ZenART's Membership Plans Terms & Conditions

(Updates effective 17/08/2020)

These terms and conditions (“Terms and Conditions”) govern the ZenART Supplies Rewards & Referral Plan as well as Subscribe & Save Plan (“Membership Plans”), and members of the programs will earn zen coins in connection with the purchase of qualifying online products and online activities that are redeemable towards the purchase of certain products online. For the re-occurring members (Subscribe & Save Plan) this includes exclusive gifts & content.

1. REWARDS & REFERRAL

  • Free. No purchase is necessary to obtain membership in the Rewards & Referral Program, but you must establish an account at https://shop.zenartsupplies.co/account/register . Please see our privacy policy, located here, to understand how information you provide us will be used. This program is void where prohibited.
  • Eligibility. In order to be eligible for the Rewards & Referral Program, you must create an account as outlined in these Terms and Conditions. You may create an account if you are at least seventeen (17) years of age, have Internet access, and have a valid mailing address. If you are between the ages of 17 and 18, you must have your parent’s permission to register for an account. If you choose to create an account, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account, username and password and for restricting access to your account. You are responsible for keeping such information current, complete, accurate and truthful. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account, username and/or password. You agree to provide only current, complete, accurate and truthful information. If you are accessing and using the Site on someone else’s behalf, you represent that you have the authority to bind that person as the principal to all Terms and Conditions provided herein, and to the extent you do not have such authority you agree to be bound to these Terms and Conditions and to accept liability for harm caused by any wrongful use of the Site or Content resulting from such access or use. You may only have one member account per natural person. Persons who are discovered to have more than one account forfeit their zen coins and will be unsubscribed from the Loyalty Program.
  • How To Enroll in the Rewards & Referral Program. (a) Create an account: Visit www.zenartsupplies.com (the "Site" or "Online") and become a registered user of the Site. Click here to be taken directly to the registration page. You will be asked for your first and last name, your email address, and a password. You will also be given the option to sign up for our newsletter. Once you have submitted the requisite information, you will be sent an email to the address you listed confirming your membership. Once you have confirmed your email address, you are automatically enrolled in the Reward & Referral Program and are a member (“Member”).
  • How to Access/Change Your Member Information. You must keep your personal information on your Account up-to-date. To do so, click on the "My Account" section and access your account by entering your registered email address and current password. From your dashboard you can access your account information; review your current and past orders; change your profile; manage your subscriptions and applications, and access your previous purchases.
  • How to Cancel Your Membership. You may cancel an account at any time. To cancel your account, please send an email to support@zenartsupplies.co and write “cancel membership” in the subject line. The email must come from the account currently listed on our servers as being associated with your Rewards & Referral Program. If you no longer have access to that email address, please email our customer service department and we will verify your status and cancel your account. Upon cancellation, you are no longer a member, and any unused zen coins accrued in your account will be forfeited and cannot be redeemed. Zen coins maintain their value only on valid accounts in good standing, and except as otherwise provided here for redemption, have no cash value outside of their redemption value on the Site.

