How to Use Oil Paint on Paper: Tips and Surface Preparation

If you’re asking yourself“Can I use oil paint on paper?”, the answer is a definite yes! While it's generally considered that the optimal surface for oil painting would be a stretched linen canvas or a wood panel, using paper comes with its own benefits and can become a part of your artistic arsenal. Besides, it's a surface that's been used for centuries and you can achieve fantastic results without breaking the bank.

I've used oil on paper in my own artistic practice, including many of the pieces in my sketchbook. In this guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about painting with oils on paper, including the paper preparation you'll need to do to make your painting archival, i.e. avoid damaging the painting in the long run.

Before we jump into it, feel free to check out the video I made on this topic, in which I share my process for preparing the paper in my sketchbook and painting two studies on that spread:

Oil Painting Masterworks on Paper

Paper is a legitimate surface choice that has been utilised extensively by many artists throughout the years. Historically, paper has been used for quick studies, sketches, and even finished works in oil.

Here's an oil painting by Rembrandt, with a brilliant chiaroscuro composition, executed on paper:

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Supper at Emmaus, 1629, oil on paper, 39 x 42 cm. Image source: Elena Maslova-Levin

Some contemporary artists use paper almost exclusively for their oil paintings. A great example would be one of my favourite artists - Nicolas Uribe. He often works in oil on unprimed Moleskine paper, which gives his work a very distinctive look:

Nicolas Uribe, Cobalt Blues, 2024, oil on paper. Image source: Instagram.

Why Use Oil Paint on Paper?

There is more than one reason to consider giving paper as an oil painting surface a try. Here's why you might want to add it to the arsenal of your painting surfaces:

• It is cheap. Paper is significantly cheaper than stretched canvases, even though thicker paper will be optimal for painting with oils and, hence, it's going to usually cost more than, say, printer paper or basic drawing pads.

• It has a smooth surface. Paper has a very smooth finish that's hard to beat. As a rule, the smoother your painting surface is, the more detail it allows for. I prefer my paper to have a tiny bit of tooth, which can be achieved by applying a some gesso to it.

• It's easy to store. I don't know about you, but I am beginning to run out of space to put my canvases and bulky wood panels. Unless you have a large art studio or you're a master salesman, paper is going to come in handy if you want a more practical way to store your sketches. A single sketchbook can fit a 100 of them!

  
  

Which Paper is Best for Oil Painting?

As I said before, you’ll want to make sure that your paper is durable and thick enough to withstand oil paint, in order to avoid buckling and tearing. Here are some things to consider:

• Why not try oil painting paper? Several manufacturers offer paper specifically designed for oil painting, such as Fabriano, Arches, Royal Talens, or Hahnemühle. These usually come in paper pads of varying size, and they are already primed to prevent oil seepage, meaning they are ready for oil paint without any preparation. These do tend to be pricy and are not available everywhere, so I'll explain below how you can prime your own paper.

My favourite brands are Van Gogh and Fabriano.

• Choose heavy paper. Heavy paper is essential for painting with oils. It helps prevent the paper from buckling, warping, or suffering other kinds of damage when you prime it and apply oil paint to it. Consider - is the paper you're painting on thick enough to withstand watercolour and gouache? If the answer is yes, it should work well enough with oils.

• Consider the archival qualities. It's best practice to use acid-free paper, as it is designed to be more archival and resist yellowing or degrading over time. If you want to preserve your work and ensure its stability over time, choosing good-quality paper is key.

• How smooth do you want your paper to be? Paper can come with a variety of textures. For instance, cold-press watercolour paper has a bit more texture than hot-press paper. The latter is smoother, allowing for more detailed brushwork. Sketchbooks also have paper with varying texture.

• Toned paper is a good option. It often helps to get rid of the white of the paper when you're painting because it can mess with your value perception. There's many options for good-quality toned paper that's thick enough to withstand oil paint. You can also tone your paper yourself - I like to mix some acrylic paint into the gesso I use for preparing the paper surface.

Selecting the right type of paper will depend on your personal preference and the style you’re aiming for, but make sure that the paper you're choosing has reasonable quality. I quite like my Strathmore Mixed Media sketchbook because it has a bit of tooth and is thick enough to handle oil paint without much warping.

How to Prepare Paper for Oil Painting

The key to using oil on paper is properly isolating it before you start painting. Without preparation, oil paint will soak into the paper and cause staining and degradation over time. Here's my process for preparing paper for oil painting:

1. Stretch or Clip the Paper

If you're using a single sheet of paper, you can stretch it by taping it to a flat rigid surface to keep it from warping during priming. Make sure it’s tight and secure. You can also use masking tape or clips if you're painting in a sketchbook. Check out the video above to see how I did it in my sketchbook.

2. Apply Sizing (Optional)

If you want extra protection, apply a layer of sizing before priming. Pre-made sizing paste, PVA glue or rabbit skin glue (RSG) will work. Sizing helps reduce absorbency and can increase the longevity of your painting. Keep in mind that RSG is hygroscopic, meaning that it can become unstable in environments with fluctuating humidity levels.

3. Prime with Gesso

Make sure to apply at least one layer of gesso, either white or tinted with some of acrylic paint to create a toned ground. This will isolate the paper fibers from the oil and will provide your surface with more grip, so it's not too slippery and the oil paint can adhere to it properly.

I like to add some acrylic paint to my gesso to tone the paper.

4. Allow to Dry

Even though it'll be dry to touch within a couple of hours, gesso needs at least 24 hours to dry completely. After that, you're all set!

Conclusion

Using oil paint on paper is a great way to diversify your arsenal of painting surfaces. It's an accessible alternative to stretched canvas and wood panel and can help you optimise the space storing sketches and studies. Paper has been used by artists for centuries as a painting surface, and, with the right choice of paper and proper preparation, you can make sure that your painting stays archival.