Certain colors are not only well suited to blending but can be used to create a basis for an entire genre of personal colors. Skin tones often become a stumbling block for artists. Nothing is sadder than a beautifully captured portrait diminished by skin tones that are not healthy and alive. This can be avoided by combining two simple colors, cadmium red light and cadmium green light, in equal amounts to create a rich dark brown that can be softened with white to achieve a dynamic skin basis. The degree of white and other subsidiary tones will create a glowing flesh tone and is easily repeatable. To this basic flesh tone mix, you can introduce a tiny bit more red for a ruddy coloration. Add a very small amount of cadmium yellow light or medium and you create a sallow skin tone. Add more green to the initial flesh tone and you create yet another useful skin tone. Many portrait artists keep on hand premixed colors in all of these families because any face has areas where the tone changes. One of the three mixes listed above might be just the ticket.

Combining black (lamp black or ivory black) with cadmium yellow is another hand-mixed color that is fun to create. The resulting tone of green is the picture of springtime and is very useful to landscape painters. If not for large areas, this bright, cheery tone makes an excellent highlight for any foliage.

The same is true for the combination of cobalt blue and cadmium yellow. The tone created is another bright green that leans to the blue and is again a wonderful tone for spring green landscape work.

Cadmium red, cadmium yellow and a tiny bit of blue yield a glorious orange just right for sunset or fall foliage paintings. Add a bit more blue and the tone dulls to a more pumpkin or sedate orange and is very useful in forest interior work, foregrounds and stones in open landscape scenes.

A covered palette allows mixed oil colors to stay soft and serviceable for several days or even weeks if the cover is tight. But for large-scale works or long-term use of specific colors, it is advisable to create a larger quantity of color. Storage can be in saved baby food jars (keep the lid and the jar threads clean for easy opening) or perhaps you might like to buy metal tubes in which to pack your "private label" colors. (Remember to name them and keep a record of how you mixed that special color). Open-ended tubes are available in most art material stores. Mailing labels are great for labeling your tubes. One tip is to roll the bottom of the tube tightly and do not trap air between the bottom of the tube and the store of paint.

Experimentation with the oils you might already have will get you started and give you a chance to explore many possibilities as well as be creative.

Long handles are traditional for oil painting, however, they are not neccesary. Short handle brushes accomplish the same effect.