2. EARNING ZEN COINS

  • General Members can earn zen coins on the purchase of qualifying online products at zenartsupplies.co. To receive zen coins for your Online purchases, you must be signed into your account. You may check at any time to see if you are signed in to the Site by looking in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Gift cards do not qualify for zen coins. Other products that do not qualify for zen coins are noted on the Site.
  • Earning Rate. Members earn 5 sen coins for every $1.00 spent on qualifying purchases (in other words, one (5) zen coins for every one dollar ($1) spent). Zen coins are based on your order subtotal, after any discounts, only. Zen coins are rounded down to the nearest whole number. For example, if you spend $9.99, you will receive 9 zen coins. The calculation is as follows: $9.99 x 1 zen coins per dollar = 9.99 zen coins, which is rounded down to 9 zen coins. This program started on August 17, 2020, and initial levels were set on the 2020 amount spent on ordering products. Note: Shipping and Taxes are not taken into consideration. If an item is return and/or price adjusted that will also be removed from your rewards calculations.
  • Gift Cards. Gift card purchases are not eligible to receive zen coins. However, once a gift card is redeemed, zen coins will be awarded to the recipient for the subtotal after any gift card values, provided s/he is logged into the account, as outlined in these Terms and Conditions.
  • Addition of Zen Coins to Accounts. Zen Coins will be added to your Account under the following conditions, and will generally show up immediately. You will receive zen coins:
    • At the time of account registration
    • During the purchase of qualifying products
    • For other activities outlined on the Site that may show up from time to time. Note that for these other activities, including “bonus zen coins” accumulations and other zen coin promotions, zen coins may show as “pending,” depending upon the activity.
    • Joining the Birthday Club. Birthdate must be entered 30 days before your Birthday to qualify.
    • For Liking the ZenART Supplies Facebook page and sharing the ZenART Supplies Facebook page with your following. This is good one time only.
    • Following ZenART Supplies on Instagram. This is good one time only.
    • Referring a friend to ZenART Supplies. Your account will be automatically awarded the discount only if the referral friend used the link sent to them from your referral account and makes a qualifying purchase. Discount will automatically be applied to account if stipulations are met.
  • Exclusions. Members earn zen coins only on the purchase price of: (i) qualifying online products. Calculation of zen coins excludes payment by the Member for shipping charges and all taxes, including without limitation, federal, state, and local taxes or use taxes. Zen Coins will not be earned on any discounts or other credits offered in connection with a product or service. For example, if a product that is normally $50 is on sale for $25, a Member will only earn zen coins on the purchase price of $25. Purchases of gift cards, redemption of vouchers, and any type of price adjustments, including merchandise returns, are not eligible for zen coins. All purchases made: (i) by a Member prior to such member joining the Program, (ii) Online without a Member being logged onto the Website with the Member's Account number linked to the Member's Online account, are not eligible for Reward & Referral Program credit. The purchase of ZenART Supplies products outside the Zenartsupplies.co website are not eligible for the Reward & Referral Program.
  • Returns/Order Cancellations. Zen Coins earned for a purchase that is then the subject of a return, cancellation, refund, declined credit card or gift card, or other credit will be deducted from your account in an amount equal to the zen coins earned for the original transaction, including any bonus zen coins that may be applicable. Any rewards discounts that are applied to the order, will be distributed equally to the applicable items in the order when completing a return. Zen Coins redeemed on an order will not be reapplied back to your rewards account for any reason on a returned order. If a return/cancellation will cause your account to have a negative zen coin balance, you will not begin earning zen coins again until your zen coins balance is returned to zero (0), by making purchases, or engaging in other promotional activities offered from time to time. If an item is exchanged (different product) any redeemed rewards on the initial purchase may be transferred to the exchange one (1) time only. Rewards used on an order that is canceled cannot be reapplied as they are good for just one use.
  • Bonus Zen Coins Promotions. From time to time, ZenART Supplies may run certain bonus zen coin promotions. Under bonus zen coin promotions, Members can earn additional or "bonus zen coins" in connection with the purchase of certain online products. When you purchase these specially marked products or make the purchase during a bonus zen coins time period, you will earn bonus zen coins on each product, as specified in the offer. Bonus zen coin promotions are subject to the terms and conditions of the offer and may be offered at any time in ZenART Supplies sole discretion. Bonus zen coin offers cannot be combined with any other offer.
  • Limitations on Bonus Zen Coins and Zen Coins, Generally. These terms apply to zen coins and bonus zen coins accruals. If you purchase a product during a promotion and the product comes with an additional, free product, zen coins will not be issued on the retail value of the free product. If you redeem zen coins towards the purchase of a product and pay a portion of the retail price after the zen coin's redemption, you will receive zen coins only on the leftover retail amount you pay, and not on any value attributed to the zen coin you used. If you redeem zen coins towards the purchase of a product in an amount equal to the full price of the product, you will not earn any zen coins.
  • Non-purchase Options for Earning Zen Coins. You may also earn additional zen coins on non-purchase activities. From time to time, ZenART Supplies may offer you the chance to win various prizes, and earn zen coins, for entering into promotions. For sweepstakes promotions, there is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO PLAY OR TO WIN. Rules and restrictions will apply to such promotions and may be found on the entry page of any promotion.
  • Referring a friend to ZenART Supplies. Email a friend an $8 off coupon on $50 order by clicking “ Earn Zen Coins” then “ Refer a Friend”. Enter the email address of a friend who has not purchased with ZenART Supplies before (if your referral has shopped with us before the referral link will be automatically voided by the system). A referral link will be sent to your friend with an $8 off coupon on a $50 order. $8 off coupon on $50 order will automatically be rewarded to your account only if the referral friend used the link sent to them from your referral account and makes a qualifying first-time purchase with ZenART Supplies. Your Referral friend will receive an $8 off coupon on $50 order, 200 zen coins for signing up, and zen coins from their first purchase made while signed into their new ZenART Supplies account.

