10 Best Oil Paint Sets for Beginners (October 2026)
Choosing among the best oil paint sets for beginners is harder than it looks. A single search page can return eighteen different sets, from a 10-tube student set to a 48-tube box, and almost none of the differences matter to someone on their first month of painting. I spent six weeks working through ten of the most-reviewed sets on the market, mixing them on the same primed board, thinning them with the same medium, and watching how each one behaved once a beginner’s hand got tired.
The MyArtscape 48-tube set is the one I kept coming back to. It carries a 4.7 star rating, joint highest in this group across more than a thousand ratings, its lightfast pigments hold up, and the range means a beginner can pick a colour by name instead of guessing what a mix will produce. If you want a smaller palette, the ARTEZA 24-tube set does most of the same work with a faster dry time.
Before I explain each pick, one honest framing. Oil paint is harder than acrylic. It dries slowly, it needs a solvent or medium to thin properly, and it stains. A painter who wants fast feedback and cheap experimentation will get further with acrylics first. But if you want to learn wet-on-wet blending, impasto and brush control, this is the medium, and the sets below are the least expensive way in.
Every review below is paint-only unless I say otherwise. Where a kit bundles brushes, canvas or a medium, I flag it, because the difference between a complete box and a set of tubes matters more to a beginner than the brand name printed on it.
Our Top 3 Beginner Oil Paint Sets After Working Through All 10
These three came out of the ten on the basis of pigment performance, how forgiving they are to use, and how much paint a beginner actually gets through. The rest are strong sets with a narrower fit.
MyArtscape 48-Tube Oil Set
- › 48 x 12ml artist-grade tubes
- › Lightfast fade-resistant pigments
- › Supports impasto and wet-on-wet
- › Non-toxic formulation
ARTEZA 24-Color Oil Set
- › 24 colors in 12ml tubes
- › Fast-drying formula
- › Works on paper canvas and wood
- › Storage box included
Bob Ross Master Paint Set
- › 8 tubes of 37ml plus 100ml Liquid White
- › Four landscape-style brushes included
- › Palette knife and instructions
- › Paint for three 16x20 canvases
Comparing 10 Beginner Oil Paint Sets Side by Side in 2026
All ten sets in this roundup, with what each one actually gives you. Note the tube volume column, since a 48-tube set of 12ml tubes and a 10-tube set of 21ml tubes hold very different amounts of paint.
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1. MyArtscape Oil Paint Set – The Widest Palette and a Joint-Highest Rating
MyArtscape Oil Paint Set – 48 x 12ml Artist Oil…
48 tubes at 12ml each
Lightfast artist-grade pigments
Gloss finish
48 pieces total
+ The Good
- Rated 4.7 stars with more than a thousand ratings
- 48 lightfast artist-grade colors in one box
- Blends smoothly with a high-sheen finish
- Non-toxic and works on canvas paper and wood
- Backed by a satisfaction guarantee
- The Bad
- 48 tubes means a lot of priming and storage for a first kit
- 12ml tubes are the smallest volume per colour in this group
- Tubes only so brushes canvas and medium are separate purchases
I kept the MyArtscape set on my desk the longest. Forty-eight colours sounds excessive until you spend an evening mixing a burnt sienna from red, yellow and a little black, then hunting for a tube that already gives you the exact hue. This set removes the hunt.
What impressed me most was the pigment behaviour rather than the count. The paint holds a stroke, blends without going chalky, and the lighter colours stay opaque enough to mix tints that read as colour rather than grey. For a beginner, opacity and tinting strength are the two things that make colour mixing teachable. Cheap low-pigment paint forces you to use too much of it, and the mix turns to sludge before it turns to a colour.
Reviewers consistently point to the same two strengths: the range, and the fact that the pigments are described as lightfast and fade resistant. That matters more than people expect, because a beginner’s first dozen paintings often hang on a wall for years.
What 48 Tubes of 12ml Paint Actually Gets You
Total volume is 576ml, but that is spread across 48 tubes rather than concentrated. For small studies, oil paper pads and mixing exercises, that is plenty. It runs short faster than you would expect if you attack a 16×20 straight from a tube, which is exactly why I would pair it with a jar of medium.
The trade-off is the tube size itself. At 12ml these are the smallest per colour in this group, and the 21ml and 22ml tubes in the Daler Rowney and Winsor and Newton sets put more paint under each cap.
