PAINT TALK: Should you let oil paint layers dry

[@jrlakin370]

The main reason I layer is that I take my time with paintings, partly cause I like to, also because of time restraints. I get to a point when I want to stop and might not return to it for a few days for example.

[@MariaRevArt]

Same. I can only work for so long before I get fatigued or the light isn't good or I just need to stop.

[@nj5023]

Same here. I set my first layer and then might not get back for a few days or a week. In the meantime I’m contemplating what my next layer is going to do. Each layer is about 2-4 hrs of painting. Anyway that my regiment.

[@Mariecherement]

Watercolour, gouache, and pastel also works GREAT for a lean layer underpainting before using oil paint.

[@alexandersmed6624]

Very helpful video in that you cleared up confusion from mixing up the "fat over lean" and "thick over thin" rules. I'm really glad you touched upon this topic as I know a lot of people get confused on this and I believe this video deserves more views.

[@carriebarnes118]

You go, paint coach! Some of the best, most easily consumed content on oil painting out there.

[@OBrienDesigns]

You deserve way more views than you currently have. You have helped me more than any other video I've ever encountered. Thanks!

[@paintcoach]

Thanks! I really appreciate that

[@Clamski]

Linseed oil safety note: Linseed can spontaneously combust at room temperatures if you use a rag or paper towels for clean up. Best practices is a one gallon metal paint can, and keep it outside. Also, all clean up waste, including used thinner, should be stored in a metal can (outside, or in a metal locker) and disposed of at a local hazardous waste collection site.

[@kikiraven2620]

Brilliant! I really struggle with this, think I need to watch it every time before I start painting!

[@seapossumsforrest8162]

Great tutorial! Thank you for posting, Your videos are so well thought out and easy to watch. Thank you!

[@Analyseis]

Very informative and straight

[@designsmstudio5150]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you 🙂

[@lunazamoracreative]

This was helpful. I try a la prima and it’s a mess and takes 4 days to dry. Really turned off by the drying process.

[@lunarmodule6419]

Great subject! Thanks.

[@WHEREVER-I-ROAM]

I love watching you paint, it's like seeing what your seeing and it helps sooo much, thanks

[@cynthiamarston2208]

Im student. Letting dry is almost like doing yet again a new painting. For eyes and mouth i can see some benefit… i do portraits and prefer wet on wet and prefer oil for that plus the finish us much nicer if gloss or sheen is uniform

[@gramcox-3468]

Best prize surprise, was not expecting that., BTW great video sir. Thanks.

[@desidera6373]

Exactly the video I needed, thank you!

[@tba1879]

I paint in layers and I always let each layer dry thoroughly, especially if it contains some slower-drying paints, like whites.

[@journeytravelers5420]

Thank you Chris , bless you :)

[@MrTwocide]

Great video !!!

[@tproud]

You are saying that if the paint doesn't layer well, you need to make sure it's very thick, however if you need to add some small details on top of the previous layers, you really need to thin out your paint with paint thinner, otherwise it simply won't work.

[@tba1879]

In this case I would use a medium (I use walnut alkyd).

[@lostincolors10]

Very helpful! Thank you!!!!

[@jiminspinky5136]

Good tips. Thank you sir !

[@sp9138]

Thanks coach. You the man

[@manishgunnala2881]

Thank you for this video! Really helped me out ! 💙

[@40bdg]

Nice painting!

[@codyhughes1147]

Let it dry?!?! Ugh so difficult. I like to work chaotically and fast typically. Im going to play with these ideas more though. I want to get better at giving paintings more time. Sounds healthy for my attention span.

[@granmabern5283]

Thanks

[@Mariecherement]

Paint Coach, Did you graduate from VCU School of The Arts?

[@janparker3214]

Do you ever do an under painting in acrylic then paint over top with oil.

[@claires9100]

I was wondering that too. I heard that you can do that.

