Riot Art & Craft have professional oil painting supplies and materials online for artists who value the timeless beauty of oil painting. Begin with the best starter kit or add to your supply with our oil paints, canvases, paintbrushes and mediums.

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Paint Like The Old Masters With Our High Quality Oil Painting Supplies

Riot Art & Craft are the leading online art supplies store in Australia for budding oil painters and seasoned professionals. We understand the unique needs of oil painting and stock the best quality oil painting supplies by leading brands to help you create professional, vividly coloured works of art that stand the test of time.

Shop our extensive range of oil paints, mediums, paintbrushes and application tools, canvases, easels, painting pads, palettes and more with free delivery over $70 to your doorstep, Australia-wide!

Starting out With Oils and Oil Painting

Painting with oils is very different to both watercolor and acrylic painting. Oil paints are a combination of coloured pigment and a drying oil, typically linseed oil but also poppy seed, safflower or walnut oil. This medium makes the oil colour appear rich and vibrant and the texture to be thick and creamy.

Oil paints have a very slow drying time, making them ideal for reworking over long periods of time. Oils are also available in other forms, such as oil pastels for creating striking illustrations.

Oil Painting Supplies For Beginner Artists

When you're just getting started in oil painting, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of items you can use to perfect this style of painting. As a beginner, it's best to start off with the basics and build your supplies over time.

To start, you'll need oil paint! We stock an extensive range of individual colours and paint sets that are perfect for applying direct or mixing unique shades. You'll also need a selection of paintbrushes and palette knives to apply the paint. Try a flat, round, filbert and liner brush to start and a palette knife set, such as our one by Art Culture.

Next, you'll need a canvas to paint on. To thin the paint and wash your brushes, you'll need a paint thinner, such as a solvent like turpentine. To make the paint smoother and more spreadable, consider buying our linseed oil by Eraldo Di Paolo.

Lastly, stock up on paper towels and old rags for keeping your workspace clean.

Professional Oil Painting Supplies

For more experienced artists, you can expand your basic supplies and experiment more with the medium. Buy a studio easel from Art Studio and Eraldo Di Paolo to support your artwork and make transporting it easy.

Challenge yourself with new types of oil painting brushes and painting knives to apply oil paint. Turn your artwork into a mixed media project and experiment with adding other mediums, such as gouache or graphite pencils. Try different coloured canvases, such as our black canvas panels from The Art Studio. Finish off your masterpiece with a good quality varnish to seal and protect your masterpiece.

Paint Sets For Beginners and Professionals

An oil paint set is a fantastic investment for both beginners and professionals. For those just starting out, it's a cost-effective and convenient way to acquire the essentials. For advanced artists, it's a great way to keep the basics on-hand for each project.

We've got oil paint sets with individual paint tubes in every important shade for blending and mixing custom shades. Shop a 6 piece or 12-piece paint set with every colour you need, including:
1. Burnt sienna
2. Cadmium red
3. Alizarin crimson
4. Titanium white
5. Yellow ochre
6. Ultramarine blue
7. Burnt umber
8. Cadmium yellow light

Canvases - What You Need To Know

A canvas is a hugely popular surface for oil painting as it grips oil paints firmly and colours show up bright and vivid. The best canvas material to use for oil painting is cotton or linen.

We've got 100% cotton canvas panels by Eraldo Di Paolo for creating multiple small-scale works or gallery wrapped canvases in various sizes that come triple primed with gesso. We've also got round canvases by Artist First Choice for something different and black canvas panels by The Art Studio for striking oil paint works.

Paint Brushes and Tools For Beginners

When you're just starting out in oil painting, you'll want to make sure you have a good amount of paint brushes in varying types and sizes for getting used to creating different textures and results. Synthetic brushes are a good choice for beginners as they're cheaper and made to resemble natural brushes. Consider these basic paintbrush types:
1. Round - A round brush is an essential paintbrush used for painting lines with the tip and filling in larger areas with the body.
2. Flat - A flat brush is needed to create straight edges and fill in wide spaces quickly.
3. Filbert - A filbert brush is a cross between a flat and round brush. It's used for blending in portraits and landscapes.
4. Liner Brush - A liner brush is required for adding intricate details and fine lines.

