TL;DR
A major upside of oil painting is that its long history gives it an aura of professionalism that other media do not have. That can increase the perceived value of a painting. However, the toxicity and clean up aspects are too much of a concern for me to go this route.
The Bad
Long Drying Time
This is the most famous characteristic and its biggest double-edged sword.
- Slow Workflow: A layer of oil paint can take days, weeks or even months to dry completely. This makes it difficult to work quickly, create multiple paintings in a short time or make quick corrections.
- Vulnerability: Wet paintings are vulnerable to dust, pet hair and accidental smudging, requiring careful storage while they dry.
Toxicity and Fumes
This is the most serious health concern.
- Solvents: Traditional solvents like turpentine and mineral spirits are used for cleaning brushes and thinning paint. Their fumes are toxic, can cause dizziness, headaches and long-term exposure is linked to organ damage. They are also highly flammable.
- Pigments: Some pigments themselves are toxic (e.g., those containing lead, cadmium or cobalt). Inhaling dust from sanding a dry painting or getting paint on your skin can be hazardous.
- Ventilation is a Must: You cannot safely use these materials in a small, unventilated room. This makes it impractical for many home studios.
- Note: Many artists now use odorless mineral spirits (OMS) for solvents and wear gloves, but caution is still required.
Complexity and Learning Curve
Oil painting has a steep learning curve due to its "fat over lean" rule.
- Fat Over Lean: Each subsequent layer of paint must contain more oil than the one beneath it. If you don't follow this rule, the painting can crack, peel, or not dry properly over time.
- Technical Knowledge: Understanding mediums, drying times and layering techniques requires more initial study compared to more straightforward paints like acrylics.
Cost and Materials
Oil painting is generally more expensive than other forms of painting.
- Paints: High-quality artist-grade oil paints are significantly more expensive than student-grade acrylics or watercolors.
- Brushes and Surfaces: While you can use many of the same brushes, you also need to invest in solvents, mediums, proper palettes and prepared surfaces (canvas, wood panels) that are primed for oil.
- Ongoing Costs: Solvents and mediums need to be replenished regularly.
Cleanup and Maintenance
The cleanup process is more involved and messier.
- Messy Cleanup: You can't just rinse brushes in water. They require scrubbing with soap and water after being cleaned in solvent.
- Disposal: You can't pour used solvent down the drain. It needs to be disposed of properly as hazardous waste, often by letting the paint particles settle and decanting the clear solvent for reuse.
Practical Inconveniences
- Space: You need a dedicated, well-ventilated space that can be left undisturbed for long periods.
- Portability: It's not an easy "plein air" (outdoor) painting medium unless you are well-prepared with a portable easel and safe containers for solvents.
- Curing Time: Even when a painting is dry to the touch, it can take 6 months to a year to fully "cure" before it can be safely varnished.
The Good
Unparalleled Blendability and Workability
This is arguably the greatest advantage of oil paint.
- Slow Drying Time: Unlike the drawback for some, this is a huge benefit for the painting process. The paint stays wet and workable for days, allowing you to blend colors directly on the canvas.
The long, open working time allows for a more contemplative and flexible process.
You can step back, think about your composition for hours or even days and then re-enter the painting to make changes without the paint skinning over.
- Wet-on-Wet & Layering: You can work alla prima (all at once, wet-on-wet) for expressive pieces, or use the classic layered approach (fat over lean) for highly detailed and durable works.
- Easy Corrections: Mistakes can be easily wiped away with a rag and solvent while the paint is wet, or scraped down and painted over once dry.
- Seamless Gradients: You can create incredibly soft, smooth transitions between colors and tones — perfect for realistic skin, skies and subtle shadows. This is much harder to achieve with fast-drying acrylics.
- Rich, Luminous Color and Depth Oil paints are famous for their color quality.
- High Pigment Load: They are rich in pigment, producing intense, vibrant colors.
- Translucency and Glazing: Oil paint can be thinned to transparent glazes. By layering these glazes, light passes through and reflects off the lower layers, creating a depth and luminosity that is difficult to replicate with opaque paints. It’s the same principle as stained glass.
- Buttery Consistency: The thick, buttery texture holds brushstrokes and palette knife marks perfectly, adding a physical, textural depth to the work.
- Versatility and Range of Effects You can achieve almost any look with oils.
- Range from Thin to Thick: You can use it thin and fluid for washes (like watercolor) or thick and textural for impasto techniques (like buttery acrylics, but with more body).
- Control Over Finish: By using different mediums, you can make the paint matte, satin or glossy.
- Textural and Three-Dimensional Qualities
- Impasto: The thick consistency of oil paint is perfect for building up textured, expressive surfaces that catch the light and add a physical presence to the artwork. This texture is often more pronounced and buttery than what can be achieved with acrylics.
Durability and Longevity
A properly executed oil painting is incredibly durable.
- Proven Track Record: We have oil paintings from the Renaissance that are still vibrant and intact today. The paint film is flexible and strong as it ages.
- Resistant to Yellowing: Unlike some acrylic varnishes, modern synthetic oil painting varnishes are non-yellowing and can be removed for cleaning without affecting the paint layer.