these elements need to be taken into account. As it help you to avoid the money trap! like Billy and myself, and an army of others have done in the past.

Regards,

Mark

Mark, Do you have a source for the comparison of properties?

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Joe, not as such! .. my thoughts are mainly through tinkering with different brands. However you may find the below link helpful. I. like I assume most of us, have a 'Mish-Mash', of all types from the cheap to the eye watering expensive ones. ..If in doubt stick to middle ground stuff. as well as all other formats, Acrylics, enamels, etc

Products like, Daler Rowney, and W&N Winton, etc. Would be in the student range!

W&N Artist, or Mig, etc. Mid range!

Old Holland, M Harding, etc. Upper range.

However, someone may well disagree! as yet I am no master with this medium, although, it is my preferred choice.

http://artistjackie.com/page21.html

 

[kagemusha]

If you want a basic guide to the properties of oils, as a generalisation......
cheaper oils have more oil (linseed) to pigment ratio....this is why they take longer to dry, can show brush marks and tend to stay 'shiny'..........
mid range use less oil and higher grade pigments....drying times are almost as good as artists, but are still prone to a shine......
'artists' oils use refined linseed oil and highest grade pigments....drying times are of the shortest....they should dry matt.....and brush marks are rare due to the better oil and very finely ground pigments......
some of the newer artists oils use oleo resins in place of linseed.....

Hope that helps

Ron

 

[socko47]

Thanks for the info. I recently attended a lecture where a well known figure painter commented to use the cheapest oil paint. I think he was saying that even though there is less pigment and there is less oil in cheap paint. Therefore they dry faster. So is there more medium but less oil in cheaper paint?
My notes from the lecture, I wrote: Van Dyke oil paint has less oil. Equivalent to Wynton. He wants less oil than professional paints.
So I am a bit confused. Granted there was a language difference.

 

[kagemusha]

I stand by my original post, made based on 35 years experience with oil paints. I have used all the major brands of them and, based on my personal experience, had I attended that lecture, I would be confused too.
One of the reasons so many people are put off using oils, is in fact, because they buy the cheap students oils. You will always hear them bemoan the fact that, they take ages to dry, show brush marks and, stay very shiny.
W&N Artists oils can appear to have a lot of linseed in them, just like the 'Student' range, however, this is countered by the fact that, they contain a much finer grade of pigment that is more intense in colour.
Again, and based on my personal experience, all oil paints can be made to work, as long as you apply them in very thin layers. This avoids any chance of brush marks, allows them to dry in the shortest time and, takes away much of the shine.
I would suggest that the best option for you, is to purchase one tube of colour each from say 3 of the different grades/makes available, and try them for yourself. Draw your own conclusions from the results you get, then increase your range of colours based on those conclusions.

Ron

 

[Kevin D.]

RON!!! I have used oils for years and that is the clearest, most concise description of what oils to use and why that I have seen. Thank you! It helped me a bunch and all I am doing is reading along!

Kevin

 

[Tecumsea]

I had built up a large collection of W&N professional oils but was then introduced to OLD Holland-slightly more expensive but what you get is a tube of pigment with very little carrier. Often with W&N I squeeze the tube and wonder if any paint is ever going to come out!

The difference was demonstrated to me originally in a little art shop in Penzance before I took a holiday in the Scilly Isles-perhaps you could get a local art shop to do the same? It was real eye opener.

Keith