New to Oil Painting

Almondmilk

Hi! 
My husband and I would like to take up Oil Painting as a hobby and I wondered if anyone could recommend somewhere to buy decent low cost equipment, or maybe starter sets?  I did order some stuff from Ebay a few months ago but when it arrived it was really low quality and it kind of put us off as we thought that getting any kind of a decent set that we could seriously use would be really expensive. 
Thanks in advance for any help! 

tacpot12

I would suggest that you find your local art supplies store and go to them for advice (and with a budget in mind). They should be able to help you find a good starter set and suppliment this with the other essential items. If you mention that they are your local store and therefore you would expect to become regular customers, this should mean that they will not take advantage of you. They might also have a handle on where there are local classes that might help you make progress as you are learning.  

Brie

Seriously I would suggest you try acrylics or water colour instead.  And maybe those only after you take a course in drawing unless you have a natural gift for it.  

Whatever medium you start with if you go to a local art supply you should be able to get something to try. 

Even a place like Hobbycraft (not my first choice but I don't know where you are) do a nice small set of paints for a reasonable price.  Windsor and Newton are a well known quality brand.  And while you would both need your own brushes/palette knife you can certainly share your tubes of paint.

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/winsor--newton-oil-colour-tubes-21ml-6-pack/646640-1000

I believe that Cotman is their slightly cheaper brand but still quite good.  That's what I buy for watercolour.

Daler Rowney is another well known brand.

And should you be able to find a class that you can attend I have found that other students are very willing to share a bit if you are missing a certain shade that would be difficult to work without.

And if you are in London and want a completely delightful experience with enough colour to overwhelm all your senses I recommend a visit to Cornelissen.  But you might want to leave your wallet at home.  It's a bit expensive but oh so very very tempting!!!

https://www.cornelissen.com/oils/oil-primers-and-sealers.html

(personally I can't wait for this plague to be over so I can return to classes - I really really miss them)
 

twopenny

I would never buy a set. It never has all that you want once you start. Buy individually.

There are a minium group of colours that you need that you can mix the colours you want so you either need to get stuck into some reading, books preferably as online can be promoting stuff.

A short course would be enlightening about how to start and how to work with colour and paint. You need to get going on this pdq as the courses start in September - though you may find one that starts in January.

Have you practised finding pictures you want to copy so that you have an idea of colour? Also practise sketching those pictures.

What you paint on will make a difference too.

I say this because it will influence your decision on what colours you use.

I'd also go for the better quality paints like Windsor Newton. They are more stable in colour for a beginner and will give you more encouraging results even though they cost more. You shouldn't need more than half a dozen to start

Almondmilk

Thank you so much for all the advise, very useful!  I have heard lots about the Windsor Newton paints when doing my research so will consider that in the future. 
I actually ended up going to the works online on the advise of my husband and managed to get literally everything + 2 easels from ebay for a total of about £60.  It is all super cheap (but with decent reviews) so not the best but really wanted to get a feel of if we were even into it.  We have just been watching Bob Ross tutorials for ages, we love them so we decided to actually be constructive and follow along rather than sit in front of the TV! 
Will let you know how we get on! 

Chloe_G

Oil paint is my favourite medium but I tend to use acrylics quite a lot because it's just easier to be able to clean everything with soap and water rather than white spirit type solvents.  If I had the luxury of a studio where  I could leave all my equipment out, I'd use oil a lot more.  If you are beginners I would stick with acrylics for a while because you will probably achieve results just as good as oils.

FireDove

Hi, I have just seen this. I would recommend looking on auction sites like Ebay and Gumtree for job lots of artist materials. I have bought some fantastic used oil paints that way. I once bought a lady's collection of art supplies; she had given up art for cake making.