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Don't start painting until everything is within arm's reach. Once your hands have paint on them, you don't want to be searching for a brush or a rag. Treat this like surgery prep — everything laid out, clean, ready. Check off each item below as you gather it.
Your most-used colour. Get the big tube. You'll use 5x more white than any other pigment. Controls all values.
Natural earth pigment. The foundation of all skin tones. Warm, muted, completely lightfast. Used by every master from Rembrandt to Vallejo.
Warm opaque red. A tiny amount adds life and blush to skin. Ears, lips, nostrils, knuckles — anywhere blood is close to the surface.
Warm dark earth. Your primary shadow colour. Darkens anything without killing warmth. Also used for the toned canvas ground. Dries fast.
Warm reddish-brown. Sits between Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber on the value scale. For the warmest skin transitions and core shadow areas.
Deepest dark. Use very sparingly. Has a slight blue bias. Only for the absolute darkest accents. Never use to darken other colours.
Not on Rembrandt's original palette, but essential for mixing. A tiny amount in shadows creates the cool depth that makes warm skin glow.
The workhorse shape. Rounded edges blend naturally. Hog bristle. Size 6 will do 70% of the work. Size 8 for blocking in, size 4 for smaller areas.
For fine details: eyes, nostrils, the catch light. This brush does the final 10% that brings the portrait alive.
For mixing paint on the palette (never mix with your brush — it wears it out). Also for scraping corrections and impasto texture.
Triple-primed cotton canvas. Big enough to see the brushwork, small enough to finish in one session. Avoid cheap single-primed canvas.
Alkyd medium. Thins paint, speeds drying from days to hours, improves flow. A few drops per mix. Essential for modern oil painting.
NOT for thinning paint on canvas. For cleaning brushes between colours. Gamsol is the gold standard — low toxicity, nearly odourless.
Tear-off sheets. Grey tone lets you judge colour accurately (white palettes make everything look wrong). Fresh sheet every session.
For wiping brushes, cleaning the toned ground, wiping corrections. Have a full roll nearby. You'll use more than you think.
Open the VOLUX studio, apply the Rembrandt style to your photo. Display it on a phone, tablet, or print it. This is your painting guide.
A4 PDF with your ticks. Save it, share it, or print it.
Easel or table? An easel is ideal — it keeps the canvas at eye level and lets you step back easily. But a table works fine if you prop the canvas at a slight angle. What matters is that the canvas is upright, not flat. Flat canvases cause neck strain and distort perspective.
Lighting. Natural daylight from a window is best. If painting at night, use a daylight-balanced bulb (5000-6500K) positioned to your left. Never paint under warm yellow tungsten light — it shifts all your colour decisions warm, and the painting looks wrong in daylight.
Your device. Place your phone or tablet where you can see the VOLUX reference. Prop it 30-60cm from your painting spot, screen facing you.
Choose only one master — Nature.
Attributed to Rembrandt van RijnEach step expands when you tap it. Take as long as you need, and move on only when you're satisfied with your work.