How To Paint Miniature Oil Paintings Techniques

posted by Roman, Jarhead, kong

Hiho.

This time it's me again trying to tell and explain some of my lately made experiences with Oil Pigment.
This topic is not piece of cake to catch and i was collecting material for this article near the last three~four months. In the end i hope i can give some of yous a helping manus with the words post-obit.

Here comes a little overview that might guide you through the article as i tried to order my thoughts, merely you in the end can tell if i accomplished it:

ane. Introduction

two. Material and Equipment
three. Bones Use of Oil Colours

four. Mixing / Oil Colours
5. Glazing with Oil Colours

6. Final Thoughts + 17 Minutes video of further Explanation !!

Permit's start right off - i just inform you that i will write this article solar day by solar day not at once. So my mood could change during the article from euphoric to melancolic as everyday has its moments. Likewise i want to permit you know that Max the Maxican volition bring upwardly his oil experiences in form of an article up to the jungle also. Cheers for that Monkey bro'! Music if y'all like!

For a long time i did non utilise Oil colours for Miniature Painting, i never thought of it.
I was happy with painting with my well known acrylics and somehow learnt by training and painting all the time how to use those and what to utilize them for. Oil was never really an selection as i but heard rumors that it is a completly different method during the process of painting. I have to be honest, i never actually liked painting Oil in the schools i accept visited years agone, i was mainly painting with acrylics and was happy that i did not take to change something i like. Y'all know how it is - walking in circle keeps the horizon far away.

But on the other paw I also consider myself as a person who is hungry to learn - without learning and exploring the world would be a very night place or even darker. Imagine what the world would look like without fire the humans invented a thousand years ago, at that place would be no BBQ present for instance. And then i started to try with Oil every bit i heard many things about it, but always failed to try. The Exploration group was also with the assist of my friend Raffa, who learnt with me or I with him in exchange chats of our feel. I did showtime it from the centre with massive painting equally this is the place where it all sleeps. I did not read much most it during the procedure of learning. I just did and did and mind to hints and tips from others and and then far i have learnt that Oil is a beautiful medium to work with, it works damn fine on Miniatures and is the perfect lucifer when combinated with acrylic painting.

Equally my brain was collecting experiences during the last months and it is now fourth dimension to write them down i desire to excuse myself if there is peradventure a trouble with the "thought" i have and that it is not easy to empathise, written down to words. From the soulswinging brush moment into the brain and from information technology pressed to words.

Please feel complimentary to inquire and ask and ask and if y'all this article could help y'all, please feel gratis to say thanks via the donation push.

When it comes to painting Oil there are several dissimilar things needed, some really must have. I volition effort to tell you now what you lot need, maybe in your land the make is unlike or you won't get exactly the same product merely in the terminate information technology will work out - i just can tell yous what experiences i take won.

First, you don't need water to pigment
If you are intrested in the deep caption on how oil paint works please read here at Wikipidia.

For the apply to thin Oil pigment nosotros are using and so called white spirit, a non-smelling turpentine alternate. You tin use Terpentine too but it smells similar hell and you'll become high very fast and maybe very sick. I take heard rumors of some italian friend that you can likewise use pure essence of Petrolium to thin your Oil Paint. The white spirit we utilize is from the brand "Lukas" and can exist bought in several different seized bottles. It is also the medium to clean your castor after painting with Oil. For a painting session we use it in small difficult liquor plastic beakers, which are cheap and can be bought in every coincidental supermarket.

Always make certain you lot got your "Oil-Brush" when painting with oil. If you hit your Oil colours with h2o somehow for example a rest in the used acrylic brush yous are not able to paint well. Chemicly h2o and oil are no good friends and I invite y'all to practise a petty testing at an unimportant piece of plastic to see what i hateful.

Second, you will need Oil colours
I had my first contact with an Oil colour at Raffa'southward as he did purchase his first row for testing. After this i bought my ain. Here is a shot of my first row i did buy. Different brands and as i was mainly up to explore with painting pare, many skin tones.

