First Post - Jumping in to Oil Painting Techniques

Hello and Welcome! This is my first post on a fresh new blog to log my journey in art and illustration.

First things first. Here are some portraits I worked on in 2024. Below, the first two are oil paint and the last is watercolor. I share a larger image of my favorite (that's why he's part of my blog banner 😄). What I like most is the color variation I achieved in his flesh tones. The image of this gentleman was found on Pinterest and I think I searched "100 Faces Challenge".
I took one oil painting class in college. Years later I ordered "All About Techniques in Oil" to learn more. I've flipped through it every now and again, but this year I decided to make a list of techniques I want to try.
I made a list with page numbers (and other things I want to try) on a Rolodex sheet. I also prepped some other Rolodex papers to try the techniques on so I can look back on the lessons. They just ended up different heights so I placed them accordingly.
Below are pages of my first lessons - grading with oil and white and creating value with black and white. I really enjoyed creating the values, but grading with oil was difficult. The book said it was one of the hardest techniques.
I really enjoy the process working with oil paint. It's such a forgiving medium and I feel far more relaxed than I do while working with watercolor. But I won't give up watercolor, of course. It's great for Artist Trading Card size paintings! But now, I'll press on to the next thing I'd like to try from my Rolodex oil painting techniques list.