Painting materials - AQAOil paint

Oil paint is rich and vibrant. Oil paintings are often very detailed and colourful and are composed of many layers of paint.

Oil paint is permanent and durable. However it is expensive and can take a long time to dry - sometimes up to a year where the paint is applied thickly.

Tools and materials

Oil paint brushes and their best uses:

• Round or pointed tip brushes are good for sketching, outlining, detailed work and filling in small areas.
• Flat square end brushes are good for bold strokes, washes and filling wide spaces. They can also be used for fine lines, straight edges and stripes.
• Filbert flat and oval-shaped end brushes work well for blending and creating soft-rounded edges - for instance on flower petals.
• Fan flat brushes have hairs that spread. They are good for smoothing and blending. They can be used for creating textures, such as clouds or leaves on trees.
• Angular flat brushes have angled hairs. They are good for curved strokes and filling corners.
• Detail round brushes have short hairs. They are a good choice for working on details and making short strokes.