Why are oil paints considered to be better than acrylics?

Answer 1

Snob appeal! Acrylics just came about in the 1960’s while oil paintings have been around for centuries. I myself find no difference in the quality of an oil painting or an acrylic painting. Acrylic paint can be just as rich looking and have nice texture as oils.

Answer 2

The oil paintings have been around for 500 years, so it is about 500 years longer than acrylics. there is a mystique around the oil paints also people know them.
But when you think if they are better, The finish work looks better, but the process is more difficult because of the slow drying time. I think it was Rembrandt that tried to put his paintings over the fire place to dry them faster and the paint would run. Imagine would would happen if he could paint with acrylics when he would have the drying time of about an hour.
Lot of artists now start with acrylic pain and finish with oils when they build their paintings because that cuts their painting time considerably, and you can paint oil over acrylic.
also acrylic pigments were tested and are guarantied for like 10000 years.

Answer 3

Oil paints are valued for their permanance, vibrant colors, and long drying time. Oil, as a plant product, is relatively stable, providing that it is kept under reasonable climate controls and out of excessive sunlight. Oil paints produce more vibrant colors than acrylics because they use oil. The oil reflects light hitting the painting far better than acrylics can. This is why a Vermeer or Rembrandt still appears to glow, centuries after it was painted. The long drying time of oils is desirable because it allows for subtle mixing of colors on the canvas. Oil paints also look better than acrylics because more pigment can be suspended in oil than in acrylic medium. The darkening in older oil paintings is not due to the painting itself, but to the varnish on top of the paint, which has darkened. Layers of varnish, applied over centuries, can cause soot to be trapped in the varnish, and make the painting even darker.

Acrylic paints, because they are made from plastic, are more prone to fading and changes in color with time. They dry more quickly, which makes it more difficult to mix colors. They are easier to work with when beginning, are much cheaper and less messy than oils. They produce decent results, but for some applications, only the beauty of oil paints will do.

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Answer 4

The art of painting with oil paints is much more tedious than acrylics, so to obtain a good picture, the artist has labored. The depth of the piece is also a factor to be considered. With oil paint, you can give the work movement, in a way.

Answer 5

They are more interesting to paint with, capable of much richer and varied effects than acrylics. They do require study and practice, because different pigments can interact with others over time, and there are significant differences between different brands. But this also means an oil painting, reasonably well handled, can "grow" as the paint settles and dries, over say six months, giving it a life of its own no other medium can match.

Answer 6

They allow for easier revision as it takes 30+ years for them to fully dry. Acrylics are just gooey latex paint, which dries inside a couple of hours. Undiluted oils are a little more opaque, latex is somewhat translucent.

Oils are more expensive and the pigments are more resistant to fading. Acrylic is generally cheaper and you have to check the label carefully to find out how fade resistant the colors are, assuming it's professional grade stuff, if not it's a crap shoot.

Oils don't substantially lighten or darken as they dry, acrylic paints usually shift in lightness or darkness markedly. It requires a pretty high degree of expertise to get the desired color/tone balance, and even then, just changing brands can be enough to throw someones mixing sense off.

Answer 7

I think some paints may be damaged by water, but oil paints don't

Answer 8

Oil paints
-have nicer visual texture
-are better to work with,
-are more expensive therefore more rare,
-seem more authentic,
-are richer-looking.

Answer 9

because its more difficult to paint with oils, and because its harder most ppl deem there to be more skill involved with oil painting

Answer 10

they are not necessarily better but take longer to dry and are harder to work with so painting with them takes more skill