[@CitizenOfTheWorld2025]

Helen Van Wyk, who taught painting years ago on PBS and also through her many books and private lessons, did that routinely. She would establish a monochrome under painting of the major values and forms in acrylic paint and then after it was thoroughly dry she would paint in oils on top. She said she had been working like that for many decades and never had any problems. This makes sense to me as acrylic gesso is a very commonly used primer for oil painting. I have heard that many professional artists nonetheless swear by the benefits of oil primed canvases but I have no experience here. I think Chris probably talks about that in one of his videos. Helen would also apply a thin “glaze”of colors over this under painting to guide her in the later application of color values and tones. This is just another approach to painting that is reminiscent of techniques used by master painters for many centuries. Helen thought of acrylics as the modern version of the fast drying temperas used in the past to create under paintings.

[@nancyhenderson736]

Love your videos and looking forward to your course on the foundations of oil painting. I am new to painting, and really just started to learn how to draw last year and your videos are so helpful. I know that it is part of the learning process to be be unsatisfied with my work but I often come to a point where I don’t know if I should keep trying to make a painting work or just admit defeat and go on to the next one. Any advice for knowing when to stop?

[@ChristinaTodd1970]

What colors would you use to mix a naples yellow? I know I could just go out and buy a tube, but I’m on an art purchasing hiatus.

[@Citroen_2cv]

I don't have the answer to this, but I want to say I greatly respect your hiatus -- so flipping hard

[@ChristinaTodd1970]

@@Citroen_2cv Sooooo hard!

[@Sophiame9200]

I don't know why my painting look a kind of dull, and I don't understand this first, second layers artist apply

[@FrancoisCharette]

If I want to work wet into wet but need to finish a painting in 2 sittings, how long can I wait wait between sittings before I have to add linseed oil (fat over lean)

[@Rassu.s]

Just started oil painting and your videos are so helpful! I have been painting on primed paper, can you suggest on how to store oil paintings ? Since they take so long to dry should I just leave it in the open or can I put them in a folder after a week or two ?

[@MariaRevArt]

Hi. I wouldn't advise putting them in a folder too quickly because they need to breathe otherwise they can start sweating.

[@CitizenOfTheWorld2025]

The oil in oil paint doesn’t “dry” (with exception of paint thinners or turpentines which evaporate) so much as it undergoes a chemical change which converts it into a solid hard flexible resin. This is more a process of “curing” than drying. This process requires exposure to the oxygen in the air and ultraviolet light from sun light. This is all to explain that completed oil painting should be cured in a light and airy room with plenty of ventilation.

[@rosannazucchelli4229]

Ciao fornataro😊, italiano ehh? You must have some blood from the grandi maestri... I love your videos, ciao from Torino, italy

[@lunazamoracreative]

That’s funny about watercolor! That how I learned first how to paint. How is it that I love watercolor and find oil so very frustrating

[@sujanithtottempudi2991]

My first choice would be oils...but recently I mean almost year...I'm constantly doing watercolour.... occasional oils...don't know why I like water colour so much🤔

[@sujanithtottempudi2991]

My first choice would be oils...but recently I mean almost year...I'm constantly doing watercolour.... occasional oils...don't know why I like water colour so much🤔

[@michaelbone5177]

Hey Chris awesome painting here! I'm wondering how you choose reference to paint, I sort of have a weird feeling about taking images from the internet and prefer my own pictures, but I'm running out of decently lit photos. Sometimes I will steal them from friends social media! Thanks

[@MariaRevArt]

If you need to use photos from the internet you can use royalty free sites like: Unsplash Pixabay Pexels Public Domain Pictures pmp Etc.

[@michaelbone5177]

@@MariaRevArt ya its less that im worried about copyright, more that it just doesnt inspire me.\

[@MariaRevArt]

@@michaelbone5177 Ahh. I see. I understand.

[@allenvoss7977]

What type of brush do you like when blocking in? Synthetic , hogs hair, bristle? What is typically best?

[@ameerramchand5606]

hey great video , was just wondering what kind of panel are you painting on and what is it primed with if at all?

[@laharimanchikanti1504]

This is so helpful thank you! How long did this painting take?

[@jamoceanblue]

Hey great video! I definitely subscribed. Could you add your ig page in your description box as well? I hear you say it in your video but I want to get the correct spelling. Pardon me if I overlooked it. If so, could you point me in the direction?

