HOW TO OIL PAINT: THE MINIMALIST GUIDE FOR MATERIALS NEEDED

CANVAS:  I like to use the wrap around canvas boards with either single thick sides, or double thick sides.  This way, you have the choice of framing them or not.  BRUSHES:  The cheap brushes are just as good as some of the more expensive ones.  Choose a variety of round, flat and fine ones.  I like to use only synthetic brushes, as I don't support sables being slaughtered for a brush. PAINTS:  I try to use a limited palette of colours for a painting.  This helps to keep the harmony and mood of the painting consistent as a whole.  If you are starting out, you can produce great paintings with just Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and a large tube of Titanium White. TURPENTINE:  I like to use either an odourless turps or citrus-based turps as they don't have that terrible smell.  Turps is used to clean out your brushes and to thin paint in initial washes.  I pour some into a glass jar with a bit of flyscreen shoved into the bottom - you wash out your brushes on the flyscreen which helps prevent the sediment at the bottom of the jar from being disturbed and further dirtying up the turps. PRIMER:  Even though the canvases that you buy state that they are already primed for painting, I always give at least one coat of Gesso primer anyway.  It makes the canvas smoother and helps further protect it against the oil paint. EASEL:  I have one huge stand-alone easel for very big paintings, but all you really need is a small table easel and you can sit in comfort! PALETTE:  Those disposable tear-off palettes are great.  They last a long time and are mess-free.