Complete Guide: Oil Painting Supplies You Get When You Join Evolve Artist

If you're looking for a complete oil painting setup, this is it. 

Knowing where to splurge, or where you can afford the cheaper alternatives comes from experience, and instead of having to figure that out on your own, Evolve puts it together for you in a box when you join. 

These oil painting supplies, worth over $1000, are included in the Evolve Artist Foundation program. 

Over 4 Blocks, we get artists to pro-level skills in about one year, sending them all the oil painting supplies they need - one box for Blocks 1-2 and another for Blocks 3-4.

This post will take you through the supplies in each box, one-by-one. 

Before we start unboxing, lets explain why we send our students all the oil painting supplies they need at no extra cost.

At Evolve, we believe in setting up our students for success from day one. You're paying for the education, and we make sure you have the right supplies so we can deliver on what we promise you.

We don't make a profit off these materials. We provide high-quality supplies to our students through a bulk discount and you pay nothing. So it's a win-win there.

Now, let's get into it. Let's start with the second box (Blocks 3 & 4). 

You can also watch this unboxing by CLICKING HERE for the video, or click the link above. 

Evolve Artist Blocks 3 & 4 Oil Painting Supplies

Artists join the Evolve Foundations Program because they want to get to pro-level art skills, fast.

The oil painting supplies box for Blocks 3 & 4 come will high-quality pro-art supplies that reflect the pro-level color painting students are achieving in these blocks. 

RETAIL VALUE = $130 USD

The first thing you'll see in the Block 3 & 4 Box is two sets of brushes.

You'll get nine handmade synthetic filberts in sizes 2, 6, and 10 made by Old Holland. These are really nice and will be your go-to workhorse brushes. 

You'll also receive a set of Simply Simmons brushes for more detailed work in Block 4. You'll get one number 4 fan brush, one number 2 fan brush, two number 1 rounds, two number 2 rounds, and two more number 2 filberts.

Simply Simmons is a solid brand (Daniel Folta often paints with these brushes). 

Buying the brushes in this box yourself would cost you about $130 USD. We're always looking for ways to save money on oil painting supplies without compromising on value, and we do not cut corners on brushes.

Old Holland Oil Paint

RETAIL VALUE = $323 USD

Next up is our complete and professional Old Holland paint set. Quality paint matters - and this palette allows you to mix just about any color and shade. 

You will learn how to mix colors with spot-on accuracy while getting familiar with a palette that most working professionals would envy. 

Old Holland paint is heavy. The pigment density is so nice.

Not only is Old Holland a joy to paint with, the paint has a legacy in itself. 

Having been around since the 1600s, when you look at the work of Cezanne, Vermeer and the paintings of contemporary artists like Jeff Koons, you are looking at Old Holland Paint. Using Old Holland, you become part of a tradition of painting that has kept our history alive and tangible. 

This paint set is more than 3 or 4 times what you need for the (about) 30 paintings done in Blocks 3 & 4. So you're going to have a lot left over. 

Palette Paper

RETAIL VALUE = $6 USD

A palette is an important part of the oil painting supplies we send, and we provide gray-toned palette paper. The gray tone allows you to see and mix colors more accurately.

We chose palette paper over a wood or glass palette because it's effective, cheap, and also very convenient with efficient cleanup.

Having an easy setup and take down gets you in the easel more often, and that's important to us. 

Reference Images

Block 4 is where you unleash your skills to make pro-level work. You will make eight paintings but you have 20 images to choose from. 

We've seen a lot of beginner artists ruin their paintings before they even put their brush to the canvas because they were using poor references. That’s why these references are essential oil paintings supplies for us, because they make it so much easier for our students to learn and create great paintings. 

You can put these paintings in art shows and sell them or win prizes. You wouldn't be the first student to start making money back on the program before you even finish Block 4. 

Canvases

RETAIL VALUE = $7 USD

Here's your canvas for your Block 4 paintings. Again, we tone them gray so you can see your colors and values accurately and it helps with coverage. 

Canvas Pads

RETAIL VALUE = $14 USD

At the bottom of the box, we have two canvas pads for your 20 paintings in Block 3. These are perfect for studies. They are inexpensive, but very effective for learning, and they still make great paintings. 

So that's it for the Block 3 & 4 box. With these oil painting supplies, you will be making pro-level paintings, but it's not possible without Blocks 1 & 2. 