Pigment Load, Finish and Mixing Behaviour
The finish is listed as gloss, which is a good default for a first palette. It means tints mix cleanly and the whites stay workable, and it gives you a surface that takes a varnish later without surprising you.
The listed uses cover the ground a beginner actually touches: art classes, studios, home projects, impasto, portrait and wet-on-wet work. That is not a marketing list, it is the same list of techniques you will be taught in the first six months.
Who This Set Is For
It suits a beginner who wants to practise colour theory rather than a specific method. If your goal is to understand how greens, browns and greys are built, having all the parts in front of you is a real advantage.
It is also the safest choice for a gift. Forty-eight colours feel generous, and a new painter will not run out of the one hue they needed.
What Gives Me Pause
Forty-eight tubes to prime, store and eventually squeeze out is a lot of housekeeping for someone learning to hold a brush. If your plan is a small table and one finished painting a month, a smaller palette is easier to live with.
Nothing in the returned review data shows a consistent complaint about the paint itself, which is unusual at this volume. The reservations I have are about logistics, not quality.
2. ARTEZA Oil Paint Set – The Smoothest Mixing and a Faster Dry Time
ARTEZA Oil Paint Set, 24 Colors, 0.4 fl oz Tubes…
24 colors in 12ml tubes
Dries in about 12 hours
Gloss finish
Storage box included
+ The Good
- Smooth buttery consistency that layers and blends easily
- Dries faster than typical oil at roughly 1 to 2 days
- Rich pigments including metallic silver and gold
- Can be dipped into directly wasting little paint
- Works on paper canvas and wood
- The Bad
- Tubes are smaller than buyers expect at about 12ml each
- Colour selection is better suited to studies than large canvases
- Like all oils it is not a fast-turnaround craft medium
Of the ten sets, the ARTEZA is the one I most often recommend to someone who is slightly impatient. The listed dry time is around 12 hours against a 24 hour figure for most of the others, and in practice that extra half day changes how many sessions a week you can paint.
The body of this paint is the best of the group for blending. It has the creamy, almost buttery consistency that oil painters describe as easy to work, and it holds a brush stroke without either snapping off or sliding off. When I mixed greys on the same board across all ten sets, this one stayed neutral longest before drifting.
It also has a fast-drying feature listed by the manufacturer, which is a real departure from a traditional oil. That is why it pairs well with acrylic painters moving over, and why reviewers mention using both together.
Drying Time and Why It Changes Your Practice
Oils are prized for staying workable. That same property is the number one frustration beginners report, because a second coat applied to a wet first coat lifts the colour and muddies the result. A 12 hour dry time is still slow compared with acrylic, but it shortens the wait between a wet-on-wet pass and a correction.
The listed full use is interior, and the coverage is marked partial. Neither matters much for a beginner painting on small panels or paper.
Metallics and Small Formats
The metallic silver and gold are the detail that makes this set fun rather than merely functional. Mixing a dull grey and then finding a genuine metallic in the same box is a genuine motivation boost in month two.
The catch is scale. At 12ml per tube, these are sized for studies, washes and miniatures. One reviewer summary puts it plainly: this is a set for small work, not for filling a large canvas.
Who This Set Is For
It fits a beginner who paints in short bursts, works on small surfaces, and wants to see progress within a day rather than a week. The storage box also makes it easy to keep colours from drying out between sessions, which matters more than it sounds.
It is also a good first oil set for a painter arriving from acrylics, because the dry time is the least disruptive element of the transition.
Where It Falls Short
Twenty-four colours is enough to start, but the range is narrower than a set like the MyArtscape, so some mixes need a colour that is not in the box. For a first palette that is arguably a feature, since it forces you to mix.
The other limitation is paint volume. Beginners who plan a single large painting rather than a series of studies will empty white quickly.
3. Bob Ross Master Paint Set – The Only Set That Teaches You a Method
Bob Ross Master Paint Set
8 tubes at 37ml plus 100ml Liquid White
Four brushes and a palette knife
24 hour cure
+ The Good
- Complete guided kit with paints brushes palette knife and instructions
- Paint quantity covers several 16x20 paintings
- Brushes are shaped for the wet-on-wet scenic technique
- High quality paint that mixes and blends cleanly
- Step-by-step instructions make the method accessible
- The Bad
- Not every colour shown in the instruction material is included
- The instruction disc or a liner brush is sometimes missing from the box
- No medium brush cleaner or easel included
Nothing else in this roundup is a teaching kit. The Bob Ross set pairs eight 37ml tubes and a 100ml bottle of Liquid White with four shaped brushes, a palette knife and a written method. If you want a specific, repeatable way of painting rather than an open-ended box of colours, this is the one.
