Oil painting has been around for a long time and has yet to go out of style. Today there are many artists that use this medium as their preferred mode of expression. If you have every thought of taking up an "arty" pursuit, there is a good chance that oil painting has crossed your mind. The Renaissance made it popular originally, but that popularity has never waned through the years. Below are several oil painting guidelines that everybody will find useful.

Tip #1: When painting with light colors such as blue or beige, you should utilize a poppy seed oil instead of linseed. Linseed oil always seems to dry with a yellow tint and this yellowing shows up distinctively in lighter colors.

Tip #2: If you messed up and require a way to "erase" a layer of oil paint, then try using rubbing alcohol. It is a strong solvent that will effectively power through and clean up the difficulty.

Tip #3: Oil paintings should never be dried in darkness. This forces the oil to rise to the surface of the painting and as a result, a yellow film might materialize on the work. Using natural sunlight works best.

Tip #4: Under layers must dry fast to prevent top layers from cracking. To speed up the drying course, you can try adding in some lead or manganese paint hues.

Tip #5: Never, ever use black in your under layers. It dries slower then any other color, no matter what you do to speed the drying time up.

Tip #6: To save some time and give your neck a break, you can try getting in to the habit of putting your colors on the color palette in the same place, each and every time. You can train your self to instinctively know where the correct color is without the need to look down all the time.

Tip #7: Linseed oil should be utilized in under layers as often as possible. Bottom layers must dry prior to the top ones and linseed oil drys the best in this situation.

Grasping the technique of oil painting may appear a smidgen hard initially. But once you get the basics of how oil painting works, you won't have any trouble. The majority of pros suggest taking some classes, when you first get started. There is a wealth of expertise in these places that can truly make a difference. If you're not sure where to find a class, then you can try searching at the art department at your local university.