Oils or Acrylic?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Acrylic painting versus oil painting. What is the difference? Acrylics dry quickly and can be used straight from the tube, or diluted with water or other medium, and used like watercolors. Often a spray bottle is used to spray a fine mist over the paint on the palette in order to keep it moist. Because acrylics dry so fast, more layers can be added immediately and the painting easily modified as it develops.Oils can also be used directly from the tube or thinned with a variety of mediums. Mixing one color with another can be more easily achieved with oils than with acrylics because of the slow drying time. Oils can be applied thinly or very thickly, and with a brush or palette knife. More layers can be added to modify the painting, but only after the previous layer is dry. Oils take much longer to dry than acrylics and then a variety of finishes can be applied.
For the artist, it is a matter of preference as to which medium to use. For the buyer, it is all about acquiring a piece of work that (s)he likes.