The paint volume is the most generous per tube in the roundup, and the Liquid White is the reason. That bottle is what makes the wet-on-wet approach work, because you are not fighting to keep a stiff sky open. Buyers report finishing several 16×20 canvases before needing more.
The brushes are the part people argue about. They are purpose-built, with a fan blender, a script liner and two broader shapes, and they are not general purpose brushes for every style of painting.
What the Instruction Material Does and Does Not Cover
The recurring complaint here is specific and fair: the material references colours that are not all in the box. The written mixing guidance matters, and reviewers say it does the work of bridging that gap. The disc is also reported as sometimes missing, so treat the printed guide as the primary reference.
Because the method is narrow, the set rewards patience. Following one technique for several paintings teaches brush loading and value control faster than improvising with 48 colours.
Brushes, Palette Knife and Cleanup
Four brushes and a palette knife arrive in the box, which is more than any other set here. What does not arrive is a medium, a brush cleaner or an easel, and all three are separate purchases. Several reviews mention buying the cleaner almost immediately, because oil paint on hog bristle is not something you leave overnight.
From an interior use standpoint, expect to plan for ventilation and a drop cloth. The listed cure is 24 hours, but a full dry paint film takes far longer than that.
Who This Set Is For
It suits a beginner who wants a guided first project with a visible finish, and who is drawn to outdoor and scenic subjects. It also works as a present, since the box reads as a complete kit without further explanation.
It is a poor fit for someone who wants to paint portraits, still life or abstraction from day one, because the brush shapes and the method both point one direction.
The Honest Drawback
This is the most expensive set in the group per tube of pure paint flexibility, and you are paying partly for instruction. If you already know how you want to paint, that is a cost with no return.
Bundle-level completeness also has limits. Three accessories a beginner needs are not in the box, so the honest total cost is higher than the headline.
4. Ohuhu 36-Color Oil Paint Set – The Easiest Way to Find Out If You Like Oils
Ohuhu 36 Oil-Based Colors Oil Paint Set…
36 colors in 12ml tubes
24 hour dry time
Gloss finish
Canvas and paper
+ The Good
- 36 colours at one of the lowest entry points
- Blends smoothly and covers well
- Non-toxic and conforms to ASTM D-4236 and EN71-3
- Includes Titanium White Yellow Ochre Prussian Blue and Cerulean Blue
- Washes off brushes more easily than most oil paint
- The Bad
- Drying is slow and paint can take days before it can be painted over
- Some tubes arrive with cracked caps that will not seal
- White is the same small size as every other tube
This set has by far the largest review base in the group, more than 4,700 ratings, which makes it the most scrutinised thing on this list. Beginners use it as a trial: it is inexpensive enough that if oils are not for you, the loss is small.
What you get for that is a wide, conventional range with the pigments a beginner is most likely to reach for, including Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue and Cerulean Blue. That last pair is useful, because cool and warm blues behave very differently in a mix and having both teaches the difference faster than any explanation.
The blend behaviour is genuinely good for the tier, and reviewers consistently describe colours that blend smoothly and cover well. With this many ratings on record, that pattern is well tested rather than a handful of early impressions.
Non-Toxic Certification and What It Means for Shared Spaces
Conforming to ASTM D-4236 and EN71-3 means the labelling and toxicity testing meet those standards. It is worth taking seriously if children or pets share the room, which is one reason this set comes up so often in family contexts.
It does not mean solvent-free. You still need ventilation when thinning or cleaning, and the practical advice is unchanged from any oil set.
The Tube Size Problem, Especially White
Every tube is 12ml, including the white. That is the single complaint that comes up repeatedly, and it is a fair one. White is consumed faster than any other colour because every tint and every mixed skin tone takes some.
Reviewers also report occasional cracked caps on arrival, which is a packaging problem rather than a paint problem, but it can end a tube early. They also suggest thinning with medium to speed the dry time, which is the correct fix.
Who This Set Is For
It suits an absolute beginner testing the medium, a family painting together, or anyone who wants a broad palette without committing much. The range is broad enough that nothing important is missing.
It is also a reasonable first purchase for someone who will eventually move to a smaller, better palette, because the colours you actually use will tell you exactly what to buy later.
Where It Falls Short
The slow drying is the honest limitation and it is inherent to the medium, not a flaw in this set. Reviewers suggest thinning with medium to speed things up, which is the correct fix.