Shop our brush sets by Artist First Choice, Eraldo Di Paolo and more to get all of the essential paintbrushes in one handy kit, including rounds, flats, filberts and liners!

Paint Brushes and Tools For Professionals

Professionals tend to use natural bristle brushes which are high-quality and durable. Hog hair brushes are the most popular as they have strong bristles for applying thick oil paint onto canvas. If you're ready to expand your collection of oil paint brushes and tools beyond the regular rounds, flats and filberts - check these items out:
1. Fan Brush - A fan brush is great for adding texture, such as painting fields of grass or adding hair or fur to an object.
2. Large Flat - These brushes are good for laying down a background or for painting the bottom layer to your artwork.
3. Angle Brush - Angle brushes can be used to create detail and unusual brushstrokes, as well as add depth and shadow to a piece.
4. Palette knife - A palette knife is not only used to mix oil paints in a palette, but also to lay down paint. Use them to spread layers of thick paint onto a canvas and swivel them around to create texture and movement.

Brush Cleaners and Cleaning Your Brushes

Using soap and water to clean your oil paint brushes won't cut it as oil and water don't mix. Instead, use a solvent such as turpentine to wash the oil paint off the bristles before it dries to ensure complete removal. You can let them soak in the solvent for 5 minutes beforehand.

Blot the excess oil paint onto a paper towel until it's all gone. You could also use linseed oil to clean your brushes.

Best Oil Painting Starter Kit

For beginner oil paint artists, a starter kit can really take the confusion out of what supplies you need to begin your first project. We have handy oil paint sets by The Art Studio with 12 essential shades for painting and mixing custom shades or Eraldo Di Paolo sets with warm and cool hues. Get your application tools sorted with an Art Culture Plastic Palette Knife 5 Piece set and a paintbrush kit, such as our Art Studio Oil Brush Wallet with 10 hog hair bristle brushes and a handy carrying case.

Best Quality Oil Painting Brands

Riot Art & Craft stock the most trusted and respected brands in oil painting. We've got Eraldo Di Paolo for gallery wrapped canvases and canvas panels, artist-level oil paints with excellent lightfastness ratings and paintbrush sets that are perfect for oils and acrylics.

We've also got Art Culture for plastic palettes and palette knives, Artist First Choice for individual paintbrushes of every size and type, Holcroft for gesso primers and the Art Studio for easels and beginner oil paint sets.

Frequently Asked Questions About Oil Painting Supplies

What Supplies Do You Need For Oil Painting?

Every oil paint artist has a collection of oil painting supplies that are essential to creating their next masterpiece. Dive into fine art with these items:
1. Oil paint
2. Paintbrushes
3. Painting surface, such as canvas
4. Turpentine or mineral spirits
5. Oil medium, such as linseed oil
6. Jar of water
7. Palette
8. Paper towels

What Base Should You Use For Oil Painting?

A primed canvas made of cotton or linen is the ideal base to begin your oil painting. You can prime the canvas yourself with gesso and a gesso brush or buy one of our triple primed canvases by Eraldo Di Paolo and get started immediately. They're:
1. 100% cotton
2. Acid Free
3. Lightweight
4. Available in different sizes, widths and grain textures

Do You Have To Mix Oil Paint With Anything?

Yes, you do! Oil paints need to be thinned using a solvent or oil medium to break them down, similar to water with acrylic paint. Linseed oil is excellent at doing this, but you can also use turpentine or mineral spirits to thin oil paint to a smooth consistency and to clean your brushes after painting.

Which Oil Is Best For Oil Painting?

The most commonly used oil in oil paints is linseed oil. This oil slows down the amount of time it takes for oil paint to dry on a canvas which makes it easier to rework and prevent the artwork from yellowing over time. However, you can also use:
1. Poppy Seed Oil
2. Safflower Oil
3. Walnut Oil