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TL;DR

There are a lot of advantages to acrylics:

• You can blend variants of the medium to emulate watercolor or oil.
• You can use fluid and pour techniques unique to acrylics.
• You can correct mistakes over and over — even sanding down a painting creates interesting effects.
• You can create interesting effects with metalics and interference colors.

For me these advantages outweigh the minor working issues and the lack of respect for the medium.

This painting uses several techniques, including controlled fluid/pours and metalic paints:

The Bad

Dries Extremely Fast

This is the #1 complaint for most artists.

• Blending is Difficult: The "open time" (the period you can manipulate the paint) is very short. It can be frustrating when you're trying to create soft, seamless gradients (like in a sky or a portrait) and the paint starts to form sticky "skin" or dries completely on your palette. You can use an extender to extend the open time. However, estimating the amount of extender to use is a skill in itself.
• Wastes Paint: Paint can dry on the palette before you've had a chance to use it, leading to waste. You often need to use a "stay-wet" palette to combat this.
• Hard to Re-work: Once it's dry, it's plastic. You can't re-activate it with water or solvent to make corrections like you can with watercolor or oils.

Color Shift When Drying

Acrylics dry darker than they appear when wet.

• Unpredictable Results: This can make color matching very tricky. A perfect mix when wet can dry to a muddy or different-looking hue, forcing the artist to anticipate the shift or apply multiple layers.

Plastic, Flat Finish

The binder in acrylics is a polymer emulsion (essentially, plastic).

• Lack of Luminosity: Unlike oil paint, which can have a deep, translucent and luminous quality, acrylics often have a more matte, flat and sometimes "chalky" appearance. While you can use mediums to create glazes, it's harder to achieve the same optical depth as Old Master oil techniques.
• Physical Feel: The dried paint has a plastic-like feel, which some artists dislike compared to the more organic feel of oil or tempera.

Adhesion and Delamination

While acrylic paint is durable and flexible, improper application can lead to problems.

• Peeling: If applied in a very thick, buttery layer (like impasto) without consideration for the flexibility of the paint film, it can crack or peel over time, especially if the support (canvas) flexes.
• Non-Porous Seal: Once dry, acrylic creates a waterproof, non-porous layer. This means painting over it requires a new layer to mechanically grip the previous one, whereas oil paint layers fuse together chemically.

Challenges with Varnishing

Varnishing is more critical and time-sensitive with acrylics.

• Necessary but Tricky: Acrylic paintings are more susceptible to dust sticking to the surface while painting and can be harder to clean without a protective varnish. However, you must wait for the painting to be completely cured (not just dry to the touch, which can take weeks), otherwise, the varnish can cause clouding or adhesion issues.

Less "Prestige" in Certain Circles

• "Modern" Medium: Acrylics have only been widely available since the 1950s. In some traditional or academic fine art circles, they are still viewed as a "lesser" or "student-grade" medium compared to the centuries-old history and technique of oil painting.

The Good

Incredible Versatility

Acrylics can mimic the behavior of other paints or create unique effects.

• Paint like Oils: Use heavy body acrylics with a retarder to mimic the thick, buttery texture and blending of oil paints.
• Paint like Watercolors: Dilute them with water to create transparent washes and watercolor effects.
• Create Unique Styles: The plastic polymer base allows for textures and techniques impossible with other media.

Fast Drying Time

While a challenge for blending, this is an advantage for many techniques.

• Work Quickly: You can build up layers (glazing) in minutes instead of waiting days or weeks for oils to dry. This allows for a much faster workflow.
• No Smudging: Once a layer is dry, it's permanent. You can paint over it immediately without worrying about muddying the colors or smudging the underlayer.
• Ideal for Mixed Media: You can quickly paint a background, let it dry and then add ink, pencil, pastel or collage on top without a long wait.

Ease of Use and Accessibility

• Water-Soluble: You can clean your brushes and palette with just soap and water. No need for harsh, smelly solvents like turpentine or mineral spirits, making it safer for home studios, children and people with sensitivities.
• Affordable: Student-grade acrylics are very affordable, making it a cost-effective medium for beginners, students and practice.
• Forgiving: If you make a mistake, you can just paint over it once it's dry. It's much more forgiving than watercolor.

Durability and Permanence

• Water-Resistant When Dry: Once cured, acrylic paint is waterproof and incredibly resilient. An acrylic painting won't be damaged by a splash of water.
• Flexible: The polymer film is flexible, so it's less likely to crack over time compared to old oil paintings, especially when used on flexible surfaces like canvas.
• Lightfast: High-quality artist-grade acrylics have excellent lightfastness, meaning the colors are resistant to fading over time.

Vivid, Bold Colors

Acrylics are known for their intense, vibrant hues. They retain their brightness well when dry (unlike oils which can yellow slightly over time) and offer a wide range of modern, saturated colors. And new options are being added:

• Metalics: A range of sparkling gold, silver and copper tones (made from mica flakes).
• Interference Colors: Delicate colors that change depending on the angle of light.

Adheres to Almost Anything

You can paint with acrylics on a huge variety of surfaces:

• Traditional: Canvas, wood panels, paper.
• Non-Traditional: Fabric, pottery, metal, stone, plastic (with proper preparation). This makes them perfect for not just fine art, but also for crafts, furniture renovation and DIY projects.

Wide Range of Mediums

You can radically alter the behavior and finish of acrylic paint with additives:

• Gels & Pastes: Create thick impasto textures, add body, or create transparent glazes.
• Modeling Paste: Build up 3D textures on the canvas.
• Retarders: Slow the drying time for better blending.
• Pouring Mediums: Create fluid art and cell-like effects.
• Varnishes: Choose from matte, satin or gloss finishes to unify and protect the final piece.