How to Make and Tube Your Own Oil Paint

Oil paint is one of those materials that seems almost magical. A little coloured powder, a little oil, and suddenly you have a smooth, rich paint you can brush, spread, scrape, and mix. In this post, I’ll show you how to make and tube your own oil paint.

Homemade oil paint also gives children a chance to investigate something much more interesting than simply making a colour.

They can explore:

• pigments
• binders
• grinding and particle size
• viscosity
• colour mixing
• drying and oxidation
• historical painting materials
• engineering
• packaging
• conservation
• and the surprisingly important invention that made oil paint portable.

That invention was the collapsible metal paint tube.

How to Make and Tube Your Own Oil Paint

In 1841, American artist and inventor John Goffe Rand patented a collapsible metal container designed to preserve paint and allow it to be squeezed out when needed. His invention replaced much more awkward methods of storing prepared paint, including animal bladders, and helped make carrying wet oil paint considerably more practical.

So, in this activity, children can make their own small batch of oil paint and then investigate how an artist in the nineteenth century could have stored and transported it.

Click here if you’d like to know how to make paint for preschoolers

A Quick History of Oil Paint in a Tube

John Goffe Rand did not invent oil paint.

Artists had been using pigments mixed with drying oils for centuries. The problem was storage and transportation.

Before collapsible metal tubes, artists prepared oil paint in relatively small quantities and stored it in containers such as animal bladders. These were considerably less convenient than the tubes we know today.

Rand was an American portrait painter working in London when he developed his collapsible metal tube.

His 1841 patent described a metallic container that could collapse under slight pressure, forcing the paint out through an opening. The opening could then be closed to keep air away from the remaining paint.

The National Portrait Gallery records Rand as an artist and inventor of the metallic collapsible paint tube, with patents in London in 1841 and 1842 and a U.S. patent in September 1841.

Artists’ colourmen later adopted and developed the invention, including Winsor & Newton. By the 1840s, collapsible tubes were being marketed for artists’ colours.

This apparently simple invention had enormous consequences.

Instead of preparing and carrying large quantities of paint in cumbersome containers, artists could carry many colours.

That made painting outdoors much more practical.

And that gives children a wonderful historical question to investigate:

Could a simple change to an artist’s equipment actually change the way artists painted?

Before You Start: An Important Safety Note

Making traditional oil paint involves dry pigments, so this part of the activity needs the most care.

Not all artist pigments are suitable for children.

Some traditional pigments contain heavy metals or other hazardous substances. Lead-containing pigments, for example, have a long history in oil painting but present significant health risks.

For a homeschool activity, I recommend using modern, artist-grade pigments labelled as non-toxic and avoiding historical pigments containing lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium, or other hazardous substances.

For children aged 5–10

I would not allow young children to handle loose powdered pigments.

Instead, an adult can prepare the paint, or you can use commercially prepared non-toxic artist pigments/paints for the investigation.

Children can still take part in the mixing, testing, painting and engineering activities.

For older children

Older children can investigate pigment preparation under close adult supervision, but never treat loose pigment like ordinary craft powder.

Use:

• good ventilation
• protective gloves
• eye protection
• appropriate respiratory protection when required by the pigment manufacturer’s safety instructions
• a dedicated work surface
• no food or drink nearby
• careful cleaning afterwards

Always read the manufacturer’s safety information for the particular pigment you are using.

Never assume that a pigment is safe simply because it is labelled ‘natural’ or ‘earth pigment’.

Click on this link if you’d like to see how we made our own medieval tempura paints

What Is Oil Paint?

Oil paint has two basic ingredients:

Pigment

The pigment provides the colour.

Pigments are extremely small particles of coloured material. They can be minerals, synthetic compounds, earth materials or other substances.

Drying oil

The oil acts as the binder.

It holds the pigment particles together and lets the paint spread across a surface.

Linseed oil is the traditional drying oil most strongly associated with artists’ oil paint.

Unlike watercolour, oil paint doesn’t simply dry because water evaporates.

Instead, drying oils react with oxygen in the air and gradually form a solid paint film.

This makes oil paint particularly interesting for children studying chemistry and materials science.

What You Will Need

For a small experimental batch of oil paint:

• a small amount of non-toxic artist pigment
• artist-quality cold-pressed linseed oil or suitable artist’s linseed oil
• glass slab or smooth, non-porous mixing surface
• palette knife
• glass muller, if available
• disposable pipette or dropper
• small palette or mixing dish
• gloves
• eye protection
• suitable apron or old clothing
• labelled storage container or empty artists’ paint tube

For the tube experiment:

• empty, clean artists’ aluminium paint tubes with screw caps
• small palette knife
• filling spatula, if available
• paper towels
• labels

Do not try to manufacture a metal tube from sheet metal with children. Cutting and forming metal creates sharp edges and requires appropriate tools.

