What you NEED for oil painting …vs what you WANT! 🛍️

Did I miss anything? What are your art needs/wants?

Thanks Muse Kits for sending me your Pigment box to try! I thought I’d do an unboxing for those curious to see what’s inside as well as talk about what you need to start oil painting vs the extras that aren’t strictly necessary but we all want!!

Here’s what you NEED for oil painting:
1 oil paint - you need at least a 3 primary colours + white (eg. Phthalo blue, Quinacradone Magenta, Hansa yellow)
2 a surface like primed (gessoed) paper, wood or cotton canvas
3 a few brushes from about sizes 2-10, & a varnishing brush
4 wax paper or a glass cutting board for a palette
5 medium sized palette knife for mixing, applying, & cleaning paint
6 easel
7 paper towels/rags & a place to lay or hang them flat while they dry as oily rags can spontaneously combust if you ball them up
8 varnish

Here’s what you WANT for oil painting (in an ideal world):

1 extra paint colours - at least an 8 colour split-primary palette + a white & brown
2 expensive surfaces like linen canvas, aluminum or copper panels.
3 a collection of brushes in multiple shapes, sizes & textures
4 a professional grey glass, vertical, or wood palette
5 a range of palette knives + a razor for cleaning the palette
6 PPE for working with toxic materials or particles in the air - like a mask. & gloves
7 an oil safety can
8 studio extras like sealable jars/empty tubes, lights, extra lights to illuminating your workspace, a mahl stick to lean your wrist on & technology stands to record your progress & hold your reference

ADDITIVES (solvent & medium)
Technically you can paint with neither, either, or both so it’s a little more complicated when it comes to need vs. want. You can paint solvent free (or use water soluble oils) as you can wash your brush in oil medium & mild soap but it can be a bit more time consuming. Also you can paint without oil medium, however, this makes the paint very stiff & that could be challenging. I use a small container of oil medium on my palette to thin paint & was brushes while I paint as well as solvent in a brush cleaning tank then a mild soap to clean brushes & my palette at the end of the day.