Three Questions I Always Get About Oil-Painting Miniatures

Oil paints have been part of painting for centuries, but they still come with a few persistent misconceptions.

Here are three questions I get all the time.

1. Are oil paints unsafe?

Oil paint itself is simply pigment suspended in drying oil, usually linseed oil.

The main things to be aware of are the specific pigments, mediums and especially the solvents you use.

“Low odour” does not mean harmless, so I always recommend working in a ventilated room, keeping your solvent closed when you’re not using it, avoiding unnecessary skin contact and reading the safety information on your materials.

Luckily, miniature painting uses very small amounts of both paint and solvent, so with a few sensible precautions oils are straightforward to work with safely.

2. Don’t oils take weeks to dry?

They can dry slowly, but that’s also one of their biggest advantages.

The longer working time means you can mix, blend and adjust colours directly on the miniature without the paint drying underneath your brush.

And drying time doesn’t have to mean waiting for days between every layer.

I use an alkyd medium such as Liquin, which makes the drying time much faster and more predictable. In the thin layers we use on miniatures, the paint is usually ready for another coat the following day.

3. Do I have to stop using acrylics?

Absolutely not.

Oils and acrylics are good at different things.

I love oils for blending, soft transitions and subtle colour variation. Acrylics are excellent for sharp details, texture and quick opaque layers.

You don’t have to choose one or the other.

For me, the most useful approach is understanding both mediums and knowing when to use each.

That’s also the approach I teach in Introduction to Display Painting in Oils.

Over seven weeks, we’ll build a reliable oil-painting workflow from the ground up, with structured lessons, assignments, feedback and a community of painters working through the same project.

If you’re curious about learning oils for miniature painting, you can read more about the workshop below.

And if you have another question about painting miniatures with oils, leave it in the comments.