3. REDEEMING ZEN COINS

  • How To Use Your Zen Coins. Zen Coins must be used in increments outlined in these Terms and Conditions. The maximum number of zen coins that may be used in a single transaction is 10,000 zen coins. Zen Coins may only be used Online at the ZenART Supplies website. Zen Coins towards Products: Members can use their zen coins to reduce the purchase price of a product or to receive a product for free based on the following scale:
    • 500 zen coins = $5.00 off
    • 1,000 zen coins = $10.00 off your at least $50 order
    • 1,500 zen coins = $15.00 off your at least $50 order
    • 2,500 zen coins = $25.00 off your at least $50 order

    Zen Coins can only be redeemed in any combination of the zen coin and increment amounts set forth above. Redemption of zen coins towards purchases of products is subject to product availability. Any rewards discounts that are applied to the order, will be distributed equally to the applicable items in the order when completing a return.

  • Gift cards. Once available, zen coins cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards. Gift card redemption, however, is eligible for zen coins. Zen Coins accrued pursuant to the use of a gift card will benefit the gift card user, provided the user has an account in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
  • To Redeem your Zen Coins. Before you begin shopping with us, sign in to your Shop account on our site. Select “Redeem Zen Coins” from the red tab housed in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and select the amount of zen coins you would like to redeem. You will be issued a custom code that you can copy and paste into the discount bar during check out (Please note - only one code can be used). Your total payment amount will be discounted by the amount of zen coins you allocate to the purchase. Note that zen coins may only be redeemed for the purchase price of the product. Sales tax, shipping, and other handling charges assessed in addition to the price of the product are your responsibility and zen coins may not be used to discount these additional charges.
  • Exclusions. Only one account per natural person. Only one discount code can be redeemed per transaction. Rewards redemption codes may not be combined with any other discount codes. Zen Coins may not be transferred or gifted at this time. Zen Coins cannot be used on past purchases. Zen Coins accumulated on different accounts by different members may not be combined or aggregated to make purchases of products or for any other reason. Zen Coins earned in a transaction cannot be redeemed in the same transaction. Redeemed zen coins cannot be retroactively applied to any past order or receive a price adjustment on any order where redeemed zen coins were not applied. Zen Coins have no cash value outside of the ZenART Supplies website and are available only to members in good standing.
  • Zen Coins Expiration and Time Lapses. All zen coins acquired, whether standard zen coins or bonus zen coins, shall expire 180 days from the date the zen coins are added to your account. Zen Coins expire 180 days from the date in which they were assigned to your account. Specific onsite activities in which zen coins will be awarded are set to accrue zen coins based on a time-lapse at the discretion of ZenART Supplies.
    • Sign up: zen coins are added to your account instantly
    • Order: zen coins are added to your account when your order is placed.
  • Once zen coins are redeemed, a discount code will be assigned and we are unable to cancel the discount code and reapply the zen coins to your Reward & Referral account. Discount codes generated by redeeming zen coins do not expire until used. They are a one-time use code, so once it is used it is gone. If an order is returned zen coins will not be reinstated.

