Step by Step to Begin Your Oil Painting

Start with a toned canvas and a monochrome underpainting. Tone the white a dark brown, mix a grey scale from black and fast-drying white, draw a loose skeleton with a small bristle brush, then block the whole picture in as light and dark values — no color at all yet. Color, details, and finish all come after that foundation is solid.

Someone sent me this question: “Pretend it’s the very first time you tried to paint — could you give me a step-by-step method to get started? That blank canvas is rather unnerving.” A lot of people feel exactly that, so here’s the answer.

This assumes your painting surface — canvas, panel, or paper — is already prepared properly. Preparing a canvas is its own important lesson. Bad preparation and bad materials lead to bad paintings, and I’ll say that more than once.

1. Start with a monochrome underpainting

This is the traditional way, and it makes things easier because it separates the problems. You don’t have to deal with every part of painting at once. For a beginner I want you on a dark brown toned canvas. That tone plays a real role in the underpainting — where you leave it showing or barely cover it, it becomes part of the painting.

2. Squeeze out white and black

Use a fast-drying white if you can. How much? Enough to use. If you need more, squeeze more — don’t overthink something this simple.

With a small bristle brush, mix a light grey. Always start with white and add black slowly. It’s far easier to darken a light mixture than to lighten a dark one.

3. Make your drawing

Take the small bristle brush and lightly place your outlines — a “skeleton” drawing. This is one way to do it; there are transfer and composition methods I demonstrate in the lessons.

If the paint needs help flowing, dip the brush very lightly into medium — only if you need it. Don’t use medium blindly because someone told you to. Think of washing a pot: a little soap, some water, then judge whether you need more.

Don’t load the brush at this stage — you’ll build paint up gradually — but don’t be so afraid of paint that you barely touch the canvas either. And nothing is final. This is not a paint-by-numbers kit. You’re working in black and white; you can’t ruin anything. Mix a thin grey so the tone shows through, or a thicker grey to cover it — notice how many values you get just by varying thickness. Think of drawing with white chalk on a chalkboard.

4. Divide everything into light and dark

Forget color completely. Only tone — light and dark.

You can start either way (dark to light or light to dark) and work toward the opposite. Let the toned canvas show in the darkest areas. Use a darker grey for the next-darkest values. Use light grey, applied thicker, for the lighter areas. For the highest lights, lay pure white lightly over what’s already there.

Don’t fear “mud” — you can’t make mud with only black and white.

That’s step one: the underpainting. From here you’d reinforce it, then add color with glazes, veilings, and some direct painting. Details come last.

Step-by-step recap

• Prepare your surface (properly primed canvas, panel, or paper).
• Tone it a dark brown to knock down the white and set a middle value.
• Put out fast-drying white and black. Squeeze “enough to use.”
• Mix a light grey — start with white, add black slowly.
• Brush a loose skeleton drawing. Thin paint, a touch of medium only if needed. Nothing is final.
• Block in values, not color: toned ground for the deepest darks, darker grey for shadow masses, thicker light grey for lights, a touch of pure white for the highest highlights.
• Strengthen the underpainting until the value structure reads clearly.
• Only then add color: glazes, veilings, some direct painting. Details last.

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This removes the intimidation of the blank canvas and gives you a method you can use on any painting. The full version — reinforcing the underpainting, adding color the classical way — is inside the school.