Strategies for oil painting

1. Apply acrylic undercoat on canvas. This can be white or colour of your choice.

2. Draw outline in 2B pencil with some detail as needed.

4. Paint out any gridlines or errors with undercoat colour.

5. Lightly cover with watered down undercoat to fix the pencil drawing. Allow to dry.

6. Mix oil glaze (see recipe) and colour mid brown or colour of your choice.

7. Apply glaze evenly all over.

8. With cotton rags, remove glaze in areas of light tonal value. Allow to dry.

9.Apply colour as needed for final painting.

Recipe for oil glaze:

4 parts Damar varnish

2 parts thickened linseed oil

1 part Venice turpentine

4 parts turpentinMix well and allow bubbles to disappear.

These proportions can be varied according to your preferences and weather conditions.

Courtesy of Mike Skidmore.