It doesn’t matter if you're painting your very first landscape or adding the finishing touches to a gallery piece; having quality paints can make or break the process entirely. Many hope for fast results, but perfection cannot be rushed. Despite their slow-drying times, oil paints reign supreme by offering the richest colours, smoothest blending, greatest textures, and most rewarding experiences as you get to watch your artwork gradually come to shape over hours, days, or even weeks.
At Art Shed, your patience will immediately pay off as you find quality oil paint tubes from leading brands, making it easy to choose the colours, finishes, and ranges to transform your flat canvas into something teeming with life.
Why Artists Use Oil Paint Tubes
Oil paint tubes are designed to make painting more efficient by allowing artists to dispense only the right amount of paint they need. This means that suddenly there’s zero wastage, colours stay clean on the palette, and mixing consistent colour combinations throughout a painting becomes a whole lot easier.
The sealed tube also protects the paint from drying out between sessions, giving artists confidence that their colours will remain usable over time when stored correctly. Combined with quality painting brushes and a suitable painting canvas, oil paint tubes provide everything needed to prioritise convenience without compromising quality.
Rich Pigments for Traditional Oil Painting
One of the defining characteristics of oil paint is its rich, vibrant pigmentation. High-quality pigments produce strong colour intensity and excellent coverage, allowing artists to create subtle transitions, luminous glazes, and bold, expressive brushwork. Oil paint's naturally slow drying time is another major advantage to those willing to wait. It gives artists more time to blend colours directly on the canvas, soften edges, and gradually build depth through layering techniques.
Suitable for Studio Work and Fine Art
If you're a beginner developing foundational skills or a veteran completing a detailed commission, oil paints offer the across-the-board flexibility you’ll need to achieve beautiful and long-lasting results. But no setup is quite complete without a quality artist easel to rely on, so improve your toolkit’s dependability today by shopping our range of easels and maximising the comfort of your painting experiences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are oil paint tubes used for?
Oil paint tubes are used for creating artworks across a wide range of styles, including portraits, landscapes, abstracts, and fine art. They provide an easy way to dispense and mix colours while keeping unused paint fresh.
How long do oil paints from tubes take to dry?
Drying times vary depending on the pigment, paint thickness, and environmental conditions. Most oil paints become touch dry within a few days, while thicker applications can take considerably longer to cure fully.
Are oil paint tubes suitable for beginners?
Yes. Oil paint tubes are suitable for artists of all experience levels and are available in both student and professional quality ranges to suit different budgets and techniques.
What surfaces can oil paints be used on?
Oil paints are commonly used on primed canvas, canvas boards, wood panels, and other properly prepared painting surfaces designed for oil painting.
Do oil paint tubes require mediums?
Not always. Oil paint can be used directly from the tube, but many artists choose to add mediums or solvents to alter consistency, improve flow, increase transparency, or adjust drying time.