Introduction: How to Create Oil Paintings on Wood Blocks

By Haus Page
About: Hi, we're Dara and Nash. Industrial designers, tinkers, and mayhem builders. Follow our travels.

This is one of the oldest arts, painting on wood. In use since ancient times with the pharohs or Egypt, this classic art is still a lot of fun to do today. You will need:

Oil Paints (I like Wilson as they make a line of oil paints that mixes well with water)
Wood
Paintbrushes
Water
Pallette to Mix Colors
Paper Towels if Necessary

Step 1: Select and Prepare the Wood

Get your wood ready to paint. In our case, we used pre-cut pine blocks. Several of the group painters also like to use oak, cedar, or wood scraps from the Techshop scrap bins. Any natural wood will work. I like to paint hardwoods as they have a tighter grain. I will often sand the wood before painting to make sure it absorbs the paint better.

Step 2: Paint Wood

Mix your paints and pick-up a brush. After you finish, allow 2-4 weeks for the oil paint to completely dry. Some people finish their oil paints with lintseed oil to give it a polish. This is one of my favorite lazy Sunday activities because it seems to primal. You can think that people thousands of years ago were painting too.