After some weeks of testing my collection grew and is ever growing since then. In that location are and so many different oil paints that i could get crazy, simply i exercise it slow and easy equally always. I lately bought a very inexpensive set of oil colours, in such a 1 Coin shop and i did get 12 small tubes of "fine oil colours" for merely 2.95 €. After testing i tin can say that i rather pay a chip more for my oil colours but have practiced quality products - i was not very please. You don't need to get much colours for a good kickoff equally Oil paint is great to mix.

Third, you demand a glossy undercover to mix it all up
Yous might recognize the photos beside the colours in the upper pictures, for sure in the last one because of the overall composition and motive. You will need a glossy hole-and-corner to mix and thin your oil colours on. Raffa for case is usinf an onetime flag he plant some days ago as palette. Before he was likewise used to mix it up to photos. A picayune tip if you use photos is to use some pictures that yous might be inspired by - for me this always gives the moment of using a new one something magical. Just hitting your clandestine with the paint y'all want to use, straight out of the tube.

Sometimes it tin can happen that your Oil color spits out a big blob when bringing information technology to your palette. Try to have be careful. Sometimes information technology likewise happens that your oil colour spits out color with a large amount of oil - yous tin can see this on my palette as well sometimes - it is the oily stuff that surrounds the colour. If you hit some of this by accident and paint upon your miniature your area volition be very shiny for a long time. Y'all can avert shinyness when painting with Oil Paint by distract the Pigment Pigments from the Oil. Just hit a newspaper with it and you lot can pigment very matte without an oily film. Now look a moment /about 5 Minutes) and the Oil will be sucked up by the newspaper. You lot tin can still use the colour pigments by using White Spirit.

Brushes
You will for sure need brushes. I would recommand not using the best 1 y'all got for your first testings. I came out to need 2 brushes after a while one to put the color where i want it with a good tip and one for the massage (more to this later on on). I take too explored that a castor doesn't need to be a coincidental brush equally i was working my way over some large tentacles with the use of a sponge from a cicatrice (more to this afterward on) . Bad photo following now, without the tip of the right castor - sorryio:

Fifth, additional equipment and summary
Oil colours need to dry out over several days, when non influanced. You can fasten this process by using different methods, therefor yous could need boosted equipment. Besides equipment will be listed that is just for your personal demand, maybe.

- A furnace for baking the oil colour (more to this after)
- A blow-dryer for fast and quick drying (will not be fixed, information technology'due south merely for the moment, more to this after)
- Airbrush
- Matte Varnish

- water
- tissues
- good music
- good mood
- bananas

Summed up, here comes the upper stuff over again:

- White Spirit, Terpentine
- Oil Colours
- Brushes

I will now endeavour to explain simple nuts that you demand to know when starting with oil colours, in fact how to utilize them and you volition quickly odour where the difference is to Acrylic colours. First, Oil colours smell. They don't smell bad or skillful, they just smell, but please make your own impression of information technology.

Equally i told you i put my Oil colours on a glossy underground, mainly - there are some variations that i'll explain after. Ok, all oil colours y'all need get applied to the photo or whatever you use. Hither comes a dandy sketch on how i utilize Oil colours. Using the White Spirit first to make the brush wet - with this i now tin mix up my oil paint on the photo. Using more White Spirit volition sparse the colour to glazes or work with thick colour (more to this later on). I would not recommand using Oil Pigment unthinned, it is very pasty and not easy to handle, also it will leave your painted area very crude and the wait very poor.

Almost time, before i get at the model itself i striking a tissue to make near of the wetness dissapear out of the brush.

For mixing up i apply an old brush, which whom i mix upwardly my colours and do rough basic paintwork - you tin can see it in motion-picture show above. I can tell that my first steps with Oil really take been try and error. I've checked how to handle the colours and mainly i tried my experience start on bases or on some big areas, for case my showtime mostly chaotic go was at the Schell bust, on an airbrushed acrlyic bright basic with blue and brownish oil pigment. Take a look on my first try to see how an experiment can look like during the procedure - i did start with a very bright acrylic bones tone.

