Acrylic vs Oil Paint | Which is Better for Learning?

I can think of one thing acrylics can do that oils cannot, you can thin acrylic paint down to the consistency of ink (or just buy it as acrylic ink) and then apply it with a pen, either a dipping pen with a nib or a paint marker for dead straight lines. You can also spray acrylic with an airbrush. I'm not sure you can do those things with oil paint. (Maybe you can, but I haven't heard of it.)

I live in a desert, acrylics are a bear, even with medium.

oil, no thanks. i love acrylics. can’t stand using oils. acrylics rule

I paint with both media. When painting with acrylics, I often use the dry painting technique for smooth transitions. But that is time-consuming. There is a good trick to prevent acrylic paint from drying quickly on the palette. Simply moisten a sheet of kitchen paper with water and then put the acrylic paint onto it. This prevents the paint from drying quickly on the palette. The paints stay moist as long as the kitchen paper is moist and can therefore be used for 1 to 2 days.

Do you have a list of the basic skills and in what order they should be learned?

I prefer gouache and colored pencils i cant achieve realism without pencils so good

Dont use water use a glaze and use Golden open acrylics. I have seen acrylic art that looks just like oil

i can't watch because this mf is mogging me too hard !

Would this advice apply to Water mixable oils?

What's the best brand for beginners to use l will appreciate it if take the time and tell me thank you

I can say from experience that learning with oils is indeed easier than learning with acrylics. For beginners, every step is going to take longer, from mixing colours to the painting process, and it's harder with acrylics because they dry so fast - on the palette, on brushes and on the canvas.

Oils give you time to mix colours at leisure, to apply paint to canvas, to wipe off areas if they don't work out and to repaint while the paint on the canvas is still wet, so the repainted area can be blended more seamlessly into the surrounding area. One also doesn't have to worry about paint drying on brushes during a session. Oils give you the time and space to focus on learning the skills.

All of this I learned on my own through trial and error, and I'm glad that this video has confirmed my experiences and conclusions about which medium is the easier one for beginners.

When I was a student, I used oil frequently but I got sick of the smell and the longtime of its drying period I decide to go to acrylic.

Both oil and acrylic has their strength and weaknesses. Acrylic is harder to master due to its short drying time, sure. But you can also turn that on its head and say acrylic helps you become better at blending colors on canvas faster. Adding a drying time retarder will also help with blending. All it takes is planning your blending and practice. You will fail and see mixed results but you will be proficient faster because you work faster, you dont need to wait hours and days for your painting to dry for the next layer or section. The biggest factor for me is the toxic fumes from oil paint associated solvents and thinners, and the toxic trash. Cleaning acrylic I scrape off the excess paint before rinsing in water to minimize water pollution.

I haven't watched this video to the end, but note: it also depends on your painting style.

Watercolorist here. I've been pondering trying either acrylics or water-soluble oils, and this video really helps my decision-making. I've always encouraged beginner watercolor artists to use the best quality paints and papers they can afford, so your opening points resonate with me. Thank you!

The man himself is a painting . ......❤😂😂😂😂😂😂 Hahaha thanks for the video

Ive painted two acrylic paintings in the last two weeks and i can really feel this hobby taking a grip of me. Im running out of my acrylic paints and as of now, i want to paint everyday. Oil paints for sure seem like the way to go, i hated how fast acrylics dried and i love to do blending and it was harder than i expected with acrylic.

Thank you for this video, it was so helpful! Now i just need to find out what techniques should i be learning and in what order. I don't have money for fancy courses right now :/

Wish i seen this before i bought a bunch of Arcrylic paint i still managed to psint some beautiful pieces but blending is definitely hard af with Acrylic but doable

I totally agree. I have always admired people who can paint with acrylics. In my case, the temptation of speed always ended in endless corrections, and chasing changing colors on the canvas. It seems to me that oil also simply looks better right out of the box, more organic, while acrylics have something plastic about them. It takes great skill to be able to achieve results with acrylics similar to oil paints.

As a super nervous person especially about his art skills you made me super relax , reminds me of Bob Ross

i usually add a 2nd layer to smoothen out the acrylics

that is all so true! There's also the person who doesn't speak, just puts up a cryptic caption about every 60 seconds meant to explain the next step.

I thought Rembrandt oil paint is of higher quality but it smells really bad in comparison to other oil paints such as Schmincke Norma, for instance.

Oh dear. Fast drying is bad for learning, you say. I just bought gouache to learn with.

