Oil Paintings step by Step

If we look into this photograph of a Tibetan terrier (Spencer) I got from a customer. She sent me a good photo but she wanted me to add a different background, so I created a mock-up in Photoshop for her. I search the internet for free photo web sites like www.sxc.hu or www.morguefile.com for good background photographs and then create the photos along with other backgrounds in Photoshop.

The photos on these web sites are high quality ones! It’s also a great place to find photographs of pets to paint for references and learning.

This is how it looks:

Now we get to the canvas. There are many different ones we can choose from. I use stretched linen canvas for my oil paintings. You can buy already stretched ones or learn how to stretch the canvas to a wooden frame yourself. Read my Article about how to Stretch your own Canvas >> You can find oval, 3D or traditional stretched canvas. Canvas papers and canvas boards with hardboard are also an option but I wouldn’t use it myself for my customers, because I’m selling high quality pet portraits and it’s very important the canvas is stretched, but for learning its great! This article is not about surfaces and various of Oils, brushes you can use, but it’s good to know about options.

On the First step of the progress I’m trying to find the right angles with help of a pencil. I’m measuring with the pencil from a distance of the canvas. I squint with my eyes to see angles easier. It’s good to take your time and be totally sure about getting the angles right before you go further. Try to have the photograph in height of your eyes and 40cm away from you; otherwise it can be difficult with finding angles. The pencil drawing on the canvas can be all wrong if you see the photograph from a wrong angle. You can erase the pencil on canvas as many times you like too and try to use a hard pencil such as B or 2B.

You find the angles with help of various points on the subject. You have to measure in % from one point to another with the pencil to get the angles right. It’s also important to place the animal right on the canvas.

After I’m finished with the pencil I start painting the pet as a simple sketch with thin dark oils. Use turpentine to mix with the oil paint, it makes the colours a bit transparent and tends to dry allot faster and that’s what we want. I found that more detailed I create the oil sketch, easier it get so paint over it with other colours later and I don’t have to work further where dark and light areas are. Try not to use a too dark colour if the animal is white because it can be hard to add so much colour that the strokes won’t show under it.

After you painted the final sketch of the animal, add some base colours to the background. It’s from the beginning only a guideline for you and not the final colours and areas of it. Use a big flat and soft brush for the background spots.

There are many different kinds of Oil colours on the market to find. Some are high quality and very expensive but believe me that it’s all worth to buy it. I use Winsor & Newton Winton Oil colours but there are many other good ones such as Da Vinci Artists or Gamblin. When you buy brushes it’s also worth to pay a little bit more since very cheep brushes tend to brake in the brush and leaves particles on the canvas.

Take a look at this sample I did in Photoshop
how I measure the points:





This is how my step1 of the painting process looks like:

On the second step of the Painting I’m filling out all the white canvas with a thin layer of oil colours. I dot the colours at first to make it easier to fill out with more colours later. I use a rather small flat brush around number 2 to fill it out. I always use two or three different yellows along with the white colour; otherwise white usually doesn’t look really white on the canvas. The same goes for black, even though it might look black there are always different blue or brown, even white colours along with the black in order to keep right shades in the blacks. If the animal is brown I use black, white, umbra, ocker and siena as base colours.

At this stage everything usually looks little plastic or plain but don’t worry, it’s only a step in the process. Remember that you already from the beginning have to work on the light and dark colours in the painting; otherwise it can get very hard to create a good light in it. Oil colours are very hard to achieve good light with and never say, “oh I will do it later” because it doesn’t work that way. Don’t use only oils to add on the canvas, use turpentine to mix with the oil paint just as you did on step1 on the sketch that makes the colours a bit transparent but the colours can not be so transparent so they flow on the canvas. In the painting process we will always use thin oils because we are learning how to paint realistic pet portraits, right? Don’t forget to add colours a bit over the sketch strokes too! After all the areas on the canvas are filled out, use then a big and soft brush over all the canvas area to create a soft look, let the colours mix just a bit. So this is step2 of Spencer. Isn’t he cute?

After step2 you have to let the paint to dry for 1-2 days in order to proceed with the oil painting. Many times oil paintings aren’t realistic or detailed because the painting didn’t have a drying time in between the layers of oils. Many don’t like to paint this way and like a little more impressionistic paintings created. Now we will add more details to the animal and also work some with the background of course.

We will start with the lightning areas. Find the light areas and add a very light colours to the right places, make it as light as possible. On this step you have to be more exact with the areas to make it more detailed. Now find all the dark areas and dot with dark colours, never use only one colour, mix colours together. Add more details to the painting, but not the really small ones. At this stage the painting has to look good from a distance, not so much at close. Don’t forget that the painting still has to look soft and don’t use so much turpentine to mix with oil colours anymore. Now we won’t wait until it dries before we start with the fourth layer, we will rather work with "open colours".

This is how my step3 of the painting process looks like:

At this step add even more light and dark areas at the same time as you have to find the right colours too add. Start with some tiny base details too. Use first light colours and then add dark strokes to it so it looks like fur.

The strokes does look more soft if you add dark strokes to light, even though you are supposed to work from dark to light when painting with Oils. Use a small flat brush for fur details and a tiny round brush for very small details like the light in eyes.

Now there are four thin layers of oil colours on the canvas and we only have the finish left. As you can see on the picture, the painting is almost done already. Let the painting to dry for 1-2 days again.

Now the painting is dry and we will add the last tiny details to the animal. You can now add extra oils to the colours if you want the colours to look shinier or want it to dry faster. There are many different extra oils for oil painting out there, so you will have to try some of them in order to know what you like most. I don’t use extra oils that often, especially of I paint a black pet. I really don’t like my paintings to be shiny. All oils make the painting to look more or less shiny. The problem begins when dark colours attend to be shiner then the light ones! So here is one finished oil painting!