Q&A for How to Oil Paint on Canvas

For this to work, you'll need to dilute the paint with mineral spirits. Hold the brush near the surface and flick the bristles with your thumb moving away from the surface. The closer you hold the brush to the surface, the more concentrated the paint spots will be. For more vibrant spots use less mineral spirits—for translucent spots, use more.

When you're sketching out something on your canvas, you can mix a little bit of thinner in your oil paint so that you can wipe it off if you make a mistake. Once you begin painting, stop using thinner and use the paints directly from the tube, or use a medium like linseed oil. Sometimes if the paint is a little bit stuck, you can dip your brush in a tiny bit of thinner and mix it with your paint. What I usually do is keep a jar of thinner and a jar of medium (linseed oil). Usually, thinner ends up being used just to clean your brushes in between colors. To do so, just dip your brush in, and then wipe with a paper towel. You will still need to wash your brushes after you finish, though.

Acrylic paints are usually better for beginners. They dry quickly and you can paint over them easily if you make a mistake. They also wash out of brushes easily with water. Oils, on the other hand, take days to dry, which makes it easier to manipulate the paint for a longer period of time. Oils can ruin your brushes, however, if they are not washed very well with turpentine or soap and water. Oils are also more difficult to work with, so they're better for experienced artists. They have more pigments in them as well, which means they have a richer, deeper color than acrylic paints.

The short answer is yes, oil paint is expensive. Different brands have different prices, but ultimately, you get what you pay for. There is student-quality oil paint, which is cheaper but has lower-quality pigmentation, opacity, and thickness. Professional-quality oil paint is more expensive but higher-quality.

Yes, though the paint may be difficult to use. I like to use a medium like linseed oil or Liquitex.

You can layer oil paint on top of acrylic paint, but you cannot layer acrylic over oil. Sometimes I will tone, or even do underpainting in acrylic before I start using oil.

Definitely. You can activate the dried paint with a little bit of gamsol or any other paint thinner if you want to. Usually, that won't be necessary; just go over dry parts with new paint.

You can always sand down your paint after it's completely dry, then add three or four coats of gesso on top. This should give you a nice, smooth surface and block out any colors previously painted on the canvas.

Using a soft-bristled brush will allow you to smoothly blend colors together on the canvas that should give the desired cloudy effect. For clouds, you can also add some thicker white paint on top of your sky/background.