Oil Painting for Beginners
A course by Ale CasanovaPainter and Teacher
A course by Ale Casanova, Painter and Teacher
Get started with the endless possibilities this painting technique offers and create a composition from start to finish
It is well-known that oil painting has been the preferred medium of some of art history’s great masters. According to painter and teacher Alejandro Casanova, its two main advantages are its ease of work and its enormous versatility to capture your surroundings. Are you ready to immerse yourself in this world-class painting technique?
In this course, explore the many possibilities offered by the most versatile of painting techniques and create a composition from start to finish. And if you wish to continue learning with Alejandro, you can try his other course, Artistic Portrait with Watercolors, to discover a fool-proof painting methodology.
What will you learn in this online course?
23 lessons & 21 downloads
Materials
13 minutes, 51 seconds
Tonal value 1
13 minutes, 9 seconds
Cleaning the utensils
4 minutes, 59 seconds
The stained. Back to front 1
9 minutes, 11 seconds
The stained. Back to front 2
18 minutes, 13 seconds
From dark to light. Inorganic and organic 1
17 minutes, 44 seconds
From dark to light. Inorganic and organic 2
15 minutes, 4 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start by getting to know Alejandro Casanova, his craft, and his references. He also tells you about how he understands painting and the influences and authors he finds most interesting.
Next, take a tour of the most-used materials for oil painting, such as the paint itself, brushes, thinners, and accessories. Then, learn about tonal value with a simple black and white exercise.
Basic color concepts are the central theme of the next unit. Set up a small color circle to be used as a reference for your work and learn to correctly identify each color and its place on the palette.
Ready for the final project? First, Alejandro shows you how he created the final composition used as an example, and demonstrates the basic phases of his methodology for oil painting.
Paint some details following a different method, moving from the general to the fine details, and see how to apply final corrections. Finally, discover the types of varnish available and some different ways to apply it to your finished work.
What is this course's project?
Make an oil painting using a simple methodology that can be used for future projects.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Any lover of drawing, painting, or illustration who wants to learn the time-tested and versatile painting technique of oil painting.
Requirements and materials
To take this course you will not need any previous knowledge, as Alejandro will introduce you to this technique from scratch.
As for materials, you’ll need a canvas to paint on, some brushes, and different tubes of oil paint.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Muy buen curso, me gustó la forma en la que explicaba, yo fui haciendo mi pintura a la par del profesor y no me sentí apresurada.
- 2 months ago
El curso es bueno, porque el profesor Casanova sabe cómo explicar y segmentar los temas mientras realiza demostraciones. Sabe explicar sobre materiales y técnicas. Sabe como explicar conceptos, aunque es necesario regresar varias veces el video para poder entender todo. Ya que, los explica con naturalidad y se nota el dominio sobre su disciplina. Pero vale la pena anotar lo que explica, prestar atención a su técnica y métodos. Altamente recomendado 👍
- 2 months ago
Curso fácil de seguir aunque no conozcas la técnica. Muy buen profesor.
- heartylungoodPLUS3 months ago
good teacher
- 6 months ago
I had never done an oil painting before; I took this course to learn how to use it. I already follow a course from Ale Casanova, which provided a thorough explanation. He knows his subject.
His work focuses on the human body and portraiture as a window into the creation of plastic art. He also composes oil paintings, although watercolor is his preferred medium as it allows him to work swiftly and effectively using transparency and the richness of the color spectrum to create figurative pieces. His work has been exhibited in different Spanish as well as other European cities and he has also given numerous workshops across Spain.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- What will we do in the course?
- U2
Materials and tonal value
- Materials
- Tonal value 1
- Tonal value 2
- Cleaning the utensils
- U3
Color and the chromatic circle
- Theory of color
- Color wheel 1
- Color wheel 2
- Color wheel 3
- U4
Painting the composition
- Search for the reason
- Draw on the bracket
- The stained. Back to front 1
- The stained. Back to front 2
- From dark to light. Inorganic and organic 1
- From dark to light. Inorganic and organic 2
- From dark to light. Inorganic and organic 3
- U5
Painting the composition II
- From the general to the particular 1
- From the general to the particular 2
- Paste and final corrections 1
- Paste and final corrections 2
- Varnished
- FP
Final project
- Oil Painting for Beginners
What to expect from a Domestika course
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FAQs
You’ll learn artistic portrait techniques in oil, differences between oil, watercolor, acrylic, and ink, color theory, compositional structure, preparing surfaces and brushes, plus how to apply light and volume to your paintings.
This course is designed for intermediate students, so it’s best to have some basic drawing and painting experience before starting.
You’ll need oil paints, suitable brushes, a palette, prepared surfaces, odorless solvent, mediums, turpentine, blotting paper, and soap for cleaning.
Oil paint dries slowly and offers rich tones; acrylic dries quickly; ink is precise and fluid; and watercolor is transparent and light.
You’ll learn natural grid techniques, direct brushwork, blending, volume modeling, use of light, and color mixing to create expressive, realistic portraits.
You’ll be taught how to choose your support, apply primer, and prepare the surface to ensure a solid, lasting base for oil painting.
You should clean brushes with odorless solvent or turpentine, wash them with special soap, and dry thoroughly to keep the bristles in good shape and hydrated.