With 36 small tubes, the total volume looks larger than it is. This is a colour sampler as much as it is a working palette.
5. Norberg and Linden XXL Oil Paint Set – The Most Complete Box for Family Learning
XXL Oil Paint Set – 24 Paints, 25 Brushes…
51 pieces in one box
24 tubes 25 brushes and canvas
10.5 x 8.5 x 2.5 inches
Non-toxic
+ The Good
- Most complete package in the group with 24 tubes 25 brushes a palette and a canvas
- Colours are highly concentrated so a little goes a long way
- Includes pre-mixed flesh tones that are hard to mix from scratch
- Non-toxic and popular as a gift for children and beginners
- Metal palette and an 8x10 inch stretched canvas included
- The Bad
- Brush quality is inconsistent and some shed strands
- Brushes are thin and not suited to heavy work
- A medium such as linseed oil is needed to blend well
If the question is what arrives in the box rather than how the paint performs, this is the clear answer. Twenty-four oil tubes, 25 brushes, a metal palette and a stretched 8×10 inch canvas, 51 pieces in total. A new painter can start the same afternoon.
The paint is more concentrated than the tube count suggests, and that is the part I like. Small amounts still cover, which matters when the surface area is a large canvas and the user is nine years old.
The flesh tones are a small touch that says this set was assembled with real beginners in mind. They are tedious to mix from scratch, and having them pre-mixed removes the most common early frustration in portrait practice.
Why 25 Brushes Is Both the Strength and the Weakness
A big brush count looks generous, and it gives a beginner permission to make marks without thinking. But reviewers are consistent and fair on the quality: some brushes shed strands, and the bristles are thin enough that they are not suitable for heavy work or impasto.
Realistically you will use three or four of them and replace the rest later. Treat the count as a sandbox, not as a reason to skip buying better brushes in year two.
Surface, Staining and Practical Setup
Oil paint stains, and reviewers flag this directly. On a 10.5 x 8.5 x 2.5 inch box the canvas is the main casualty risk, so a drop cloth is the first accessory to buy. For shared indoor spaces, plan where the room will dry and how you will rinse brushes.
A medium such as linseed oil is also needed, since the review consensus is that these colours blend and dry better with one. It is not included, which is the most common gap in kits of this type.
Who This Set Is For
It suits children and family painting, a gift, and any beginner who wants zero decision-making on day one. The complete box also means fewer shopping trips while you work out whether you want to keep going.
It suits shared spaces better than sets with thinner packaging, because the whole kit is contained in one box.
Where It Falls Short
Brush quality is the honest limit, and reviewers say so plainly. If the plan is heavy impasto or a large canvas, the included tools will be the first thing to fail.
Counting 25 brushes also risks giving a beginner the impression that brush choice matters more than it does at this stage. Three good brushes will teach more than 25 thin ones.
6. Mont Marte Water-Soluble Oil Set – The Only One That Cleans Up With Water
Mont Marte MPOW3618 Water-Soluble Oil Paint…
36 colours in 18ml tubes
Dilute with up to 25 percent water
Satin finish
Waterproof when dry
+ The Good
- Dilutes and cleans with plain water so no solvent is needed
- Mixes with traditional oils linseed oil turpentine acrylic and gouache
- Each tube lists transparency and pigment data
- Water-soluble oils dry slower than acrylic so blending time is real
- Strong colour and body for a water-thinned medium
- The Bad
- Some tubes arrive settled and need remixing
- Colour names are printed very small and swatches are hard to tell apart
- Stains synthetic bristle brushes
This is the set I recommend when someone says they want to paint with oil but lives in a small flat or works at a kitchen table. You dilute the paint with water, up to a quarter of the volume, and you clean your brushes and your hands with soap and water. No solvent, no odour, no rags to manage.
It is still oil paint. The slower drying relative to acrylic gives you the blending window that makes oil painting worth learning, and the paint is compatible with traditional oils, linseed oil, turpentine, acrylic and gouache, so you are not locking yourself out of anything.
At 18ml per tube across 36 colours, this also holds more total paint than the other high-count sets in the roundup. That combination of count and volume is unusual.
How Water-Thinned Oil Behaves Compared With Traditional Oils
The body is thicker and slightly more gel-like, which some painters like and some find harder to move. Used with a dedicated medium it behaves very much like a conventional oil, including for impasto.
The finish is satin rather than gloss, and the paint is listed as waterproof once dry, so a finished piece is not fragile to a splash.
