Hello Friends!

Last week I went to town to run some errands. I haven’t been to town in quite awhile so I decided to pop into Michael’s since they aren’t as crowded these days.

I had been researching oil paints online for a couple of weeks and wanted to see if they had either of the sets I had been looking at. They did, and I opted for the Winsor & Newton Winton Oil Colors. It came with several small tubes of some basic colors and a larger tube of white. However, there was no black in it which is one of the colors someone suggested I  get as a beginner. The set also came with two brushes and a bottle of a substance that can thin the paints out some.

Well, artists are not kidding when they say oil paints take a long time to dry! I painted this face from my imagination on Thursday. It is a small 8×8″ canvas. I didn’t use the thinner, but I also didn’t lay the paint on thickly. Yet it still isn’t dry. I suppose that can be a good thing if I were to want to change or fix anything.

I honestly did not like the feel of these paints. However, I know that this set I purchased is also a low-grade oil paint. I would hope the more expensive brands are much better. I watched a short YouTube video of an artist who explained what brands are best and why. The lower-grade paints have less pigment, less oil and more filler than the highest-grade paints which are made up of only oil and pigment, about half and half!

One positive thing is that the paints themselves are not fumey like I expected them to be. I learned that it is the solvents and other things artists mix with them that produce the fumes. I bought a mineral oil to clean the brushes, but I found that even soap and water works for these paints.

Anyway, I will most likely play around with them on some textured paper i have instead of using up my canvases. In fact, I may paint over this one, ha ha!

Have a wonderful day! 😀