My first ever oil painting, done alla prima.

[Ocelot II]

7. If you are going to used thinned layers, also called glazing,

be sure to check the paint tube to see whether the paint is opaque or transparent (it will be labeled). Mixing any color with white makes it opaque, so don't do that to make a color lighter; just use less paint in a thinner layer. Use transparent paint for glazing; that way you won't need as much medium (e.g., linseed oil - slow drying - or walnut oil - faster drying), and the painting won't be too oily to work. Each layer needs to dry before applying the next, and you should apply thin layers over thicker ones. I like a solid panel; stretched canvas "gives" too much. Paper absolutely does not work at all because it absorbs oil.

There's a lot to learn about how to use oil paint - it's much trickier than acrylic but also more versatile if you don't mind the slower process. I like it better than other mediums because you can always fix mistakes.