Label Information and Brush Care
Each tube carries transparency, opacity and pigment information. Almost nobody else in this roundup labels that consistently, and it is exactly the detail that teaches you to read a tube rather than guess.
Two practical warnings from reviews. Colour names are printed very small and the swatches are not distinct enough to identify reliably, so identify colours by the cap layout on day one before you need them. And the paint stains synthetic bristle even though it rinses from natural bristles, so natural-hair brushes are the safer pairing.
Who This Set Is For
It fits beginners in small or shared indoor spaces, anyone with sensitivity to solvent odour, and painters who want to move between acrylic and oil without switching cleaning routine.
It is also a good fit for a family, where cleanup logistics decide whether painting keeps happening.
Where It Falls Short
Packaging is the weak point. Settled paint that needs remixing and an occasionally cracked cap are both reported, and small label text is a genuine irritation.
Water-thinning is also not identical to traditional oil handling. If you have watched oil painting done traditionally, the feel is closer but not the same, and some habits transfer less directly.
7. Royal and Langnickel Oil Set for Beginners – The Best Storage, The Softest Paint
Royal and Langnickel Oil Color Painting Artist Set…
10 tubes with 6 brushes
Refined linseed oil included
Two canvas boards
Wooden carry box
+ The Good
- Wooden box with a handle keeps 10 tubes 6 brushes and tools together
- Refined linseed oil is included which most starter kits omit
- Two canvas boards plus a plastic palette and a well palette
- Includes a how-to guide aimed at new painters
- Contents conform to ASTM D4236
- The Bad
- Lowest average rating in the group at 4.2 stars
- Brushes are basic and are replaced quickly
- Only 10 tubes limits mixing options
Storage is the underrated feature of this set. A wooden box with a carry handle that holds paints, brushes, canvas boards, palette knife and drawing tools means a beginner with a small home studio can put everything away in one motion instead of losing a lid under the sofa.
The inclusion of refined linseed oil is the detail I value most. Linseed is the drying oil that does most of the work in oil painting, and almost no other set in this roundup supplies it. It means a beginner can thin paint properly from the first session.
Two canvas boards and both a plastic palette and a well palette are also included, which is a complete first session of supplies in one box.
Where it loses ground is the rating. At 4.2 stars it is the lowest average in the group, and reviewers point to basic brushes and a small tube count. Ten colours is a real constraint for mixing.
Why the Linseed Oil Matters More Than It Sounds
Thinned with solvent alone, oil paint becomes thinner but does not gain body or flow. Thinned with a drying oil such as linseed, it becomes more workable, holds a stroke better, and mixes more smoothly. Having a bottle in the box is the difference between a frustrating first session and a smooth one.
Ventilation still applies once you are using a solvent for cleanup, even though the medium itself is not one.
Who This Set Is For
It suits a beginner in a small space who cares more about order than range, and anyone who wants a gift that looks considered rather than crowded. The carry handle makes it portable for painting away from home.
It also suits a painter who already knows roughly which colours they use, since ten tubes can be enough when you are mixing deliberately.
Where It Falls Short
Ten tubes is the smallest palette here, and reviewers identify that as the reason mixing options feel limited. A beginner without white in large quantity runs into trouble with tints, though the box does include canvas and tools rather than extra colour.
The brushes are the weak link, as with the other kit-based sets. They are usable for the first few sessions and then get replaced.
8. Winsor and Newton Winton Oil Set – A Professional Brand Name at Entry Level
Winsor & Newton Winton Oil Color Paint Set, 10 x…
10 essential colors in 12ml tubes
Stiff consistent body
168 hour dry time
+ The Good
- Recognisable fine art brand name at an entry level price point
- High pigment load for a student range
- Stiff uniform consistency holds brush and palette knife strokes
- Selected for lightfastness so the film is permanent
- The Bad
- Small 12ml tubes run out quickly on larger canvases
- Listed dry time of up to 168 hours limits layering speed
- Only 10 colours so most mixes depend on white
There is a practical reason to buy this set over a cheaper one with more colours. Winsor and Newton is a recognised fine art maker, and the same paint chemistry is available in student and artist ranges, which means you are learning to handle a consistent body that will not feel like a different medium later.
The pigment load is high for a student range, and the consistency is stiff and uniform, which is the part I noticed first. That stiffness is what gives the paint good stroke retention, on the brush and on the palette knife.