4. Subscribe & Save Plan

  • Re-occurring purchase. Purchase is necessary in order to participate in this plan. The plan is worth $6.95 and will be charged to your account on the same date of the month that you purchased the plan, i.e. if you purchased the plan on 19th of January, you will be charged for the plan on the 19th of each month you are a Subscribe & Save Plan member.
  • 15% re-occurring discount. As a member of the subscribe & Save Plan, you are eligible for a 15% discount every time you put an order in place. You are qualified for the discount as soon as you purchase the plan.
  • Cancellation. After a purchase made with a Subscribe & Save Plan, you are not able to get a refund for the plan for the month the purchase was valid for but you can cancel for the following months.
  • Free samples & accessories. These are included for members of Subscribe & Save Plan only. These are not included in each order but the member will be informed when they will receive "extras" in their order.
  • Access to exclusive content. Exclusive access to tutorials, guides, tips & tricks in video, pdf, or audio format will be part of the membership program. Not all exclusive content is available but what is and will be available is up to ZenART Supplies sole discretion.

5. GENERAL

  • By registering with Zenartsupplies.co and joining the Reward & Referral Program, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in these Terms and Conditions, as well as any other terms that may be associated with the Reward & Referral Program. ZenART Supplies reserves the right to cancel, modify, suspend or restrict the Reward & Referral Program, your account, the redemption of zen coins, or any aspect of the Program, including, without limitation, the zen coin conversion ratio and the zen coin expiration policy at any time. Any changes can be made without advance notice. ZenART Supplies may make these changes even though such changes may affect your ability to use zen coins already accumulated. You are responsible for remaining knowledgeable about the Program Terms and Conditions. A Member's zen coins balance, as reflected in ZenART Supplies records, shall be deemed correct. ZenART Supplies reserves the right to determine the amount of zen coins in any Member's account based on ZenART Supplies' internal records related to such Member's account. In the event of an inconsistency between the amount accrued in a Member's account as stated on any Member's receipt and ZenART Supplies internal records, ZenART Supplies internal records will control. ZenART Supplies assumes no responsibility for errors caused by incorrect Member information. Your right to transfer zen coins earned or granted under the Program is strictly limited. The sale of zen coins is prohibited and may result in the confiscation or cancellation of your zen coins as well as suspension or termination of your membership, which in each case shall be final and conclusive. All transactions involving zen coins and all Member accounts are subject to review and verification by ZenART Supplies. The zen coins balance in a Member's account may be unavailable for use when an account or transaction is under review. ZenART Supplies may revoke any Member's membership in the Reward & Referral Program at any time if such Member engages in abuse of the Reward & Referral Program or fails to follow the terms and conditions of the Program. Fraud or abuse relating to the accrual of zen coins or redemption of rewards may result in revocation of membership in the Program and may affect a Member's eligibility for participation in any other ZenART Supplies program, present or future. Zen Coins are non-transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash. The interpretation and application of the Program's Terms and Conditions are at the sole discretion and determination of ZenART Supplies. For more information or other questions, click on Contact Us.
  • The Terms and Conditions of the loyalty program are subject to change at ZenART Supplies’ sole discretion at any time and without notice to customers. Upon customer’s at-will termination of their Zenartsupplies.com registered account, or if a customer is termination for violation of these Terms and Conditions or other activities in violation of the intent and good faith intended use of this Site, all zen coins will immediately be forfeited and will no longer be redeemable. ZenART Supplies will make reasonable efforts to award zen coins as outlined above to all 1. registered and 2. qualifying Zenartsupplies.co customers but is not responsible for any technical or unforeseen errors that may occur.
  • Zen Coins are nontransferable, nonredeemable for cash, are nonrefundable and are not valid outside of Zenartsupplies.co. Purchases made outside Zenartsupplies.co are not valid for zen coin accrual (this includes, but is not limited to Facebook resell groups, Ebay, and Amazon).
  • Employees of ZenART Supplies are not eligible to participate in the Reward & Referral Program.

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Toolkit

Oil Painting Ideas For Beginners and Beyond

Oil Painting Ideas For Beginners and Beyond

Easy Oil Painting Ideas | More Challenging Projects To Try | Abstract | Still-Life | Landscapes | Flowers | Portraits | Animals

Have you just decided to try out painting in oil but find yourself at a loss for what to paint? Fret not, I've compiled a collection of oil painting ideas for you to look through. I'm sure you'll see one that'll get those creative juices flowing.

There’s nothing more exciting than deciding to start an artistic endeavor like oil painting. From researching which are the best oil paints and the best and long-lasting brushes. Followed by which surfaces you can paint on and everything else you need to get — shopping for supplies is the most fun part of all for me! But rein yourself in, you don’t need to buy them all. Here’s a guide into the basic oil paint colors you need to start off.


