How to Start Oil Painting: Techniques for Absolute Beginners

Three Oil Painting Techniques All Artists Should Know - Including You

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Oil painting is a timeless medium, rich with techniques that help artists express mood, emotion, and movement in powerful ways. Whether you’re drawn to the spontaneity of wet-on-wet, the glowing depth of layered color, or the textured richness of thick brushwork, the methods you learn now will become the tools you rely on throughout your artistic journey.
At Milan Art Institute, we believe every artist can grow with the right tools, guidance, and encouragement. To get started, consider choosing a beginner-friendly set like the Milan Art “Oil Painting Starter Kit", which includes essential paints and brushes, making the first steps easier and more fun.

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Alla Prima (Wet-on-Wet)

Paint is applied in one sitting while the layers remain wet.
This approach creates an energetic, spontaneous look that captures the immediacy of light and movement.
Ideal for new painters exploring freedom and flow. You might use our "Ultimate Oil Paint" Professional Colors – for rich coverage and fast, confident strokes.

Glazing

Thin, transparent layers are placed over dry paint to build depth and luminosity.
Here the color glows, almost like light passing through glass, and transitions are subtle.
If you have your base painting dry, swap to smaller brushes and add thin glazes using pigments from the Starter Kit.

Scumbling

Dry, opaque paint is lightly brushed over a dry surface so the under-layer peeks through.
This technique creates texture, atmosphere and suggestion rather than clarity, which is great for foliage, skies, and soft edges.
Use a larger flat brush included in your kit to drag on the paint gently, letting the under-layer show through.

Impasto

Thick, textured paint is applied with a palette knife or stiff brush.
The paint physically stands off the surface, adding dimensionality and expressive brushwork.
With your Ultimate Oil Paint set, pick one strong color and apply it thickly in one area to see how texture immediately changes your piece.

Underpainting

A monochrome or neutral base layer sets values, shapes, and composition early on.
Techniques include grisaille (grey tones), verdaccio (green base), or a warm imprimatura wash.
This foundational layer helps you maintain clarity as you build color. Starter Kits include tones that work for underpainting.

Wet-on-Dry

Wet paint is added over fully dry layers for greater control.
This gives you cleaner edges, sharper detail, and is ideal for finishing touches or realism.
After your initial sessions using spontaneity, use this approach to refine. You’ll want a fine brush from the kit for this stage.

Sfumato

Soft, seamless transitions eliminate hard edges.
This creates dreamy, atmospheric effects and subtle changes of tone.
On a dry underlayer, use gentle strokes and thin paint to blur edges, perhaps with a lighter pigment from your set.

Chiaroscuro

Strong contrasts between light and dark bring dramatic form and mood.
This technique adds sculptural effect and visual focus.
Choose one or two strong darks and light values in your paint set and plan a composition where light hits one area — the rest goes into shadow.

Blocking In

Large shapes, colors, and values are quickly established at the beginning.
This bootstrap step helps organize your composition before refining details.
With your Starter Kit ready, set up your canvas, pick your main value and color zones, and block them in loosely — then refine with other techniques.

Zorn Palette Technique

A limited palette of yellow ochre, a vermilion or cadmium red, ivory black, and white creates natural harmony and simplicity.
This is perfect for beginners because fewer pigments = fewer decisions.
If your kit includes these core colors, try a portrait or still life using only them, and appreciate how everything still reads clearly.

Learning how to start oil painting becomes much easier once you understand and practise these beginner-friendly techniques. Each method gives you a new way to explore color, texture, and expression, helping you grow steadily as an artist. As you practice, you’ll find your own rhythm, your own voice, and a style that feels natural and alive. If you’re ready to go deeper, Milan Art Institute is here to guide you. Pick up your Oil Painting Starter Kit from our Art Store, join a course, attend a workshop, or connect with our global community of artists (app free with any class purchase) who are turning their passion into a lifestyle. Your artistic journey starts right now, so pick up your brush and let’s create something beautiful together.