Thursday, August 9, 2018

Renaissance Acrylic Paintings Versus Oil Paintings

By George Ward


When you are a novice at painting, you will need to choose between acrylic and oil paintings. Picking a medium need not be hard if you understand your abilities. Each of the mediums has its pros and cons. Here, the article looks at the reasons why you may end up doing Renaissance acrylic paintings instead of the oil paintings.

Historically, it was only possible to paint on wood, canvas, or frescos. Today, you can work on any surface thanks to acrylic. Therefore, if you want a versatile medium, then acrylic is the solution. It provides quality on different grounds as long as it is not glass. Oil allows you to work well with wood and primed canvas; hence, limiting your options.

Your speed of painting is also an essential factor. If at all you are a quick painter, you need a medium that dries fast enough to allow you to revise your work. Acrylic dries faster than oil; hence, good for a fast painter. Oil may be good for you in case you are slow and will not mind factoring in some time for priming the canvas.

Whatever your preference is between hard lines and subtle blends plays part in the decision you make. If at all you are a person of graphic composition, then acrylic will be your medium of choice for it will dry fast and allow you time to rework. However, when you consider the blending of colors, the oil may be better in this, but you have to wait longer for it to dry.

If at all you are concerned about color shift, then you ought to be careful on the paint of choice. With acrylics, you can somehow be sure that your painting will look the same some years to come since it is made with high technology designs. On the other hand, oil paintings contain binder that makes the painting appear yellow with time. The polymer in acrylics prevents this, but the work may get darker as it dries when the white binder gets clearer.

The thickness you want with your work will also dictate what medium to use. When you want to make thicker layers in the painting, you will need to use acrylics since it dries faster allowing you to add the glaze. Nevertheless, you can still go for oil if you are ready to wait until the paint dries to add the glaze, which may take a few days.

In case you have to do with a small workspace or around children, then acrylics would work better for you. This is because it does not smell. Similarly, it is not toxic and is easy to clean with water. The thinners and turpentine in oil produce some bad fumes.

Of much essence in picking the right medium is time. When you have little time to work on your painting, then you will go for the paint for the sake of drying faster. If you can wait for days especially when working on thick paintings, you may go for oil, which takes time to dry. Consider your preferences.




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