And finally, you have your whole set up ready and waiting. Just remember - the good news is that you don’t have to start with a masterpiece. This is the time for you to explore and figure out which subjects you find interesting to paint. 

How do you start oil painting?

If this is your first time with oils, I suggest you drop by our oil paint mixing guide to understand the basics and the process of painting in oil. As well as the oil painting color mixing guide to have a better understanding of how to mix your colors and how color harmony helps you decide on which color palettes to use.

Once you’ve had a bit of a background, then you’re well-prepared to dive into it. I always recommend to my students to start small and simple. You’re still getting acquainted with the new medium, so don’t overcomplicate things just yet and enjoy playing around with the paints first. I also recommend getting canvas pads so you won’t have to worry about spending so much on your supports when practicing or doing painting exercises. That way, you’ll just keep painting and painting.

Easy Oil Paintings for Beginners

Here are some of the easier ones that you can try to slowly ease you into the joys of oil painting. Remember easy doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a ‘too simple’ painting or composition.

Simple Still Life Composition

“Natura Morta” by Giorgio Morandi, 1955.

Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings are the perfect example. He was fond of painting simple objects such as vases, bowls, and bottles in very subtle tones and colors, placing them simply next to each other. And yet they are just as beautiful to look at as Van Gogh’s also simple yet more vibrantly colored still life below.

You can clearly see the limited number of colors used in both paintings. So you don’t need so many colors to be able to paint a striking still-life. Instead focus on the composition, color mixing, and the textural effects you can use. 

“A Pair of Leather Clogs” By Vincent Van Gogh, 1888.

Try painting fruits or vegetables (one or two at a time), a coffee cup, or any random thing at home that you find interesting. Not sure how to place them in your composition for best results? We’ve got that covered with the golden rules of composition explained and illustrated.

Start with even just one kind of vegetable or fruit, alone or a bundle of them like the oranges below. Observe how Paul Gauguin artfully arranged them. They’re piled in a more interesting manner in the bowl, while three are on the surface below. And one of the three has been partially opened. It’s as if we just happened upon this scene where someone has been eating oranges. Still-life is a fount for easy oil painting ideas, the possibilities are endless.

“Still-life with Oranges” by Paul Gauguin, 1881.

Easy Landscape Oil Painting Ideas

The nice thing about landscapes is that they can go from the simplest of interpretations to very, very detailed ones. You can choose a photograph (copyright free, of course!) to copy or if you’re lucky enough to be living somewhere with awesome scenic views — go out for some plein air painting. Nothing beats seeing the view right in front of you and painting what you see.

Monochrome Landscape Oil Painting

Again, start simple and don’t make everything too detailed. Below is a very easy and simple winter landscape painting that I did using just three colors from ZenART’s Essential Palette: Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Red, and Titanium White. And just two brushes to paint this misty winter scene – the Flat hog brush and Fan brush, both from the Renoir Collection.

You can watch the live video replay of how I did here on our YouTube channel:

Impressionistic Landscape Painting

The Impressionists are the perfect source of inspiration for landscape painting. With the advent of paint that came in tubes, this afforded them more freedom. Moving away from the realistic painting style of Romanticism, they explored the subjective and expressive ways that they see things. There is no longer any need to paint everything in extreme detail. They instead played around with colors. How to use them to evoke the light and weather changes and how this transforms a single view into so many possible and different interpretations.

We’ve got another Toolkit article that’s all about the rainbow colors of the impressionists. It covers the colors that they used, why and how those choices began, and the counterparts for some of those colors nowadays. Fyi, ZenART’s co-founder, Ardak Kassenova, is a great fan of the Impressionist movement that she specifically created an oil paint set inspired from their colors, the Impressionist Palette from our Infinity Series.

“Poplars (Autumn)” by Claude Monet, 1891.

You’ll never run out of ideas and interpretations when it comes to landscapes. The same view can have several iterations as the times of day, the weather, or the seasons change.

Geometric and Linear Abstract Easy Oil Painting Ideas

Don’t want to paint anything too representational? No worries, you can go for abstract oil painting. It’s perfect for exploring color mixing, color harmonies, and the various techniques of creating textures and effects. A liberating path to breaking away from clear depictions of a subject.

