Why do My Oil Paintings Look Dull?

In an attempt to copy the old masters, the artist may temper vibrant colors in the belief that an oil painting should look sombre. In other cases, the artist may strive for vibrant paintings and instead finds garish colors. How can the artist paint vibrant oil paintings?

Causes of a Dull Oil Painting

Oil Painting with Bright Colors
Rachel Shirley

The traditional view of an oil painting is often one that contains lots of earth colors. The prospective artist may therefore purchase a set of oil paints dominated with browns and neutrals. The following may also cause a dull painting:

• Darkening colors with black, such as adding black to green for foliage or black to flesh tint for shaded areas. Black often results in dirty colors.
• Tempering vivid colors with neutrals in the belief they are always too bright.
• Painting alla prima can sometimes result in an oil painting that lacks depth once dry.
• Over‑mixing pigments, causing the mixture to lose vitality.
• Using too many colors in a mix — more than three often muddies the result.

An unsuitable frame may make an oil painting look cheap. Thin gold frames or black plastic strips do little justice. A wide rustic wooden frame will complement a landscape or portrait.

Paint Like the Old Masters

Many beginners believe oil painting should emulate the old masters, noted for chiaroscuro and subdued palettes. Early painters were restricted in available pigments — blue (lapis lazuli) was costly, and bright pigments dulled over time.

Egg Tempera Techniques

The precursor to oil paint was egg tempera — pigment mixed with egg yolk. Colors could not be mixed freely; each hue had to be prepared separately, requiring many pigments.

The Best Oil Colors

Thankfully, modern oil paint manufacturing removes these restrictions. Artists can mix freely on the palette or canvas. Some painters emulate the old masters with earth‑heavy palettes, but this may not suit vibrant work.

Colors That Cause a Dull Painting

Many oil painting sets contain unnecessary colors, which is why I purchase tubes separately. Except for adding bulk or mixing neutrals, I find the following often redundant or dulling:

Earth colors: Raw sienna, raw umber, yellow ochre, brown ochre, cadmium brown, sepia, Vandyke brown.

Other unnecessary colors: Cadmium orange, flesh tint, sap green, olive green, lamp black, Payne’s grey, Naples yellow.

These may be useful in watercolour or pastel kits. In oils, the only earth colors I regularly use are burnt sienna and burnt umber.

How to Create Depth of Color in Oil Painting

Colors often appear dulled when dry. Varnishing restores saturation. Glazing — applying thin layers of transparent paint — adds depth and richness. More than four glazes are usually unnecessary.

Understanding color theory is invaluable. I always include the three primaries: yellow, cyan and magenta. In oil pigments, cadmium yellow (pale), pthalo blue and permanent rose are close. Ultramarine, cadmium red, viridian and lemon yellow are also useful.