Acrylics vs. Oils
Theo
I am not very experienced with doing paintings. Most of my artwork is
sketches or computer generated.
I am wanting to try my hand at "painting" figures and scenes . Any one
know which is best for that type of painting. Oils or acrylics? Also can
some one tell me the pros and cons of both.
--
Theo
Theo Art - Gallery of another world
http://www.world-net.net/users/theo/Theo_Art.htm
.Knowledge Is Power.
On Mon, 26 Jan 1998 17:42:18 -0600, Theo <th...@world-net.net> wrote:
>I am not very experienced with doing paintings. Most of my artwork is
>sketches or computer generated.
>I am wanting to try my hand at "painting" figures and scenes . Any one
>know which is best for that type of painting. Oils or acrylics? Also can
>some one tell me the pros and cons of both.
Here's my opinion...
Work with acrylics first for awhile ... then try some oils...
only you will find whats best for you. You might like the plastic
feel/look with the acrylics with your figures and scenes. or vice
versa... As for me... I like both ... when I paint with acrylics, I
usually do really nice modern-bizarre paintings... i like the way it
dry's (pretty fast). Then there are times when I paint with oils ...
i'll paint old traditional paintings or my own work that i just
rendered off the computer... (which i can always stop with what i'm
doing and paint again with nice blends a week later). So depending on
what YOU want to create will help YOU decide between oils and
acrylics. If this doesnt help ... try this website:
Kip
Nicholas Berry
Hi Theo (and anyone interested)
It would be difficult to say which is the best medium to paint figures and
scenes because a lot has to do with personal preference.
Personally having used both I tend to find Oil paint better for most things
than acrylic. When I was in art college some time ago we had to use acrylics
on one course that I went on and I did get quite used to them. They are good
for working outside or on the move because paintings dry so quickly you can
carry work about without ruining it. However, I find the fact that acrylics
dry quickly is sometimes a problem, you have to work over stuff if you want
to make alterations. This is fine if you have been working quite thin
(something which is advisable in the early stages of a painting),but can be
a nightmare if you have laid the paint on a bit thick. Sometimes sandpaper
or even an electric sander are useful tools for the painter to have.
pressing Cntrl Z doesn't seem to work in real life, I致e tried it on
numerous occasions. The Other thing that I don't personally like about
acrylics is the feel it has on the brush it just doesn't flow the same as
Oil. Blood may be thicker than water, but water is thicker than turps.
However, saying all this about acrylics they can be very useful. Used very
thinly and built up carefully, and because the lower layers of a work dry
quickly you don't have to stop working in order to wait for things to dry it
is therefore possible to finish a work in one go. In many ways they can be
used a bit like egg Tempera. (Some of the old Masters used Egg Tempera in
the underpainting stages of their oil paintings, I believe Van Eyck did and
possibly Vermeer and is how they got that pearl like quality)
These days I tend to use oil paint myself. Mainly because I like the way it
flows and because it is easy to make interesting marks. Oil paint always
seems to have a living quality, you dip a brush in the paint place a mark on
a canvas and that single mark has a whole universe of possibilities. Do the
same with acrylic and very often you have something that looks dead and you
have to work hard to bring it to life.
So generally I would say I prefer oil Paint. It also works out much cheaper
to use because Oil paints even used quite thick just seems to go further. Of
course the main disadvantage with oil paint is that it takes a while to dry.
However, there are mediums that you can use instead of Linseed Oil that make
things dry much better. I always use LIQUIN which is made by Windsor and
Newton, This makes most oil paint dry within 24 hrs (as long as it isn't too
thick). In fact if you use something like this and paint thinly the drying
isn't really a disadvantage at all and the paint will stay workable for the
time you are working on it. The thing is even with oil paint there is a
choice of oil or resin mediums you can use to tailor the way it dries to
your preferences/style. For example some people like to use poppy Oil
because it takes forever to dry, but their style demands this. I am given to
believe some of the Impressionists used poppy Oil for this reason.
Well I hope this is helpful and gives some insight into the pros and cons.
At the end of the day the medium one chooses depends on personal preference
and style. The only way to really find out which best suits you best is to
try them all. One good thing about oil paint is that you can always work
over something started in acrylic, so if you try acrylics first you may find
it a good way to learn about both. (NB its not a good idea to paint acrylic
over oil).
Nick Berry
My own pictures and other stuff can be seen at;
http://www.artberry.demon.co.uk/
Theo wrote in message <34CD1F5A...@world-net.net>...
>I am not very experienced with doing paintings. Most of my artwork is
>sketches or computer generated.
>I am wanting to try my hand at "painting" figures and scenes . Any one
>know which is best for that type of painting. Oils or acrylics? Also can
>some one tell me the pros and cons of both.
>