Instead, the historical tube activity can investigate how the real tube works.

Read all about John Goffe Rand’s invention of the collapsible metal paint tube by clicking on this link!

How to Make Oil Paint

The basic principle is surprisingly simple:

Pigment + drying oil = oil paint

But getting the proportions right takes experimentation.

You aren’t simply stirring pigment into oil.

The aim is to coat the pigment particles with enough oil to make a smooth, workable paint without making the mixture unnecessarily oily.

Step 1: Place Your Pigment on the Slab

Place a small mound of your chosen non-toxic pigment on your glass slab.

Don’t start with too much.

A small batch is much easier to control.

For younger children, an adult can prepare this stage beforehand.

Step 2: Add a Tiny Amount of Oil

Make a small hollow in the centre of the pigment.

Add just a few drops of linseed oil.

This is where patience becomes important.

It is much easier to add more oil than to rescue paint that’s become excessively oily.

Step 3: Mix With a Palette Knife

Use the palette knife to incorporate the oil into the pigment gradually.

At first, the mixture will probably look:

• dry
• crumbly
• uneven
• perhaps slightly gritty

Keep mixing.

Add another tiny amount of oil when necessary.

Aim for a smooth, cohesive paste.

Step 4: Mull the Paint

This is where the process becomes particularly interesting.

A glass muller is a heavy, flat-bottomed tool used with a glass slab to grind and disperse pigments.

Place a small amount of your mixture on the slab.

Put the muller on top and move it in small circular motions.

You don’t need to use enormous pressure.

The aim is to work the oil through the pigment particles and break up small aggregates.

Continue for several minutes.

Then scrape the paint together with your palette knife.

Mull again.

Repeat.

What Are You Actually Doing?

This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce the idea of particle size.

Imagine having a handful of flour containing tiny lumps.

If you mix it with liquid, you don’t necessarily get a perfectly smooth mixture.

Some particles may remain clumped together.

Pigment behaves similarly.

Mulling helps disperse the pigment through the oil.

This is one reason homemade oil paint can become much smoother after proper grinding.

Step 5: Test Your Paint

Put a small amount of paint on a suitable painting board or prepared canvas.

Try a:

• thin stroke
• thick stroke
• dry-brush stroke
• palette-knife stroke
• very thin transparent layer

Ask:

Does it spread easily?

Does it feel gritty?

Is it too oily?

Is it too stiff?

Does the colour look strong?

Does it leave oily marks around the edges?

This is where children become paint scientists rather than paint users.

How Do You Know When the Paint Is Ready?

No single magical recipe works for every pigment.

Different pigments behave differently.

Your finished paint should be:

• smooth
• cohesive
• easy to spread
• strongly coloured
• neither excessively runny nor excessively stiff

If it is too stiff, add a tiny amount more oil.

If it is too oily, you may have added too much oil.

This is a useful lesson in experimental science:

The first attempt doesn’t have to be perfect. Scientists and artists test, observe, adjust and try again.

Making a Historical-Style Paint Tube

Now we can connect the chemistry to the history.

John Goffe Rand’s great innovation was not inventing oil paint.

It was inventing a much more practical container for preserving and dispensing paint.

His patent described a collapsible metal vessel that could be squeezed to force paint out, then closed to protect what remained.

Modern artists’ tubes work on essentially the same wonderfully simple principle.

Step 6: Prepare Your Paint Tube

Use an empty artist’s aluminium paint tube designed for this purpose.

Make sure it is clean and completely dry.

Don’t attempt to make a tube from an ordinary metal container.

Step 7: Fill the Tube

Using a palette knife or filling tool, carefully transfer the prepared paint into the tube.

Work slowly.

Try not to trap large air pockets.

Leave the manufacturer’s recommended space at the open end to close the tube.

Step 8: Close the Tube

Securely fold or crimp the open end according to the instructions supplied with the tube.

This is an adult task.

Metal edges can be sharp, and children should not experiment with makeshift metal crimping tools.

Once sealed, screw the cap firmly onto the tube.

Step 9: Label It

This is a lovely opportunity for children to design a historical-style artist’s label.

Include:

Colour:
Pigment:
Binder: Linseed oil
Made by:
Date:
Batch:
Notes:

For example:

EARTH RED
Handmade Artists’ Colour
Pigment dispersed in Linseed Oil
Batch No. 01
Made at Home

Older children could design a label inspired by nineteenth-century artists’ colourmen.

Why Did the Tube Matter So Much?

This is the fascinating part of the project.

A tube isn’t particularly exciting on its own.

But consider what happened when artists could squeeze out a little paint, replace the cap and carry the tube with them.

Painting became much more portable.

Artists could take multiple colours outside and work directly from observation.

