MAIN COLORS

• titanium white
• cad. yellow medium
• yellow ochre
• cad. red light
• alizarin crimson
• ultramarine blue
• cerulean blue (hue)
• burnt umber
• tera rosa
• sap green

OPTIONAL COLORS

• burnt sienna
• naples yellow light
• pthalo green
• ivory black

Everyone has their own preferred palette. If you have colors similar to those I’ve listed, they will work to a certain degree. If you can, get the same colors I use as it will help with matching the pigments we mix. In general, if you have a darker and a lighter shade of yellow, red, and blue, a white, and a brown, you can recreate various colors.

I usually mix my own black, which is why pthalo green is optional, but you can also buy ivory black if you prefer. The other optional colors I listed assist with various skin tones. These are optional because paints can get expensive and if you’re just starting out, a limited palette will at least get you going.

BRUSHES

• I mainly use flat brushes… but this is also very individual. If you already have brushes then I would say use those that you’re comfortable with, but if you want to use what I’m using, below is the bare minimum for what I suggest.
• Also note that you should not use your acrylic brushes to paint with oils.
• synthetic hair flat – size 2, 4, 6, 8
• natural bristle flat – size 4, 6, 8, 10
• foam brush – 2′′, 3′′ (these foam brushes are an affordable alternative to larger brushes. If you can get larger size brushes I would recommend it)
• … and if you can just get more brushes than what I’ve listed I would also recommend that. The more brushes you have helps.

OTHER MATERIAL

• Palette knives: just a couple for mixing paint

PALETTE

• Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits or Turpenoid
• Walnut oil or linseed oil
• Many jars
• Rags or paper towels
• Murphy’s Oil Soap (for cleaning the brushes after)
• 1 stretched canvas or wood panel 9″x12″ or 11″x14″ (first session)
• 1 stretched canvas or wood panel 12″x16″ or 14″x18″ (second and third session)

Oliver Sin is an alumnus of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, with a BFA in Illustration. After Oliver graduated in 1996, he started his art career as a computer game concept artist at LucasArts. Since 2001 until now, Oliver has returned to his school to be an art professor for the School of Fine Arts and 2D Animation.

Oliver has been so drawn to art even as a little boy, started drawing at the age of 3. Somehow, portraiture seems to be his favorite form of expression which he constantly practices, not only as an art professor but as a favorite hobby as well.

Oliver’s first art book, “Drawing the Head for Artists” is published in 2019, hereafter, the Spanish, Dutch, and German versions become available in 2020. Oliver’s first educational step-by-step DVD, “Portrait Drawing Simplified” was published by Streamline Publishing in April 2022.

Two of Oliver’s portraits were commissioned and featured on the cover of Time Magazine as part of their “100 Women of the Year” project, March 2020 issue, see attachment. Oliver’s vine charcoal portrait drawing of his dad won First Place in Drawing at the Portrait Society of America International Art Competition in 2021. For consistent achievements of artistic excellence in the art field of fine art portraiture, Oliver has earned “Signature Status” with the Portrait Society of America in 2022.