[@harrymonk6]

Would medium of 1 linseed and 1 turps be considered a leaner mix than paint straight out of the tube?

[@TheHyde8875]

Yes, because paint straight from the tube is as fat as it gets. Any thing else would be leaner.

[@harrymonk6]

@@TheHyde8875 even with linseed mixed 1 to 1 with turpentine? Cheers mate

[@roxannekeomaka4754]

What are your favorite brushes

[@view2u100]

What size brush do you start the lay out with?

[@laurenwortman3244]

How can I give one of my paintings as a gift if it takes so long for oil paint to dry?

[@anchoranchor3495]

Just never give it away, never. Maybe only the closest relatives who appreciate your kindness ☝️

[@janparker3214]

When do you apply varnish to a painting?

[@MariaRevArt]

If it's Gamvar or a retouch varnish you can apply it once the thickest part of the painting is firm and will not indent if pressed into. Always follow instructions to be certain. If you are using a regular varnish you have to wait for at least 6 months for the paint to cure, maybe even longer for really thick, impasto work.

[@joylynnpursley8383]

I painted a dog which looks all black … same black. A black blob

[@samanthalee2748]

i like to work in layers while half dry and half wet

[@sttarch5150]

Actually, there is a way to fix problems with watercolor. Mix a little Elmer's glue and water and cover the paper and let dry before you paint. You can remove paint merely by wetting the painting with the end of the brush and dabbing the color off with paper towel. However, the paint takes to the paper differently.

[@jomarablay9442]

what colors you suggest for skin tones? coz i am planning to upgrade my oil paints to gamblin for a good quality materials and i am currently broke so i need to limit myself from buying some materials. coz man, gamblin oils are so expensive here in our country - Philippines, for a student like me.

[@chowe5379]

Not the paint coach, but what helped me was the Zorn Palette. 4 paints and only the cadmium red light is expensive. (Yellow ochre, cadmium red light, titanium white, and ivory black)

[@jomarablay9442]

@@chowe5379 ohh i will try this one. thanks for the recommendation!

[@Fania973]

All you need is a white (titanium white preferably), a blue (ultramarine), a red (alizarin crimson) and a yellow (for gamblin I'd say cadmium yellow light or hansa light). You can mix every other color (black included) with those 4! :)

[@jomarablay9442]

@@Fania973 thank you so much! much appreciated. ✨ it's just im so poor being an artist that's why i need to limit myself spending money for some materials.

[@mayarwaleed6109]

Can we use gasoline as a solvent for oil colours?

[@CitizenOfTheWorld2025]

I hope you are joking! Gasoline is extremely dangerous and toxic. When I was a teenager I got the bright idea of putting a tiny splash of gasoline in a full garbage can and lighting it. (Gasoline is extremely volatile and inflammable. ) The garbage can became a cannon that , after the shocking “bam!”, shot burning trash over the fence into the neighbors yard. Needless to say there followed a panic of garden hoses. It was a stupid experiment but it gave me a life long respect for the dangers of playing with gasoline. There is absolutely no reason to use it in painting; the idea is crazy!

[@Fania973]

This video comes at the perfect time! I'm doing your new course's beta and I realized too late that I got one value completely wrong in the landscape section. I've been waiting for it to dry to fix it, and now I'll make sure to use some linseed oil to avoid cracking :) thanks Chris!

[@blackfoxphotography7672]

It take me months to finish a painting, no way it's no drying in that time

[@antonioquizpe1996]

👍

[@milesmartin4958]

Letting paintings dry opens up a world of options in oil paint. Alla prima is cool too but you’re significantly limiting the types of paintings you can make if you NEVER do it.

[@liasanma1665]

I totally agree! If you paint different sections, it really changes nothing about swishing paint around on the next section! It also gives you fresh eyes and more patience for the next session :D

[@janeonthecoast4920]

Got some repeat questions here. Watch his other vids folks :)

[@TheBuldog2000]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🙏⭐️😀

[@marijaperkovic4384]

For everyone that wants fast drying oilpaints: try Lukas Studio oil paints. Like they dry in a day or two

[@PaintingtheLight]

Hey your channel is amazing! Thank you so much fot being such a great tutor...!