The collapsible tube was one of several technological developments that supported the growth of outdoor oil sketching.

It is tempting to say that the tube ‘caused Impressionism’, but history is more complicated than that.

It would be better to ask:

How might portable paint have helped artists work differently?

That’s a much better historical question.

How to Make and Tube Your Own Oil Paint: 15 Activities to Extend the Learning

These activities can be adapted for children aged approximately 5–16.

Younger children can focus on sensory exploration, observation and making.

Older children can investigate chemistry, engineering, history and art conservation.

1. Pigment Detective

Give children several safe, labelled pigments.

Ask them to investigate:

• colour
• texture
• opacity
• particle size
• how much oil seems necessary
• how easily the pigment disperses

Create a Pigment Detective Record.

Older children can research where each pigment comes from and whether it is naturally occurring or manufactured.

2. The Perfect Paint Challenge

Make three tiny batches of the same colour.

For example:

A Batch: very little oil
B Batch: medium amount of oil
C Batch: more oil

Paint each onto the same surface.

Compare them.

Which is:

• easiest to spread?
• thickest?
• glossiest?
• strongest in colour?
• most transparent?

Ask:

Can you work out which mixture contains the most oil without being told?

3. Mull It Over

Let older children investigate the effect of mulling.

Make two samples:

Paint A: mixed thoroughly with a palette knife.

Paint B: mixed and then carefully mulled.

Now paint both samples side by side.

Use a magnifying glass to examine them.

Which looks smoother?

Which feels smoother?

This turns an art activity into a materials-science investigation.

4. Design a Better Paint Tube

Imagine you are John Goffe Rand in 1841.

Your problem:

Artists need to transport wet paint without it drying out.

Design a solution.

Children can draw their invention and label:

• container
• opening
• closure
• paint
• air
• pressure
• storage

Older children can explain how their design prevents air from reaching the remaining paint.

5. Build a Cardboard Paint Tube

For younger children, make a model rather than a working metal tube.

Use:

• cardboard
• paper
• tape
• modelling clay
• a paper label

Create a tube that can be squeezed.

Put modelling clay inside it.

Can you design a container that lets the clay be pushed out but doesn’t let it escape when the opening is closed?

This introduces the engineering principle behind the invention without using metal tools.

6. Before Rand / After Rand

Create two artist scenarios.

Artist A: Before the Tube

Imagine you are an artist in 1835.

What would you need to carry?

How would you store your wet paint?

How easy would it be to paint outdoors?

Artist B: After the Tube

Now imagine you have several tubes of prepared paint.

How has your equipment changed?

Which artist has more freedom?

Older children can turn this into a short historical comparison.

7. Paint Like an Outdoor Artist

Set up a simple still life near a window.

Give children a limited palette.

Instead of copying a photograph, ask them to paint what they can actually see.

Younger children can focus on shapes and colours.

Older children can investigate:

• changing light
• shadows
• complementary colours
• colour temperature
• rapid observation

Then ask:

Why would portable paint have been useful for this kind of painting?

8. The Drying Experiment

Put small samples of oil paint onto identical pieces of card or prepared painting surface.

Record:

1st Day

2nd Day

3rd Day

4th Day

5th Day

Observe changes in:

• surface
• gloss
• stickiness
• hardness
• colour

Don’t touch the paint unnecessarily.

Explain that drying oil paint involves oxidation and chemical changes, not just water evaporating.

Older children can research the chemistry of drying oils.

9. What Happens to the Oil?

This is a great science extension.

Ask:

If oil paint doesn’t dry simply because water evaporates, what is happening?

Research:

• oxygen
• oxidation
• polymerisation
• drying oils
• linseed oil
• paint films

Older children can create a diagram showing what happens as liquid oil becomes a solid paint film.

10. Invent an Artist’s Backpack

Imagine you are an artist in 1850.

You need to spend the day painting outdoors.

You can take only ten objects.

What will you choose?

Perhaps:

• paint tubes
• brushes
• palette
• easel
• canvas
• water
• cloth
• sketchbook
• hat
• food

Then remove the tube.

What changes?

This is an excellent way to demonstrate why packaging can influence technology.

11. The Paint Tube Timeline

Create a timeline that begins with traditional methods of storing paint and ends with modern tubes.

Include:

• traditional paint storage
• Rand’s invention
• 1841 patent
• development and commercial manufacture
• portable painting
• nineteenth-century artists
• modern aluminium tubes
• modern plastic tubes

Older children can investigate which parts of the timeline are definitely supported by evidence and which are interpretations.

Rand’s U.S. patent was dated 11 September 1841, while British patents followed in 1841 and 1842.

