Basic Oil Paint Colors?

A good palette to begin with: black, white, burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, Naples yellow. This will allow you to make just about any "brown" and/or "gray" that you want. And go ahead and splurge for the best oils. Get the Winsor Newton "Artists' Oils". Do *not* get the "Winton" student-line colors; as they are gummy, "oily", and quite lacking in the pigment department. And use plain old mineral spirits to thin them; the cheaper the better. They sould be thinned

*only* when used for a wash. If being used for drybrushing, then do *not* thin them. A little goes a very long way. These tubes you buy, will last for the rest of your life....