I would like to start painting on canvas. I'm not sure how to go about it.. Is it better to use oils /acrylics

Question

Where is the best place to get brushes, canvas, paints? I am an artist, but I have only worked on other mediums.. Haven't tried canvas yet. Any and all help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Depends on what you're painting, and where you are...
If you need solid, consistent color (poster-abstract, cubist, or minimalist...) then acrylics are the way to go. If you need lots of color variation and depth of hue (realism, expressionism, surrealism etc....) then its usually easier to use oils.
Pretty much any art supply store can get you what you need, when you're just starting out, just go for whatever's on sale, or use the student colors, they're a little less expensive.
Acrylic paints are easy to use and clean, but they dry quickly.
Oil paints are more versatile, but they can make a mess and are difficult to clean out of brushes and tend to make permanent stains...For me, the ideal way to paint is a mixture of both oil and acrylic. I lay down my foundation, background colors, shapes and silhouettes in acrylic. This way the undercoating of the painting dries quickly. Then I use oil paint to do the detail and finishing layers, because the translucence and slow setting (more time to make adjustments,) of oils adds greater depth and nuance...Try it!

Answer 2

it really comes down to personal choice, but if your starting out and you don't have a lot of funding then acrylics are nice because they have a lot of mediums that you can add to the paint if you really like slow drying paint you should get a retarder or if you want really think paint you can get a gritty gel they have tons of things to add to acrylics, oil use to be a lot messier but know they have oils that use linseed oil as the base and you can clean your brushes with water and even use water to dilute them like you can with acrylics,(made by Windsor haven't seen any other company making it) i like Michael's for brushes and paints sometimes if i have the money ill seek out a art store and get some really good quality stuff but for the most parts especially with acrylics the general paints and brush's are OK, and if you stretching your own canvas your going to need geso which you spread on the canvas its what give it its white surface along with stretching boards you can of course buy them pre stretched in a variety of sizes but its so much fun to make weird shaped canvas's. i really like this website for supplies they've got everything http://www.aswexpress.com/ hope that helps and have fun

Answer 3

Start with acrylics. The clean up is easier but remember that acrylic painting is a certain technique and oil painting is a completely different technique. There's plenty of how-to books out there. Acrylic paints dry much faster than oils and there's certain ways to use them depending on what exactly you want to do.

If you're working on canvass, you want to use "medium" or "heavy-body" acrylics --and then you can experiment with other things. Canvass must be "primed"--that is painted with a coat of gesso--you can buy primed pre-stretched canvasses-- you can also paint on wood or masonite. You also need to use coarser brushes with acrylics than with oils.

As for supplied, check out the Dick Blick Web site. I think it might be dickblick.com, but if you do a search of Dick Blick it will come up. They've got everything and decent pricing and you can order whatever you need over the Internet. I use Golden brand acrylics which are very pricey--but the Dick Blick brand, I think, is economical and pretty good.

Answer 4

as a compromise try "duo" water soluable oil paint, made by holbein. It truely captures the "look" of oil, drying slow enough that it can be easily manipulated and cleaned up. (if you left an acrylic brush out of water for more than 30 min it is ruined, same with clothing) plus this paint is soluable in water!!! a HUGE bonus (no solvents needed) and dries to the same tone as opposed to acrylic which dries darker, its worst atribute as far as i am concerned. it also is relativly low odor, and i find the smell of acrylics revolting. Dont be cheap on brushes; windsor newton, would be excelent just make sure they would go for oil AND acrylic. I belive they are now marketing a brush specificallly for this paint, and i live in canada, so i dont where to shop in the states(?), Michaels here has lots of canvases but their paint selection leaves much to be desired!!

Answer 5

I work with acrylics and I found that it's actually pretty easy to fix any mistakes you might make. I tried oils a few times but I prefer to use those when I paint murals. I usually shop at Michaels whenever I need painting supplies. They have really good materials and awesome service. I do alot of scrapbooking and clay work and Michaels never dissapoints me!

Answer 6

I would try acrylics first because it is easier clean up & you can usually buy them a little cheaper. Oils are nice because they take so long to dry that you can play with your painting more. I get supplies from hobby lobby usually. Get on their website & see what their weekly coupon is. Sometimes it is 40% off any one item & that is good for getting larger canvases. Get good brushes, the cheaper ones leave hairs behind sometimes.

Answer 7

You can go to any Art store . Oil is more easy to use than acrylic as you can mix the colors better but a little bit more messy when it comes to cleaning

Answer 8

Acrylics are the way to go. They dry much quicker and clean up so easy. Plus you won't be breathing all those bad fumes. And to top it off, they are less expensive. It's a no brainer.

Answer 9

craft stores have supplies
acrylic is easier to deal with for practice
but the oils just look so much sharper