Evolve Artist Blocks 1 & 2 Oil Painting Supplies

To get to Blocks 3 & 4, you need to do Blocks 1 & 2.

This is the first box of oil painting supplies you will receive when you join the Evolve Artist program.

When you open this box, especially if it's had a long journey, check to make sure that none of the items are hiding inside of the packaging, like our knitting needle. 

Developing your drawing skills is a key part of Blocks 1 & 2 and we provide drawing tools as part the oil painting supplies we send. 

Drawing Tools that come with the Evolve Artist Program. 

Knitting Needle

RETAIL VALUE = $4 USD

You may be wondering, why would an oil painter need a knitting needle? Well, in Block 2, you will learn how to draw from life with incredible accuracy. And this knitting needle is perfect for taking measurements and angles. 

It's long, thin, straight, and pointed, and it doesn't break easily. You could use the other end of a brush, but it's a lot clumsier, and the extra precision from the needle makes a difference. 

Paper Ruler

RETAIL VALUE = $1 USD

Here's another measuring tool for Block 2: a paper ruler. Believe it or not, this is a custom-made ruler that intentionally doesn't measure in inches or centimeters. 

We want our students to measure things in proportion to each other from where they are sitting. The paper ruler helps students break out of thinking about inches or centimeters into measuring one length compared to another. 

Eye Dropper

RETAIL VALUE = $7 USD

This is an eyedropper that we use with our linseed oil.

This is genius.

How many times have you added too much medium into your paint? Or not enough? This little guy solves all those problems. 

This gives your paint the perfect coverage at the perfect amount every single time. It maximises the use of your medium and takes difficult guess work out of the equality. 

This is why we include the eye dropper as an essential part of the oil painting supplies we include in the program. 

Linseed Oil

RETAIL VALUE = $14 USD

Just like our paint, all the medium we send to our students is Old Holland.

In the same way the eyedropper maximizes the use of your medium, the medium maximizes the use of your paint, both in saving paint and in getting that smooth, buttery application. 

When it comes to oil painting supplies, getting the perfect amount of medium in your paint can be tricky and undermine a student's best efforts.  

If you have too much oil, your painting will look streaky, and it will be really difficult to make smooth gradients.

If you have too little, your paint won't cover as far, and it won't blend well. This is important because getting smooth gradients is one of the more challenging and important things to learn as a beginner. 

So having to deal with the extra friction of guessing how much oil you need every time you mix, paint, or dip the brush can make an already challenging skill harder than it really needs to be. 

But when you have that perfect, luxurious consistency, it makes painting so much more enjoyable.

This is why we provide high-quality oil painting supplies that don't hold you back from getting the important things right from the very beginning. 

For us, it's as simple as telling our students to put out this amount of paint with these many drops of linseed oil, and right away, they have cut straight through the labyrinth that so many students get lost in, and can now focus on the things that matter. 

Grayscale Oil Paint

RETAIL VALUE = $103 USD

Now, the fun part: the oil paint. Old Holland grayscale oil paint, is custom made for the Evolve Artist program. 

Your education begins in grayscale, and we start with only four values for a million reasons. But the overall idea is that it gives you exactly what you need and no more so that you can easily and quickly learn the things that matter without any additional distractions. 

Now, a lot of beginners think that they should start with the cheap stuff rather than the good stuff to make their studies. We disagree, which is why we provide oil painting supplies with the program.  

You're here to learn. You're ready to commit to developing these skills. Using poor quality paint will only slow you down and create bad painting habits, which is a terrible place to start.

Old Holland paint gives you command over clean, consistent passages, crisp edges, and butter-smooth gradients. This allows you to put all of your attention into learning the things that matter without being held back in any way. 

You'll be making 40 paintings in Blocks 1 and 2, but there's enough paint here to make 100 paintings as long as you're following the process that we give you. 

More Brushes

RETAIL VALUE = $97 USD

You'll start with set of these nice Old Holland filberts for learning.

We don't provide luxury brushes in our oil painting supplies because they are unnecessary. But we do want to provide high-quality brushes that can hold and release paint really well and utilize the paint in the way you intend.

We also want them to be durable, and these brushes are the culmination of those features.

We also show you how to clean your brushes and maintain their shape so that they last, even though we do send you more of these with every box, this will allow you to accumulate an arsenal of brushes over time. 

Palette Knife

RETAIL VALUE = $6 USD

Because we use high-quality paint with high-quality brushes, we don't use excessive amounts of paint, and therefore we don't include a big, clumsy knife in the oil painting supplies. 