It might all look very wet, but as shortly as the White Spirit dries it is getting matte again - and then i was merely out for hunting experience here and while working on the first steps, findind a concept information technology is non that important to exercise the cleanest work, this can exist done later on. You have it much easier - in this commodity you may discover tons of hints and tips that are waiting for you to effort and learn from it. So upward to a higher place it was just some testing around, with this playing around intensed in the next projects i found out the post-obit intresting things you tin can utilise to fasten your oil experiences:

I prime number equally usual.
Acrylic Undercoat is important. Should be close to your main colour you volition use for the area.
Y'all can mix up oil colours on acme of information technology.
Oil colour needs 3~four days to dry at room air. Yous tin spike the process by using a) a hair blow dryer first to arrive all dry (not really just for the heart) followed by using the airbrush and a mix of matte varnish and h2o or b) put it in the oven for xxx ~sixty minutes (no plastic, Resin at 50°, White Metal at 60°~ninety°). Make sure yous become cheque in between to make sure nothing is wounderable to the heat. Y'all now can paint once again on the surfaces.
Make sure y'all don't use Acrylic on top of the Oil as it can pause during the years. Put the fatty colour on peak of it all to shut the surface. The option a) with matte varnish seals it too so y'all can paint with acrylic on it.
You can mix upwards Oil colour hands in 2 means. Bring it up to an area as y'all like, midtone, shadow colour and low-cal colour then take a castor and mix information technology together moisture in wet. Another manner is using Oil colour equally thicker dots, for example a shoulder where you want a lite spot on it. Hitting it with your light colour oil, take a dry out old brush and genlte rub information technology in - information technology is hard to explain but when you do you'll meet.
Oil Colour can be used equally a glaze on a dry underground.

That might be the most important thoughts i got for the moment. You now will see yourself guided to some photos and explanations about the upper thoughts. To apply Oil colour you can use different methods and material - not e'er is a brush needed, here i went with a blister sponge, first i did hit the acrylic surreptitious with some pure white oil color:

Some other example of hitting a spot with strong oil and gently rubbing information technology in, first photo are the berserk dots, 2nd photograph is the expect you can accomplish with soft gentle rubbing. Y'all tin prepare your colour much more easier and get a faster goal in colour transitions with oil colours - that is my oppinion that i got from painting with both, acrylic and oil:

With Oil Colours you really can say put it where you want information technology and rubb information technology in. Y'all can do whatever you lot like and if information technology doesn't brand you happy at all you lot even so tin can use white spirit to bring it all downward again.

Oil colour can exist used as a glaze to do some weathering:

When glazing with Oil colours information technology helps me a lot to accept a tissue where i make a little test of the coat and its degree of dilution. What you come across is what y'all go. Before i went at the effigy with glazes i did use the blow dryer and airbrush method to make it all dry out and set to exist glazed on as i did paint some oil at the skin already:

Final Thoughts
Every bit i have learned by planning such big commodity over time to collect experience to share i accept to admit that this isn't easy. I came to the signal where you lot should be introduced to the Use of Oil paint - this commodity is zippo more - just an introduction. It volition grow by other upcoming articles and then on - only still the teacher soul inside my breast doesn't feel satisfied. For me it all sounds weird as i was sitting way too long in front of this article.

I have tried to summ it all upwardly with a video. Information technology is very large, around 17 minutes only it explains information technology a fleck more than in a more than logical club, maybe. Lamentable for the bad music, youtube free songs aren't the best when it comes to this video length. Relish in HD and make sure to read the article first or beside to get all the information that i am trying to tell ...

I am looking forward to your feedback and looking forrard to the step by step of the Maxican where his explanations volition for certain add together big quality in understanding to this commodity here.

It is simply paint, ok - Oil Paints smells and doesn't taste good (make certain y'all don't lick your brushes) - simply in the stop it is all pigment and is made for happy painting.>

Best Wishes
Roman

Edit by Roman: If yous are interested in painting more than with Oil in that location is also Andrea's way available - both ways work, read, attempt and find your ain :)