Which painting medium do you prefer to work with and why?

Question

Oil? Acrylic? Watercolor? Ever switched from one to another? Why? Good points and drawbacks of each?

Answer 1

My all time favorite mediums are scratchboard and watercolor. When I was a kid I worked mainly in acrylic. I did oil for a while, but I HATED it. Still do. It takes too long to dry, and I hate the fact you have to baby sit the colors so much. Constantly worrying about lean on dry and what colors mix was too much work. Acrylics are much more simple to use, but the colors are waterproof and permanent when dry. That's not so bad when I do stuff like Pantens and decorations for alters. Plus they dry fast and you can treat them like permanent water color if you water them down. I love gloss acrylic medium. Makes everything very transparent. I LOVE glazing ^.^ .

I've tried gouache. Too opaque on its own, but perfect for body color. I also hate how the colors bleed. I love charcoal and pencil because it is so easy to manipulate and create dazzling highlights. I adore Conte more than charcoal but less than pencil. It's not so easy to create highlights by scratching or erasing, but it makes awesome effects when you use white conte on rough paper. I gave my sister an orangutan done in conte on illustration board with a cold pressed surface. She snapped it up in an instant ^.^ . I didn't have to ask her if she wanted it !

I've since moved onto watercolor. Like acrylic, it dries fast, but what I like more about watercolor is that you can go time and time again to the old colors. You can finish something off months after you started it. With acrylics, I had to mix the same blinking color every session and I used a lot of paint trying to get it done. Plus I find I do my best work with mediums that I can manipulate in the moment of inspiration. I find watercolor is perfect to fix with pencil crayons or with a B pencil. I can then do highlights with white conté. I can't do that with acrylics unless they're watered down and oils dry too slow to do that at all.

Scratchboard is a new medium and technique for me. I LOVE it! For those who have never heard of it - it's a piece of board or thick paper coated in clay then sprayed over with India ink. You go in with a special tool or knife and scratch out your image. It works much like pen does. To add color, I go in with watercolor then spray a waterproofing medium over everything. It's not quick, but it gives me the same ability to manipulate the art and not worry about mixing colors that dried months ago! If I want highlights, I can scratch the watercolor away. If I make a mistake, I can go in with a dab of India ink and patch up the mess. Simple! You can leave it in black or white, or you can add color. Apparently you can buy ink covered foil. The image underneath comes up gold or silver depending on the foil.

I'd love to try marker once day. I hear it has wonderful flexibility though the colorfastness of the colors suck. Maybe I'll wait a few more years and see if a new technology that prevents that rears its head. You never know what will happen in the art world ^.^

Answer 2

It's been a while, but for a while I settled on ALKYD. They're oil-based, but they dry overnight so you can glaze or go over it without its bleeding through. It has the flexibility of oil without the fast drying of acrylic. Besides, acrylic tends to be a little too even. Although I've used acrylic ON TOP of watercolor to nice effect (the problem with it may be you'll glue your watercolor to the board). In any event, it's all a creative process and I'm sure you'll be answering your own question. See if you can get a computer to take the work out of it like some people...

Answer 3

I like acrylics. I can use them thick on canvas or thin them for watercolor. There are also special thickeners you can use to make a really thick, almost sculptural, effect. Acrylic paint tends to be cheaper than oil. They are often brighter because they use synthetic pigments, which many people like. However, some people prefer oils because they are more subtle, sometimes using original rock-based (sometimes toxic) pigments.

I've been painting off and on for 20 years using both oil and acrylic and I like both, but I'm not an expert in either.

Answer 4

I have only painted with acrylics and watercolor. I like acrylics b/c you can "build" or layer on what was already there if you didn't like it. Watercolors takes a little more skill in putting down the brush exactly where you want it b/c it takes a little more effor to try to correct. I have always been fascinated by oils, though. My favorite artist is Monet and you can see the "building" or layer effect his paintings have. Enjoy your painting!

Answer 5

I'm an oil painter. I've been at it a long time. I love the rich colors and the texture of the paint. It's durable. This medium is very forgiving, in that if you want to change something, you can just paint over what you don't like. There's something special in owning an oil painting, especially if it's a portrait of yourself.

I've tried other mediums, but I always go back to oils.

Answer 6

I am an artist and art teacher. I have tried many mediums over the years...even frescoe painting ( very tempermental in surface preparation but a beautiful result ). About 10 years ago I started painting on silk with French dyes and fell in love with the whole process and the finished results. You can be very controlled with the use of resist or completely free, letting the colors blend and bleed. Silk painting has some similarity to water color but with it's own very unique qualities. I still work in oils when I'm out on location...another of my favorite pastimes. There is something about being outdoors in any season...using all of your senses to recreate the wonder of nature. Have fun with your art and always be willing to try something new!

Answer 7

I like acrylics because they dry faster and brushes can be cleaned with water, oils are rather messy. I also like watercolors but its harder to fix a mistake and you have to wait for it to dry to layer colors.

Answer 8

I usually like to start in acrylic to lay my base coat down and block in my shapes/idea and build up the surface, then I will go back overit with oils to bring out the color, build more texture...etc

Answer 9

This is old fashioned. I am a professional Flash and grapichs designer. We don't use watercolor, oil. So, the way is to design in computer.

Answer 10

I prefer acrylics because I paint huge murals and I do not have the patience for oil to dry, but I think watercolor is the easiest for beginning. Just my opinion.