12. Packaging Through History

Put different containers in chronological order:

animal bladder → glass container/syringe → collapsible metal tube → modern tube

Discuss which is:

• Easiest to transport?
• Easiest to dispense?
• The best protection for the contents?
• Easiest to manufacture?
• The one that produces the least waste?
• The one artists would choose?

Then ask children to invent the paint container of 2050.

13. Artist’s Colour Laboratory

Set up a mini ‘paint laboratory’.

Children can investigate one pigment at a time.

Record:

1st Colour
2nd Colour
3rd Colour

Older children can calculate ratios.

For example:

5 g pigment + 2 g oil

Then compare it with:

5 g pigment + 4 g oil

This introduces simple quantitative investigation.

14. Become an Art Conservator

Once the paint samples have dried, imagine that they are tiny pieces of a centuries-old painting.

What could happen to them over time?

Research:

• yellowing
• cracking
• fading
• dirt
• oxidation
• changes in the binder
• pigment reactions

Oil paintings are complex materials, and conservation scientists study interactions between pigments and drying oils to understand how paintings change as they age.

Older children could write a Conservator’s Report on their sample.

15. Was the Paint Tube a Great Invention?

Finish with a family debate.

One side argues:

The collapsible paint tube was one of the most important inventions in the history of painting.

Whilst the other argues:

The tube was useful, but artists would have developed new ways of working anyway.

Children should support their arguments with evidence.

This is particularly useful for older children because it introduces an important historical skill:

Technology can influence history, but rarely does one invention explain everything.

Click the image below to download a copy of my 15-page activity pack to extend your child’s learning! I hope this is a blessing!

A Challenge for Older Children: Reconstruct the Problem

Give older children the historical problem without telling them about Rand’s invention.

Tell them:

You are an artist in 1840. You have mixed six colours of oil paint. Tomorrow you want to travel several miles from home to paint outdoors. Your paint must remain wet and usable. Design a container.

Give them:

• paper
• cardboard
• clay
• string
• foil
• small containers
• modelling materials

Let them invent a solution.

Only afterwards reveal the historical solution.

Then compare their inventions with Rand’s collapsible tube.

This turns the activity into an engineering design challenge rather than simply a history lesson.

A Note About Oil-Soaked Rags

This is particularly important.

Do not leave rags or paper towels contaminated with drying oils in a pile.

Oil-soaked materials can present a fire risk because some drying oils can undergo heat-producing oxidation and, under the right conditions, contribute to spontaneous combustion. Laboratory safety guidance recommends appropriate disposal/storage of oil-soaked rags and specifically warns against leaving them in piles.

For a homeschool activity:

• use very small quantities
• don’t leave oily cloths crumpled up
• follow your oil manufacturer’s disposal instructions
• keep them away from heaters and flames
• don’t use an oven, hob or open flame to speed drying
• clean the workspace carefully

And, importantly, never clean oil-painting equipment with solvents around young children.

For this project, you don’t need to introduce turpentine or other strong solvents.

What About Historical Pigments?

This is a wonderful rabbit hole for older children, but it’s best explored through research rather than hands-on handling.

Artists throughout history used pigments that we would not choose for a children’s activity today.

Some historical pigments contained substances such as lead or mercury. Lead compounds, for example, are well documented in historical oil painting and have been studied extensively by conservation scientists.

You could give an older child a research question:

Would you have wanted to work in an artist’s studio 200 years ago?

They could investigate historical pigments and compare them with modern, safer alternatives.

This is a brilliant example of how science can change artistic practice.

From Pigment to Paint to Tube

One of the nicest things about this project is that it connects several subjects naturally.

Art

Children make and use their own paint.

Chemistry

They investigate pigments, oils, oxidation and drying.

Physics

They investigate pressure, force and the behaviour of materials.

Engineering

They design and test containers.

History

They investigate John Goffe Rand and nineteenth-century artists.

Geography

They can investigate where historical pigments came from.

Maths

They can measure pigment-to-oil ratios and compare quantities.

Design Technology

They can design and improve a paint tube.

Writing

They can write instructions, laboratory notes or a historical diary.

The Big Question

After completing the activities, return to the original problem:

How can a tiny invention change what people can do?

John Goffe Rand’s collapsible metal tube wasn’t a new type of paint.

It was a new way to store, protect, transport, and dispense paint.

Yet that small change made prepared oil colours considerably more portable and practical for artists.

And that is a wonderful lesson for children.

Sometimes history changes because someone invents an entirely new machine.

Sometimes it changes because someone looks at an everyday problem and thinks:

‘There must be a better way of doing this.’

That is exactly the thinking we want children to practise.

A Final Homeschool Challenge

Give your child an everyday object they use.

Ask them:

What problem does this solve?

How did people solve this problem before it existed?

Could you design a better version?

They may discover that the next great invention doesn’t have to begin with a complicated machine.

It might begin with a tube of paint.