Rich and color-saturated when spread thickly, transparent and luminous in thin layers, oil paint has attracted artists through the centuries. Its slow-drying process allows for great freedom of application and color that easily blends. Join the masters from Rembrandt to Pollack who have played with oil techniques, doing everything from capturing shades of light to tossing the paint directly on the canvas. Minimize your expense by starting with the essentials. Compare grades of paint, various mediums, dilutents, brushes, palettes, supports, and accessories such as knives, dippers, and sticks. Employ basic methods for preparing materials, such as sealing supports, toning the ground, and readying the palette. Hundreds of hints about improving work surfaces, squaring the canvas, making corrections, and caring for utensils ease potential difficulties. A gallery of paintings by contemporary artists will inspire you to cover each step from "painting alia prima" (landscapes) to impasto (thick buttery consistencies) to building up multiple layers. Master brushwork, scumbling, underpainting, and more.