Oil painting looks intimidating from the outside: toxic chemicals, different brush types and conflicting advice about what to buy. It doesn't need to be!

This handbook offers what actually matters at the start. In one short read you'll know exactly which materials to get, which to skip, and how to take a painting from a blank panel to a finished first study, following the same method taught in a traditional atelier.

The written materials are organized into three parts:

Part 1: The materials that matter – what to get and why: brushes, paints, mediums and solvents, tools, and surfaces, explained in plain language. Plus how to read a paint tube and handle toxic pigments safely.

Part 2: A reliable painting process – a beginner-friendly grisaille method in three phases and seven clear stages, from placing the first marks to finishing without overworking.

Part 3: Where to go next – five hand-picked books for deepening technique, materials knowledge, and learning how painters acually think.