Online Oil Painting Gallery

Bill Martin's Guide to Oil Painting

BILL'S STORE / SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

 

In response to your requests for specific materials recommendations this is my actual painting supply replacement list.
 
Over the years I've been painting I've developed opinions and preferences for certain brands, brushes, knives, palettes, canvas etc. I’ve tried them all and picked the ones that have worked the best for me. All are geared to maximum performance, minimum maintenance and low cost. Here’s the list.

 

The Basic Kit

There are certain oil painting supplies that I recommend as part of a basic kit, including colors, brushes, palette, palette knife, thinner, linseed oil, stretched canvas, spray retouch varnish and final varnish. These items are highlighted in blue.

 

 

PAINTS AND COLORS:

These are all Winsor & Newton oil paints. (Their quality is higher than their price.)

• Titanium White large tube 200-ml
• Cadmium Yellow Pale 37-ml
• Cadmium Yellow 37-ml
• Cadmium Orange 37-ml
• Cadmium Scarlet 37-ml
• Cadmium Red 37-ml
• Permanent Rose 37-ml
• Winsor Violet (Dioxazine Violet) 37-ml
• French Ultramarine Blue 37-ml
• Winsor Blue (Green Shade) (Thalo Blue) 37-ml
• Winsor Green (Thalo Green) 37-ml
• Permanent Green Deep 37-ml
• Cadmium Green Pale 37-ml
• Mars Black 37-ml
  
PURCHASE Winsor & Newton Artists' Oil Colors

 

 

BRUSHES:
Red Sable Flat Brushes:

• Flat size #12
• Flat size #6
  
PURCHASE Da Vinci Kolinsky Red Oil Sable Flat

 

Red sable Round brushes:

• Pointed round #2
• Pointed round #1
  
PURCHASE Escoda Kolinsky Sable Round Long Handle

 

Bristle Brushes:

• Flat bristle brush #6
• Flat bristle brush #8
• Flat bristle brush #12
  
PURCHASE Blick Masterstroke Pure Interlocking Bristle Flat

 

 

PALETTES AND KNIVES:
Palette:
Safety Glass:

• Glass palette 11" x 14"
  
PURCHASE Amaco Paragona Glass Artist Palette

I recommend removing the white backing and replacing it with common brown wrapping paper. A white palette is difficult for dark colors.

OR
Wood:
• Rectangular wood palette 12" x 16"
  
PURCHASE Richeson Palettes

A wooden palette should be coated with linseed oil before and after each painting session. Wipe off excess.

 

Palette Knife:

• Liquitex painting knife #13
  
PURCHASE Liquitex Painting Knives

 

 

CITRUS THINNNER:

• Citrus thinner 32 oz
  
PURCHASE Eco-House 115 Extra-Mild Citrus Cleaner

 

 

LINSEED OIL:

• Winsor & Newton refined linseed oil 500-ml
  
PURCHASE Winsor & Newton Linseed Oils

 

 

CANVASES:
Stretched and Mounted Canvas:

• Stretched canvas 16" x 20"
  
PURCHASE Blick Studio Traditional Profile Canvas
OR

• Fredrix smooth canvas 16" x 20"
  
PURCHASE Fredrix Blue Label Pre-Stretched Canvas

 

Raw (unstretched and unprimed) Canvas:

• #12 cotton duck 54" x 108"
  
PURCHASE Blick Cotton and Linen Canvas Blankets

 

 

GESSO:

• Liquitex 32 oz white
  
PURCHASE Liquitex Acrylic Gessos

 

 

RABBIT SKIN GLUE:

• Daniel Smith Art Supplies (phone 800 426 6740) 284 050 001 Rabbit Skin Glue, one pound bag

 

 

VARNISHES:
Damar Varnish:

• Winsor & Newton Damar Varnish 75 ml
  
PURCHASE Winsor & Newton Dammar Varnish

 

Spray Damar Varnish:

• Blair spray Damar Gloss 11 oz
• Blair spray Damar Matte 11 oz
• Blair spray Damar Retouch 11 oz
  
PURCHASE Blair Spray Damar Varnish

 

Damar Crystals:

• Daniel Smith Art Supplies (phone 800 426 6740) 284 470 015 Gum Damar Crystals,
  ( Mix 1 part crystals to 10 parts turpentine to make a popular varnish.)

 

Turpentine: (for making varnish)

• English Distilled Turpentine 500 ml
  
PURCHASE Winsor & Newton Distilled Turpentine

 

 

Other supply recommendations:

 

TRACING PAPER:

• Canson Tracing Paper Pad 50 sheets 19" x24"
  
PURCHASE Canson Tracing Paper Pads

 

 

TRANSFER PAPER:

• Roll 12 1/2" x 12' erasable graphite
OR

• Roll 12 1/2" x 12' white
  
PURCHASE Saral Wax Free Transfer Paper

 

 

TAPE:

• Painters Tape 3/4" x 60 yds
  
PURCHASE 3M Painter's Tape

 

 

LIGHTS:

• Four color corrected (5000! Kelvin!) Fluorescent Lamps 48" 40w
  
PURCHASE Lumichrome Full Spectrum Fluorescent Lamps

 

 

STRETCHER BARS:

• Medium duty stretcher bar 16"
• Medium duty stretcher bar 20"
  
PURCHASE Best Medium Duty Stretcher Bars

 

 

BOOKS:

• Joy of Drawing by Bill Martin
• Bill Martin Paintings 1969 1979 by Bill Martin
• Lost Legends by Bill Martin
• Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck
• Perspective Drawing by Ernest Norling
• American Realism by Alvin Martin
• The Artist & the American Landscape by John Driscoll
• California Art: 450 Years of Painting & Other Media by Nancy Dustin Wall Moure
• Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-1980: An Illustrated History by Thomas Albright

 

 

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© Copyright Bill Martin 2007 • PO Box 511, Albion, CA 95410 • info@guidetooilpainting.com