I think it comes to also what kind of paintings you want to paint. I started out with acrylics because I like how vibrant and mat the colors are. I like to paint mainly in an illustration way. I just started oil yesterday and I did find it very relaxing because it never dries and you can’t do really do mistakes as it’s very easy to correct. However it’s hard to do the kind of illustration I love so now am gonna mix both. For example do the background in acrylic, let it dry and paint my funny characters in oil and really have fun with it. I am a bit hyper so the drying part with acrylics was always very stressful for me. Can that work? Thank you for a great video!

What the paint color on the wall? Love the green against the brown

If you can learn to paint with acrylic you can breeze it with oil lol

I love this! thank you.. makes perfect sense to me

Its personal choice. Oil is more expensive. Acrylic dries faster. If you plan in the future to paint in oil you are better off starting with oil so you dont have to start from scratch with oil technique after painting with acrylic and getting that technique down.

Wow great information!!! I love it! and like the way you speak so clear.

I started painting using acrylics and I use retarder when I need slower drying time. Never had any problems. I never used oils in my life so I never blend on canvas. I suppose the choice of oils over acrylics is obvious for artists who themselves started with oils and then try to use acrylics as oils which they are not.

Your video convinced me to buy some oils. I grew up in the 60's in a house that was daily perfumed with turpentine :-) My mother recent passed away at 105 years and painted for over 90 years. I was so bad at painting I got clarinet lessons, lol. Anyways -- about a month ago mom must have hit me with the bug, because now I'm painting almost every day. I was intimidated to try oils, but after watching your video... I could really benefit from a longer drying time. Thanks to you, those paints are on the way. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

Oil painting is just better in every way.

Hi there, I am a self taught artist and started painting 9 years ago. Due to severe asthma and allergies, I started with acrylics and watercolors. Even with retarder or Golden Glazing Liquid ( retarder and glazing combined) the paint dries within 10 to 15 minutes. I like to paint big canvases and especially with portraits it's very annoying, that the paint dries so fast. I just learned, that there is water mixable oil paint, for example Cobra by Royal Talens. I will buy some and try them out, because I am fed up with acrylics ( even quality paints) drying so much darker. Water mixable oils don't have to be varnished which is also a big plus in my book, since I can't use any solvents whatsoever.

Very useful thanks

Thank You! May God Bless You Your Family Friends And Loved Ones! ❤️✝️😁

Never met an oil artist ( or house painter } who isn't an alcoholic. Over time, that constant low level toxicity can be a life changer, and not in a good way. THE CURE: buy or rent a proper ventilated studio space that you don't also have to live in ....and add that to the expense of working with oils.

Well that was in the past, now you have mediums to make acrylics behave like oils. In texture and in drying times so I think this is outdated (even if those mediums exists when you uploaded the video). Check @David Jansen videos, he is the boss of acrylics!

his deserves millions of views! 🚀

i know im really late to the comment party but i just started my art journey and it has been a MAJOR chore for me since i have zero fundamentals, my highschool art class was taught by the principal's wife and it was a glorified study hall. i got a bunch of acrylic paint supplies as a gift to try non-drawing art but I have no clue what im doing or what is right/wrong. Due to sporadic health issues I cant attend college art courses. Despite the struggle I wont give up, but it is taking quite a long time to understand the basics

Originally the supply gift was acrylic instead of oil because I have a very sensitive nose and I am still worried about trying oils since these acrylic paints are odorless. When I have the money to buy supplies for myself I will probably try to find some oil paints that are sold as individual colors. That way if they do irritate my nose i wont have bought a full set of paints I wont use

So you’re telling me acrylic is the dark souls of painting…. I’m in.

Go for acrylic it drys while your painting and impossible to blend. But dont worry you can spend a lot of money on tryimg to make it respond like oils😅

I have a short deadline so
}}pressure{{ Can you start with acrylics and then finish with oils? Edit: the drying time is why I am 🤔🥴

Agreed!

I'm glad I started with oils back in the day. Now I only use acrylics. But with my experience with oils, I kinda found a way to paint like an oil paint by doing different techniques. I also love glazing technique in acrylics. I miss painting with oils though

can you compare gouche and oil paint?

Problem is when you don't have studio or separate room properly ventilated and place where you can store paintings while they dry few weeks.
So you mean I can mix oils only with oil to thin? I heard that this way they dry even longer and when you mix them with terpentine it quicken drying time

You are so calm bro, How and why?

For the longest time ive been frustrated with painting and always quit. Im learning how to blend with paints and ive used acrylics and its so frustrating. I cant focus on learning to blend and rush at the same time. Its too stressful and i didnt pick up a paint brush to be stressed out.