Before you can even consider oil painting, you must get oil paints. Although there are dozens of brands of oil paint on the market, don’t be drawn in by the attraction of budget supplies. Buying cheap, poor quality supplies will make your painting difficult, tedious, and frustrating. Paying a few dollars more will give you paints that require one coat instead of two or three for the same vibrancy and blend-ability.  The most basic collection of oil paints should include the following colors: cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, titanium white, and mars black. You can use a combination of all of these colors to make any hue on the color wheel.(eg. yellow and red to make orange)  You will find that you likely will run out of white paint the fastest, so buy a large tube of this while purchasing small or medium tubes of paint for the others. Avoid buying “student sets” of paint, as these will seem like a good deal, but offer the poorest quality supplies. Also avoid buying sets of paint that come with paint brushes, as the brushes will likely be of poor quality as well. Beginning painters often fall under the tendency to avoid getting certain supplies to save money. While this is a perfectly all right practice, there are a few basic painting essentials you will need to make oil painting enjoyable and easy.  Choose a few basic paintbrushes of a high quality material. You don’t need many brushes to start out, but get a few of each kind. Start with differing sizes of round, flat, and bristle brushes. Synthetic brushes are made of a very soft, fine bristle while natural hair brushes are a bit rougher. Use both for different painting techniques. You will also need a palette knife for blending paints, a painting palette, canvas boards or stretched canvas, and some old rags and jars for cleaning your brushes. Oil paint is very thick directly out of the tube, and must be made thinner for the first layers using white spirits or turpentine, and a blending medium such as linseed oil or poppy oil for later layers. The rule is 'Thick on thin', and this prevents later cracking or separation of layers.  Optional supplies include an easel or drafting desk, an apron, a drop cloth, and a specialized box for carrying all your supplies. Because oil painting does require a lot of supplies, you will need a large area to use. Set up your easel or table in an area that is away from foot traffic and direct sunlight, if possible. If you have one, lay a drop cloth down to prevent any paint spills from ruining your floors.  Oil paint can give off fumes, so make sure that your area is well ventilated with an open window or door.  If you are using an easel, adjust it to the correct standing or sitting position and angle. Make sure that it is sitting in such a way to make painting comfortable for you, not difficult. Put on old paint clothes to protect your nice clothes and skin. Oil paint is notorious for being exceedingly difficult to clean off, so make sure that you take precautions to avoid coming into contact with it. If you have long hair, pull it up into a ponytail or bun to make sure that it does not fall in the paint. Remove any rings or bracelets that you might be wearing.
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