Hi there, I think there are a number of truths in the many answers to my post - thanks all. I’m sure the general public believe oil to be the best medium to use… I mean, I have never heard the expression, ‘she/he is no acrylic painting’. So oil seems to win hands down with the public.
I think if you like to blend your paint then oil is definitely a good choice. I am not keen on blending, I like to see discrete areas of tone or colour.
When I took up painting again, after many years, I may well have continued painting with oil, but limited space (and a partner with a super human sense of smell…she could work for the police) meant I would have to use acrylics.
Painting with acrylic was really hard when I started and I was getting very frustrated…I even posted my frustration here.
To cut a long story short for some reason I recently started to think that I was disadvantaging myself using acrylic, and ironically at a time when I believe I am beginning to master acrylics…silly I know. When painting with acrylic I have always tried to mimic oil.
Being enthralled with Carol Marine’s painterly brushwork I initially couldn’t approach her look with acrylic. I did get a fairly close match eventually seen here. But a soon realised my own style was always trying to push through…it’s still trying to push through. Simplicity and a touch of abstraction is what I crave.
Okay, so I bought water miscible oil paint to try last weekend, and I hated them…nothing to do with them being water miscible. So now I am thinking do I really want to take the time to learn oils? No not really, I have invested to much time learning acrylic (and I even wonder if water miscible oil is looked down on a tad). So I’m sticking with acrylic paint, I believe they have huge potential for creativity with their quick drying time. And it’s always fun when you add a coat of varnish when finished with a painting, the dark colours deepen and the colours become vibrant.
The bottom line is there just seems to be more artists on this site that paint with oil. Today there are 1196 paintings on this site, opposed to 446 acrylic.
Of course it ultimately boils down to, have you painted a good painting in the end.
I wish everyone to enjoy their medium of choice and please don’t have a wobbly with their confidence like I had. Whatever you are using, push it as far as it can go…and have fun of course.
For me…I’m championing acrylics with new vigour.