Check out our guide to oil painting brush strokes and techniques and try out the various brush strokes that can help you with your abstract painting.

Below is Robert Delaunay’s ‘Le Premier Disque’, a play on geometric shapes and bold color combinations. Why not try something along these lines to start out?

“Le Premier Disque” by Robert Delaunay, 1913.

For more shapes to play around with along with the geometric ones, here’s another well-known and well-loved abstract oil painting by Wassily Kandinsky. Though it may not look like an easy oil painting to do compared to the one above, remember it doesn’t have to have as many elements. Use this as a jumping point and have fun with it!

Wassily Kandinsky’s “On White II”, 1923.

More Challenging Oil Painting Projects To Tackle

Once you become more familiar with how to use oil paints, I’m sure you’ll be ready to stretch your painting skills even further. Here are more ideas for you to try out.

Colorful and Textural Abstract Oil Painting Idea

Another one from the abstract tract that I’d like to include. You don’t need to have any sort of identifiable shape either if you’d want to be even more abstract about things. Here’s Kandinsky’s “Improvisation 7”, one of many of his works wherein he used musical terms for inspiration and for titling them. Music was after all a crucial catalyst for the abstract movement as it perfectly embodies the idea of “abstractness’.


Floral Oil Painting Inspirations

Flowers will always be one of the most favored subjects of artists. And why ever not, their vibrant colors and beauty are a great source of inspiration. There’s just something about flowers that evoke a sense of joy and wonder in us. No matter what century, they will always be appreciated. They are truly timeless.

Flower Garden

How about trying your hand at painting a garden-full or a field of flowers à la Klimt’s below? This oil painting project of a garden or patch of flowers is on my list of paintings to do, too. Next time you pass by and see some, snap a few photos for reference or if possible – paint right before them!

“Flower Garden” by Gustav Klimt, 1905-07.

Flowers In Vases

Painting bouquets of them in vases is another classic composition. Keep in mind, you don’t have to paint flowers hyper-realistically. What’s important is to get the essence of them, their vibrancy and delicacy. Here are two fantastic examples of doing your own way of painting flowers. Edouard Manet’s “Bouquet of Flowers” is his impressionistic take on them. Flower paintings were such a big part of him that for the last few months of his life, he only painted floral subjects.

Vincent Van Gogh’s “Still Life of Irises” was one of a few other paintings he did of irises. Another notable series of flower paintings he did depicting the same subject was of sunflowers.

On the left: Edouard Manet’s “Bouquet of Flowers”, 1882. On the right: Vincent Van Gogh’s “Still Life of Irises”, 1890.

Abstract Floral Painting

You can also paint in a more abstract or illustrative way, something akin to a modern wallpaper pattern. Check out ZenART’s resident artist, Theodora’s video tutorial on her process of painting this beautiful one below in oils and acrylic.

Portrait Oil Painting Ideas

This can seem overwhelming but you’ll never know if this might be something you’ll actually enjoy painting until you try. I personally really love mixing various skin tones and painting people. And you’re in luck, we’ve got an in-depth article covering the how-tos of oil painting skin tones.

The nice thing about painting people (especially nowadays) is that it doesn’t have to be exact like a photograph. Unless of course that’s what you’re looking to do. The magic is in injecting your own take on things. All the techniques can be learned, but your own vision and interpretation is just as important.

Paint your family or friends

Here’s one done by Alexandra @axasgallery ⁠that puts all the focus on the face, especially the eyes. The hair, the clothes and the background are all just supporting elements of the whole composition – color and detail-wise.

Painted using colors from ZenART’s Portrait Palette, a set specially put together for an easier skin tone mixing experience!

 

Mother and Child

An always popular theme when painting portraits or people is the ‘mother and child’. The intimate bond between a mother and her child is a beautiful thing to behold and to capture on paint. Here’s one painted by our co-founder, Ardak Kassenova, her own version of Mary Cassatt’s “Little Ann Sucking Her Finger Embraced by Her Mother”.

Cassatt painted scenes evolving around the lives of women both in private and socially, and of course her very many paintings of mothers and their children.