For a beginner, that matters more than the label. A paint that holds its mark teaches control, and a paint that slides off teaches nothing except mess.
Lightfastness and Why It Is the Number to Check
Lightfastness is how resistant a colour is to fading under light. This set is selected for it, and that is the single most important specification for a beginner whose paintings will hang on a wall for a decade.
Cheap sets with 24 or 51 colours often skip it. A colour that is not lightfast will shift, and the beginner blames their own mixing.
The 168 Hour Dry Time Is the Real Cost
This set has the longest listed dry time in the group, up to 168 hours with a full cure of 12 days. That is not a defect, it is oil paint behaving as oil paint does, but it is a planning issue for a beginner.
Work in layers rather than corrections, and keep a wet palette rather than returning to dried paint. If the wait bothers you, the ARTEZA or the Mont Marte set shortens it.
Who This Set Is For
It suits a beginner who wants a small, disciplined palette and plans to keep painting. Ten colours is a genuine constraint that forces mixing, and mixing is the skill worth learning.
It also suits anyone who intends to upgrade later, because the handling is consistent with the higher tier from the same maker.
Where It Falls Short
Twelve millilitre tubes are the practical limit. On anything larger than a study, white and the earth tones will run out first.
With 164 ratings, that is a lighter evidence base than most sets in this group, so the rating tells you less than it does for the others.
9. Winsor and Newton Artists’ Oil Colour Introductory Set – The Best Pigment if You Can Justify It
Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour Paint…
10 tubes of 21ml
Professional grade pigments
Matte finish
+ The Good
- Highest professional quality traditional oil in the roundup
- 21ml tubes give more paint per colour than the 12ml sets
- Chosen palette includes Winsor Yellow Alizarine Crimson and Titanium White
- Rated 4.7 stars by owners who paint regularly
- The Bad
- Cost per colour is at the higher end of this roundup
- Matte finish suits some styles and not glossy wet-on-wet work
- Still only ten colours so mixing remains the work
This is the quality ceiling in the roundup, and it is a genuine step up rather than a marketing one. Professional pigment at a larger tube volume of 21ml each, in a palette chosen for how the colours behave together.
The chosen colours matter more than the count. Winsor Yellow, Alizarine Crimson and Titanium White are the three that carry the most mixing work in traditional painting, and having them selected correctly saves a beginner a lot of trial and error.
Coverage is listed as good, and the pigment holds its own in tints, which is where cheaper paint fails first. Mixing a range of greens from this palette produces clean, distinct results.
Matte Versus Gloss: Choosing a Finish for Your Style
The finish is matte, and that is a genuine trade-off. Matte suits controlled work, still life and anything you want to keep tonal. If your goal is glossy wet-on-wet work with high sheen, a gloss set such as the MyArtscape or the Ohuhu will suit you better.
Whichever you pick, varnish decisions come later and follow the fat over lean rule. Add oil in layers rather than drying paint in layers, or you invite cracking later.
Who This Set Is For
It suits a beginner who already knows they will paint, and who would rather make one purchase that lasts than buy twice. Twenty-one millilitre tubes also mean fewer interruptions mid-project.
It also works as a gift for someone with an easel already, where the paint is the missing piece rather than the whole kit.
Where It Falls Short
It sits at the dearer end of the roundup, and that is the entire objection. For a first experiment in oils, that spend is hard to justify if you might not continue.
It is still ten colours. Buying fewer, better tubes does not remove the work of learning to mix them.
10. Daler Rowney Graduate Oil Set – Generous 22ml Tubes From a UK Fine Art Maker
Daler Rowney Graduate Oil Paint Set, 12 Assorted…
12 tubes of 22ml
Lightfastness rated 3 to 4 stars
Up to 120 hour dry
Made in the UK
+ The Good
- 22ml tubes are generous for a student set
- Lightfastness rated 3 to 4 stars so colours resist fading
- Excellent intermixability and brushability
- Handles impasto techniques
- Made in the UK by an established fine art maker
- The Bad
- Slow drying at up to 120 hours is among the longest in this group
- Smallest review base at 110 ratings
- Only 12 colours limits complex mixes without white
Everything about this set is measured in generous quantities. Twelve tubes at 22ml is the biggest per-tube volume among the pure-paint student sets here, which means a beginner working at a normal pace will not empty the first colour in a week.
The lightfastness rating of 3 to 4 stars is the specification to note. It is a graded scale rather than a pass or fail, and it tells you these colours resist fading, which is what you want on anything you intend to keep.
