My First Experience Painting from Life with Oil 🎨🖌️

My First Experience Painting from Life with Oil 🎨🖌️

This past week, I had the opportunity to paint from a live model for the first time — and not just with any medium, but oil paint ! As someone who usually works in acrylics or dry media, stepping into the world of oils felt like a bold leap. It was intense, exciting, and honestly… a little toxic (literally 😅) — I had to double up my mask because the smell was so strong!

The session was led by our brilliant teacher (you can spot him demonstrating in the picture), who broke down the structure of the figure and helped us understand how to capture presence and form directly from observation. Painting from life forced me to slow down, see more clearly, and trust my eyes over my assumptions.

I’m learning that it’s not just about making the subject “look right,” but about capturing energy and story in real-time. The orange undertone I used gave warmth to the whole setup and really set the tone for what I’m building up next.

This experience reminded me why I love art — it’s challenging, unpredictable, and endlessly rewarding.

Let me know what you think of my early stage sketch and if you have any tips for working with oils!