Instead, we can go for a smaller one that has better handling, doesn't make a mess, and doesn't steal paint away from the mixture. 

More Palette Paper

RETAIL VALUE = $6 USD

Next, we have palette paper for mixing paint, made by Jerry's.

There's a slight quirk with these where the edges curl up over time resting in the pad. The trick is to take one out and tape it down.

What we really like about these (and likely the reason they do curl up), is that they have a very effective protective coating, much better than other brands.

So you can abuse this with a palette knife and the paint won't seep through the paper and get onto your table. It reduces glare, and is easy to clean up.  

More References

RETAIL VALUE = $30 USD

You’ll also find more references that you’ll need for Block 1, where we paint from photos, whereas in Block 2, we only paint from life.

We take our references very seriously at Evolve. We photograph these ourselves because we want clean, perfectly lit, still-life references designed specifically for what we want our students to learn in each assignment. 

Assignment Checklists

RETAIL VALUE = $1 USD

Also included with your oil painting supplies is a checklist to help make sure you're following the painting process correctly.

After you finish your assignment, you can step back from your work and run through this checklist to make sure you’ve followed the steps to the best of your ability. 

Transfer Images

RETAIL VALUE = $3 USD

We also send a pack of easy transfers that allow you to get the shapes of the reference material onto the canvas. You'll notice that these are pre-traced, while the ones in Blocks 3 and 4 are just grayscale photos.

Having these pre-traced helps our students move through Block 1 more quickly and keep their focus on the fundamentals. 

Once again, this takes the difficulties of proportional drawing out of the equation while you're learning the fundamentals like values and edges in Block 1. Then in Block 2, we teach you proportional drawing and you won't have to rely on these transfers anymore. 

Transfer Paper

RETAIL VALUE = $9 USD

To make the transfers, we use carbon paper. There are 100 sheets in here that you can reuse multiple times, so this will last you all the way to Block 8 and beyond. 

More Canvases

RETAIL VALUE = $21 USD

Finally, you’ll find three sets of canvas pads. These cotton canvases are perfect for studying and have a medium texture that doesn't eat up too much paint but also grips the paint well, striking a nice balance. 

Why not include rough canvas with the oil painting supplies? Rough canvas will eat your paint and make sloppier paintings.

There are ten sheets in each pad, giving you 20 paintings for Block 1 and ten paintings for Block 2. The first ten exercises in Block 2 are done with pencil on paper. 

What is the retail value of the oil painting supplies?

This is what it would cost you to buy all these materials yourself at retail cost.  

TOTAL RETAIL VALUE = $1,030 USD

This doesn't included standard discount rates, taxes, and the time to do the research and test products. So the overall value is even higher.

These oil painting supplies work perfectly together in the Evolve Foundations Program. Knitting needles, eye droppers, and custom-made paint, all contribute to a frictionless learning experience to take you to pro-level skills in the fastest way possible. 

What oil painting supplies will you need to buy yourself?

Though we send all the materials you need to complete the Evolve program, there are some items that we highly recommend to help maximize your experience. 

These items you may already have at home or can't fit in the box, like an easel, tape, scissors, paper towels, and soap.

The easel is really the only one that you may want to invest in on your own. Our Ultimate Guide to Set Up Your Home Art Studio provides a range of easels recommendations.

The final step - shipping materials to our students.

We ship supplies all over the world. We are in over 50 countries right now and the number just keeps climbing. 

Shipping is free. So at no extra cost to you, you will receive all these oil painting supplies as part of the Evolve Artist Foundations Program.

As far as we know, we are the only online art school providing pro-level art education that includes materials. The cost of the program in itself is highly competitive, once materials are included, the value is only magnified. 

All you have to worry about is just the cost of the tuition you're paying for the education. You're not buying art supplies from us. We need these art supplies so that you can get the education that we're promising. 

All you need is to ask yourself, is the education worth it? Do I want pro-level skills? And as a bonus, you get all these supplies and in excess. Even after you finish the program, there will be plenty leftover.

Want to learn more about Evolve Artist?

Take the next step by registering for our FREE Masterclass CLICK HERE. Kevin Murphy, Award Winning Portrait Painter and Evolve Founder, will take you through how Evolve can transform your art, in just one year.

If you’re ready to start your journey with Evolve Artist towards making pro-level art, join HERE.

Happy painting everyone!