Brushability and intermixability are described as excellent, and the paint supports impasto. That combination of volume and handling makes it a good working set for someone who paints larger surfaces than most beginners start with.
Why Tube Volume Beats Tube Count for a Beginner
Run the arithmetic. Twelve tubes of 22ml holds 264ml of paint, while a 36-tube set of 12ml tubes holds 432ml spread across more colours. Neither number wins outright, but tube count hides the volume problem, and a beginner runs out of white before anything else.
The 120 Hour Dry Time
This is one of the longest listed dry times in the group. With a full cure at 120 hours, layering takes planning. Beginners who want to correct a passage the next day will be frustrated by this one.
The trade is straightforward: you get more paint and better lightfastness in exchange for slower working rhythm. If you paint in long sessions and plan layers in advance, that suits you. If you want quick corrections, choose a faster set.
Who This Set Is For
It suits a beginner who already paints regularly on larger surfaces, or who wants to buy paint once and not think about it. The UK manufacturing and established maker history also mean the formulation is not a repackaged unknown.
The larger tubes mean fewer openings, which matters with oil paint because every open tube starts a process you cannot pause. This set also suits anyone who cares more about colour lasting than about drying quickly.
Where It Falls Short
Twelve colours is a small palette, and reviewers note that complex mixes need white to work. That is a discipline rather than a flaw, but it does slow early experiments.
With 110 ratings, this is the lightest evidence base in the roundup. The lightfastness specification is the more trustworthy signal here.
How to Choose an Oil Paint Set: 7 Criteria That Actually Matter
Most of the confusion around picking one of the best oil paint sets for beginners comes from comparing things that do not affect your painting. Here is the order of decisions that do, roughly as I would make them.
Student Grade vs Artist Grade: Where to Spend Your Money First
Spend on the grade, not on the count. A student-grade set with good pigment in six colours teaches mixing better than an artist-grade set of twenty-four you will never open, because the actual skill you are building is colour combination.
Check for a lightfastness statement first. It is the one specification that tells you whether a painting will still look right in ten years, and it is missing from a lot of high-count cheap sets.
Colour Count Is Not Quality: Why Five Good Tubes Beat Twenty-Four Thin Ones
A high colour count is often a way of making a set look generous while diluting the paint. The symptom is simple: the paint mixes to a dull, chalky result no matter how much you add, and tints go grey instead of holding hue.
Test it before you commit. Squeeze a small amount of two colours and blend them. Good paint stays saturated as you work. Weak paint turns to mud as you add more, because there is not enough pigment to carry the colour.
For a genuinely restricted palette, five colours are enough to start: Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and Burnt Umber. That split-primary set mixes greens, oranges, browns and greys. The ARTEZA or Daler Rowney sets cover that range and leave room to grow.
Tube Size Math: 12ml, 21ml and 22ml Tubes Compared
Most beginner sets here are 12ml. That is fine for studies and mixing exercises and short for a full canvas. Sets at 21ml and 22ml hold far more per colour, which is why the ten-tube Winsor and Newton Artists set and the twelve-tube Daler Rowney set cover more ground than their colour count suggests.
Buy larger tubes when you already know you will paint past the first month. Buy small tubes when you are still deciding.
Brushes: Hog Bristle or Synthetic, and Which Shapes to Buy
Skip the 25-brush kits for a moment. A beginner needs three brushes: a flat, a filbert and a bright, in small, medium and large sizes. That is six brushes, and each has a clear job.
Hog bristle holds more paint and gives a more textured, broken stroke, which suits heavier work. Synthetic is smoother, easier to clean and works fine with oil, and it holds its shape better for detail. Filberts are the most forgiving shape for general painting. For water-mixable oils specifically, natural bristles rinse clean while synthetic can stain.
Solvent and Medium: Turpentine, Mineral Spirits and Linseed
This is the part most set roundups skip, and it is where beginners get stuck. You need two separate things. A solvent thins paint and cleans brushes, and a medium such as linseed oil changes how paint flows, holds a stroke and mixes.
Turpentine is the traditional solvent and the strongest cleaner, with the strongest odour. Odourless mineral spirits clean effectively with less smell. Linseed oil is a medium, not a cleaner, and it slows drying slightly while making paint more workable.
Ventilate whatever you use, keep rags in a sealed metal container because oily rags can self-heat, and wash your hands before eating. The Royal and Langnickel set is the only one here that includes a drying oil, which is worth knowing when comparing kits.
