What is the diffrence between Acrylic and oil colors?

Question

i always use oil but is acrylic better I've never used it and what about mixing the acrylic colors do ihave to use water or Thinners???

Answer 1

use water to thin acrylics they are quick drying, oils you need two things a thinner to thin down the paint as it is thick and linseed oil to slow the drying process down after adding thinner otherwise the paint will dry too quickly and it will crack.

You can purchase acrylic mediums for acrylic paint such as a drying retarder so you have more time to work with it, there is a waterbased oil paint by winsor and newton where you do infact mix with water, it dries quicker than traditional oils but not as quick as acrylic

Answer 2

According to Wikipedia.com, an online encyclopedia:

Acrylic paint is fast-drying paint containing pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified with acrylic gels, mediums, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting or have its own unique characteristics not attainable by oil or watercolor.

The main difference between acrylics and oil paints is the inherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colors and apply even glazes over underpaintings, etc. This slow drying aspect of oil can be seen as an advantage for certain techniques, but in other regards it impedes the artist trying to work quickly. The fast evaporation of water from the acrylic paint film can be slowed with the use of retarders. Retarders are generally glycol or glycerine based additives. In the case of acrylic paints, the addition of a retarder slows the evaporation rate of the water, and allows for more water to be added and the paint workable, until the retarder has left the film and the paint layer is dry.

Answer 3

Oil is a much more forgiving paint. Acrylic dries very fast and tends to be transparant. This makes it more difficult to get solid opaque passes of paint. But both have their place. It depends on what you are painting. I've used oil all my life and I love the viscosity of the stuff. I've also found many contemporary ways of using oil but without losing it's rich color and without the plastic feel of acrylic. I love acrylic but I love oil even more. My suggestion is to just get a tube of white and black and maybe one other color to experiment in. That why you are not so heavily invested in it if you don't like it. As far as mixing, you can use water for nice washes. And there are many thinners or mediums to use for whatever the thickness and sheen you want whether it is heavy bodied impasto or thin and glossy. There is even a gritty lava medium to add texture to your paint.

Answer 4

The differences are mostly in the texture and luster of the finished product. If you prefer oils and the look of oils you can achieve the same aesthetic appeal if you know the proper techniques in acrylics.
The difference is that acrylics dry through evaporation and they become more transparent. You may need to layer acrylics to achieve the intense colors of oil paints.
# There is really only one main difference. That difference is blending. Acrylics use a wet on dry technique and oils use wet on wet or wet on dry technique. However, techniques vary from artist to artist so keep an open mind.

Answer 5

acrylic is plastic.. oil is more natural.. of course the pigments might be made artificially too, but the oil in it gives it a natural feel. The most common difference is that oils dry very slowly. They are touch dry .. is it.. from a week to two.. i might be mistaken.. cannot recall.. but an oil painting dries completely in around FOUR YEARS !! Acrylics dry immediately.. and you can keep on painting over the previous layer... in oils you would have to wait to do so.. otherwise the colours will mix very very easily, probably even easier than acrylics. you may thin oil paints with different oil.. most common linseed, poppy and walnut oil or thinners.. white spirit, turpentine.. petroleum.. to me oil colour seems to be softer.. and i've heard that the surface of a ready acrylic painting gets dirty easily.. oil paintings don't so much..

Answer 6

Dilute acrylics with water. Acrylics are fast-drying colours, so the allow for less mistake but allow for consecutive glacis. Oil painting has various drying times depending on your media.

Answer 7

Oil is a lot better. Acrylic dries too fast to fix and the color is more realistic in oil.

Answer 8

The main difference is that acrylic is washable. You can thin it with water instead of turpentine. However when you paint with it you can't layer it like oils, the paint will mix together on the canvas.

Answer 9

acrylic is very easy to dry as compared to oil. That's why I think most beginner art courses teach acrylic painting.

Answer 10

oil paints have oils in them and need terpinoid or gamsol [paint thinners] to wash out the paint on the brush. water will not work with oil paints because oil and water dont mix.

acrylics dry much faster!!! i suggest keeping your paints wet by getting a paper towel....roll it up like a ruler, wet it, lay it flat on your palatte and squeeze your paints out on the rolled, wet, paper towel. or mist your paints with a mist bottle every so often. acrylics is defiantly better clean up since you dont need thinners and fancy palate knives bla bla bla. you can just wash off acrylics with water.

if your use to oils if might be difficult to transition into acrylics since you CANT use acrylics like oil paint...it just wont let you. just practive with it and youll get use to the paint.

and dont think acylics suck since oils have such a history and is "easy" to use. you get get quite realistic using acrylics...people just dont know how to use the paint since it is harder to blend. you should see my teachers paintings! my god BOW DOWN!!