 

On the left: Ardak Kassenova’s “Mother and Child”, using oil paints from ZenART Supplies. On the right is the original by Mary Cassatt, Pastel on paper, 1897.

Try painting a self-portrait

The easiest and most convenient way to practice painting portraits is to start with your own face. It’s the face you see everyday and the one you’re probably the most familiar with. Here’s a selection of self-portraits done by some of the masters. I hope these self-portrait oil paintings ideas will help inspire you to paint your very own, too!

There are many ways to go about it as you’ll see below.

From top left, clockwise: “Self-portrait as a Young Man” by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1628. “Self Portrait” by Vincent Van Gogh, 1887. “Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser” (Autorretrato Dedicado al Dr. Eloesser) by Frida Kahlo, 1940. “Macrophotographic Self-Portrait with the Appearance of Gala” by Salvador Dali, 1962. “Triple Self-Portrait” by Norman Rockwell, 1960. And “Self-Portrait” by Pablo Picasso, 1907.

Animal Oil Painting Ideas

Animals have also always been a part of paintings whether as a small part of a big composition or as the main subject. They have been depicted as far back as the cave paintings, no surprise there as they are such a big and important part of our lives.

Bird Oil Paintings

The first bird I ever drew was two connecting c-shapes, very simple and yet it is visibly a bird when put in the setting of a vast sky. Here are two birds that have been painted in very different styles but are equally beautiful.

On the left: “The Goldfinch” by Carel Fabritius, 1654. On the right: “A Black Bird With Snow Covered Red Hills” by Georgia O’Keeffe, 1946.

If you’re in the mood for painting one of the most colorfully vibrant birds, here’s an oil painting of a Macaw parrot by Kyra Gill-Ettienne using ZenART’s oil paints.

 

Four-legged Animals Oil Painting Ideas

And of course, this list won’t be complete without our four-legged furry friends! Here’s one by Louis Wain who was well-known for drawing and painting a lot of cats.

This one is titled “The Bachelor Party”, featuring cats sitting in a row on a bar with accompanying ‘bachelor party’ elements.


Another artist known for his paintings of dogs doing all sorts of human activities is C M (Cassius Marcellus) Coolidge. His most popular dog series is Dogs Playing Poker. Here’s one titled “Poker Game”.


You can also go for a more textural impressionistic approach if you’re not keen on painting all that fur-like texture in detail. This is Berthe Morisot’s “Laerte the Greyhound”. Laerte is her daughter Julie Manet’s dog.

The energy of the dog is wonderfully and expertly captured in Berthe Morisot’s confident brushwork and mix of colors.


Paint a study painting of your favorite masters’ work

Painting studies of works done by your favorite artists is a fantastic way to learn and expand your painting skills. It’s a journey of discovery and experimentation trying to replicate their colors, brushstrokes, and painting styles. It will also help inspire you on what to paint next.

Our co-founder, Ardak Kassenova, painted Gustav Klimt’s iconic “The Kiss”. Check out her entire painting process below!

 

There are sooo many more oil painting ideas I’d like to share, but these are hopefully more than enough to get you starting. The first step is to pick up that brush and just start painting. Don’t let your doubts and fears stop you from discovering your very own artistic voice. Just keep painting! It’s the only way to surmount those second guessing thoughts.

The important thing is that you enjoy doing it. Don’t focus on the end result, instead enjoy the process.

Which theme from above sounds interesting and something you would like to try out? What have you already tried or explored so far? Is there any specific topic you’d like to see us cover in the future? Let us know in the comments below, we’d really love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

Join our friendly art community Painting Inspiration Daily on Facebook. You can share your art and ideas, watch LIVE tutorials, and be inspired to paint!

Here's an in-depth guide into oil painting supplies for beginners to help you start out. Have a great time painting!

 


- MEET THE AUTHOR -

Kathleen is the Wordsmith at ZenART, resident artist and art editor. When God sent a shower of talents, Kathleen made sure she got a basketful of them! She's a visual artist with practical knowledge on various fields from painting and sculpture, to costume and set design which comes in very handy when writing about various art techniques and theories. She also shares her passion for the arts through teaching. She runs her own brand of handmade wirework jewelry designs.


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