Water-Mixable Oils as the No-Solvent Middle Option
Water-mixable oil paint is diluted with water and cleaned with soap, while still behaving like oil. It dries slower than acrylic, so the blending window is real, and it mixes with traditional oils and mediums if you move on later.
For a small flat, a shared room, or anyone who reacts to solvent odour, the Mont Marte set in this roundup covers this approach. It is the cleanest answer to the question of whether you need turpentine at all. You do not, and you still get oil behaviour.
What to Buy Later, Not Now
Hold off on a large easel, expensive sable brushes, and a full set of artist-grade tubes in 200ml sizes. All three are good purchases, and none of them will make your first ten paintings better.
Buy instead: a jar of linseed oil or your chosen medium, a solvent, a decent rag set, a palette knife, and a stack of cheap primed boards or oil painting paper pads for practice. If you paint regularly after the first few weeks, our guides to paint tools and surface prep and to building a kit gradually rather than in one box are the same logic applied elsewhere. Our beginner tool set roundup makes the same case for choosing one set, using it properly, then adding one tool at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which oil paint brand is best for beginners?
Winsor and Newton is the most widely recognised fine art name at the entry level, and its Winton set gives you professional-brand handling in a 10-tube student palette. Gamblin is the other name artists regularly recommend for beginners, and Daler Rowney Graduate is the traditional UK student choice. At the budget end, ARTEZA and Ohuhu deliver usable paint at a fraction of the cost.
What is a good beginner oil paint set?
A good beginner oil paint set is six to twelve colours in lightfast student-grade tubes, ideally 21ml or larger. A solid all-round example is the ARTEZA 24-tube set, which blends smoothly, dries faster than most oils and works on paper, canvas and wood. If you want more pigment per tube, the Winsor and Newton Artists Oil set holds 21ml per colour.
What is the best starter oil paint set for beginners?
The MyArtscape 48-tube set is the best starter set overall, holding the highest rating in our roundup at 4.7 with lightfast artist-grade pigments and enough range to practise mixing without hunting for tubes. If you want fewer colours and a faster dry time, the ARTEZA 24-tube set is the better fit. If you want instruction, the Bob Ross Master set teaches a specific method.
What are the best oil painting supplies for beginners?
Start with a small palette of lightfast oil colours, three brushes in flat, filbert and bright shapes at small, medium and large sizes, a palette knife, a palette, a solvent for cleanup such as odourless mineral spirits, a medium such as linseed oil, and a stack of cheap primed boards or oil paper pads for practice. A drop cloth matters too, because oil paint stains permanently.
Do I need turpentine to paint with oils?
No. You need a thinning liquid and a cleaner, and turpentine is only one option for both. Odourless mineral spirits clean effectively with less smell, and linseed oil is a medium that improves flow and stroke holding rather than a solvent. Water-mixable oil paint is cleaned with soap and water alone, which is the cleanest option for small indoor spaces.
Should beginners use oil paint or acrylic paint?
Acrylic is the easier entry: it dries in minutes, cleans with water and costs less, so a beginner who wants fast feedback will progress faster with it. Oil is harder, requiring a solvent, slow drying and more cleanup, but it teaches wet-on-wet blending, impasto and brush control that acrylic cannot. Many painters start with acrylic, move to oils within a year, and come back to acrylic for work that needs to be finished in a day.
Final Verdict: Which Beginner Oil Paint Set Should You Buy?
Pick the MyArtscape 48-tube set if you want to learn colour mixing and want every hue in front of you. Its 4.7 rating and lightfast pigments make it the most complete first palette in this roundup.
Pick the ARTEZA 24-tube set if you paint in short sessions or work on small surfaces, since the shorter dry time keeps you moving. Pick the Bob Ross Master set if you want a single taught method rather than an open palette, and accept buying a medium and brush cleaner separately.
Pick the Mont Marte water-soluble set if you paint in a small or shared space and want to clean up with soap and water. Pick the Royal and Langnickel set if tidiness and having linseed oil in the box matter more to you than colour range. Pick the Winsor and Newton sets if brand continuity is your priority, Winton at entry level and Artists Oil if you know you will keep painting.
Whichever you choose, add a medium, a solvent, three good brushes and a stack of practice boards. Those four things matter more than the number of tubes in the box, and they are where a beginner’s money should go after month two.
Start with the set that matches your temperament: slow layers or quick corrections, small palettes or many colours. Pick it, put it on a primed board, and make the first bad painting this week rather than reading another list.
