The day we did still life oil paintings

We had been talking about painting and discussing the difference between acrylics and oils. Most of the group had not used oils or had tried them but found them difficult to use. Mat decided to have a session using oil paint. The week before we took some old frames from a charity shop and removed the boards. We primed these with an acrylic wash. We did this as the oil from the oil paint will soak into paper or board so you need a proper primed surface. Acrylic gives a good base.

The following week we set up some objects to paint and Mat gave a demo. He tried to get everyone to paint straight on the board without attempting to mix, painting the objects first, starting from the darker shaded parts to the lighter highlights. Then he painted in the background.

Everyone else had a go and this was the result: