blog

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.

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.

TL;DR

For me the risk that a mistake could destroy an almost finished painting overrides the potential beauty of this medium.

The Bad

• Lack of Control: Unlike acrylics or oils, watercolor is driven by the water. It flows, bleeds and does what it wants. Achieving sharp, precise details requires immense skill and planning.
• Difficult to Correct Mistakes: There is no undo in watercolor. Once a dark value is laid down or a color bleeds where it shouldn't, it's difficult to fix. Lifting paint with water or a sponge can work, but it often leaves a "ghost" of the original stain and can damage the paper surface.
• Mud, Mud, Mud: Overworking the painting (going over an area too many times) causes colors to mix directly on the paper instead of optically. This often results in dull, muddy and murky colors instead of clean, vibrant ones.
• Timing is Everything: Watercolor has distinct "stages" (wet, damp, dry). The effects you get depend entirely on the wetness of the paper and brush. Miss that perfect moment of dampness for a soft blend and you're left with a hard, unintended edge.
• Expensive, High-Quality Materials are a Must:
  • Paper is King: You cannot use just any paper. Cheap, thin paper will buckle, pill, and not allow for proper lifting or layering. 100% cotton paper is the gold standard and is significantly more expensive.
  • Pigment Quality: Student-grade paints often use fillers and less pigment, making colors appear chalky and less vibrant. Professional paints are a major investment.
• The Buckling Paper Problem: Even with good paper, applying a lot of water (a "wash") will cause the paper to buckle and warp as it dries. This requires stretching the paper beforehand (a tedious process) or using a block, which is more expensive.
• Preserving Whites: Unlike other mediums where you add white paint at the end, in watercolor, you must plan to save the white of the paper from the very beginning. This requires thinking in negative space and can be mentally taxing. Using masking fluid can help but is messy and can tear the paper if not removed carefully.
• Opacity and Layering Limitations: Watercolor is inherently transparent. It's very difficult to paint a light color over a dark one. This means you must work from light to dark, which is a reverse way of thinking for many artists. There is no covering up a mistake with a fresh layer of paint.
• Not Ideal for All Subjects: Its fluid, ethereal nature makes it less suited for subjects that require high detail, heavy texture or many opaque corrections (no to photorealistic portraits or impasto-style landscapes).
• Long Drying Times: While faster than oils, you still have to wait for a layer to dry completely before applying the next one in order to avoid colors bleeding into each other. This can slow down the painting process.
• A Steep Learning Curve: The gap between what a beginner envisions and what appears on the paper is often vast and discouraging. It requires patience and a willingness to embrace "happy accidents" rather than fight them.
• Fragility of Finished Work: Watercolor paintings are more vulnerable. They can fade if not framed under UV-protective glass, and they are susceptible to water damage if they get wet again.

The Good

Unique and Unpredictable Aesthetic

This is arguably the biggest draw. Watercolor has a life of its own.

• Luminosity and Transparency: Unlike opaque paints like acrylic or oil, watercolor is transparent. The white of the paper shines through the pigments, creating a glowing, light-filled effect that is almost impossible to replicate with other mediums.
• Fluidity and Flow: The way colors blend and bleed into each other on wet paper creates soft edges, beautiful gradients and "happy accidents" that can be magical.
• The "Bloom" Effect: When a drop of wet paint or clean water is added to a damp wash, it creates organic, feathery shapes called "blooms" or "cauliflowers." These are often seen as flaws by beginners but are cherished by experienced artists for their textural beauty.

Practical and Accessible Nature

• Portability and Quick Setup: A basic watercolor kit is incredibly compact. A small palette, a couple of brushes, a water bottle and a pad of paper are all you need. You can paint outdoors (en plein air), on your lunch break, or while traveling with minimal fuss. There's no need for solvents, palette knives or extensive cleanup.
• Fast Drying Time: Watercolor dries very quickly. This allows you to work rapidly, build up layers in a single session and easily correct mistakes (by rewetting and lifting paint) without waiting days for a layer to dry.
• Relatively Low Cost to Start: While professional-grade materials can be expensive, you can get a good beginner's set-up for a reasonable price, making it one of the most accessible art forms.

Challenging yet Rewarding Process

Watercolor is often called "the master medium" because it teaches you patience and planning.

• Teaches You to Let Go: Its unpredictable nature forces you to embrace imperfection and chance. You learn to work with the medium rather than trying to control it completely. This can be an excellent lesson in mindfulness and acceptance.
• Forward Planning and Patience: Since it's difficult to cover up mistakes with opaque paint, you must think in reverse — painting from light to dark and reserving the white of the paper for your brightest highlights. This teaches strategic thinking and patience.
• A Sense of Achievement: Mastering a difficult technique, like a perfect graded wash or a controlled wet-on-wet application, brings a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
• Mindfulness: Mixing colors, watching the paint flow across the paper and focusing on the brushstrokes pulls you into the present moment. It’s a form of active meditation that can reduce stress and anxiety.
• Connection to the Elemental: There's a primal, simple pleasure in working with just pigment, water and paper. It feels direct and elemental.
• A Break from Perfectionism: Because it's so fluid, watercolor naturally resists hyper-realism and tight control. It encourages a more loose, expressive and interpretive style, which can be a liberating break for people who feel pressured to be perfect.

Styles

It can be used for loose, impressionistic sketches, highly detailed botanical illustrations, vibrant urban sketches and even bold, graphic works.

Techniques

You can achieve a range of effects:

• Wet-on-Wet: For soft, dreamy blends.
• Wet-on-Dry: For sharp edges and detail.
• Dry Brush: For textured, scratchy effects.
• Lifting: To correct mistakes or create highlights.
• Layering (Glazing): To build depth and complexity of color.