My First Oil Painting

For Christmas, just after I’d turned 12 years old, I got a set of high-quality Permanent Pigments oil paints. Those included primary and secondary colors, plus white and black. My first lessons in oil painting came from the enclosed pamphlet on learning to paint with oil colors and the full-color Permanent Pigments color mixing guide.

The next day, I got ready to try out my new paints. A postcard of a round tower in Ireland provided a worthy subject. I squeezed out dabs of paint onto my palette, mixed colors to roughly match those of the postcard, and got to work.

The first strokes spread a blend of phthalo blue and titanium white that became the sky. White and tinted clouds were added. Greens were daubed on to become hills and trees. The tower took form with thickly applied paint. Cemetery headstones in the foreground completed the scene. It was done; I was pleased.

As I became more adept at oil painting, I often turned to Ralph Mayer’s “The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and Techniques” for guidance on oil paints and how to use them. Skills, insights, and inspiration have come through reading, visiting museums, attending classes and workshops, experimenting and practice, and interactions with other artists.

I still have that first painting. It hangs in my studio. It is a good reminder of how much I’ve learned about painting and grown as an artist since then.

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