The vehicle and binder of oil paints is linseed oil, whereas water serves as the vehicle for an emulsion of acrylic polymer that is the binder in acrylic paint. Thus, oil paint is said to be "oil-based", while acrylic paint is "water-based".
The main practical difference between most acrylics and oil paints is the inherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colors and apply even glazes over underpaintings. 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. In 2008 Golden Artist Colors introduced a slow drying acrylic paint with working qualities similar to oils, but indistinguishable from regular acrylics when completely dry. This new acrylic paint can remain wet and workable on a palette for several hours and even days under normal conditions.
The fast evaporation of water from regular acrylic paint films can be slowed with the use of acrylic retarders. Retarders are generally glycol or glycerin-based additives. The addition of a retarder slows the evaporation rate of the water, and allows for more water to be added and the paint to be workable, until the retarder has left the film and the paint layer is dry.
Oil paints require the use of solvents such as mineral spirits or turpentine to thin the paint and clean up; these generally have some level of toxicity and are often found objectionable. (Relatively recently, water soluble oil paints have been developed for artist use.) Oil paint films can become increasing yellow and brittle with time and lose much of their flexibility in a few decades. Additionally, the rules of "fat over lean" must be employed to ensure the paint films are durable.
Oil paint has a higher pigment load because it is able to absorb substantially more pigment than acrylic because linseed oil has a smaller molecule than does acrylic. Oil provides a different (less clear) refractive index than acrylic dispersions, imparting a unique "look and feel" to the resultant paint film. Not all pigments in oil are available in acrylic. For instance, Prussian blue is not available due to chemical incompatibility with the acrylic binder. On the other hand there are no fluorescent oil paints like in acrylic.
Due to acrylic's more flexible nature and more consistent drying time between colors, the painter does not have to follow the "fat over lean" rule of oil painting, where more medium must be applied to each layer to avoid cracking. While canvas needs to be properly primed and gessoed before painting with oil (otherwise it will eventually rot the canvas), acrylic can be safely applied to raw canvas. The rapid drying of the paint tends to discourage the blending of color and use of wet-in-wet technique unique to oil painting. While acrylic retarders can slow drying time to several hours, it remains a relatively fast-drying medium, and the addition of too much acrylic retarder can prevent the paint from ever drying properly.
Although the permanency of acrylics is sometimes debated by conservators, they appear more stable than oil paints. Whereas oil paints normally turn yellow as they age/dry(oxidize)—and require a removable protective layer of varnish—acrylic paints, at least in the 50 years since their invention, have not yellowed, cracked, or altered.
Another difference between oil and acrylic paints is the versatility offered by acrylic paints - acrylic is very useful in mixed media, allowing use of pastel (oil & chalk), charcoal, pen, etc. on top of the dried acrylic painted surface. Mixing other bodies into the acrylic is possible - sand, rice, even pasta may be incorporated in the artwork. Mixing artist or student quality acrylic paint with household acrylic emulsions is possible, allowing the use of pre-mixed tints straight from the tube or tin, so presenting the painter with a vast color range at his or her disposal.
This versatility is also illustrated in the wide variety of additional artistic uses that acrylics afford the artist. Specialist acrylics have been manufactured and used for lino block printing (acrylic block printing ink produced by Derivan since the early 1980's), face painting, airbrushing, water color techniques, fabric screen printing and the list goes on.
(Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License)
If you would like to Join our online community click a link on your area . . .
Artists | Avon
Artists | Bedford
Artists | Berkshire
Artists | Buckingham
Artists | Cambridge
Artists | Cheshire
Artists | Cleveland
Artists | Clwyd
Artists | Cornwall
Artists | Cumbria
Artists | Derby
Artists | Devon
Artists | Dorset
Artists | Dumfries
Artists | Durham
Artists | Dyfed
Artists | East Sussex
Artists | Essex
Artists | Fife
Artists | Gloucestershire
Artists | Grampian
Artists | Gwent
Artists | Gwynedd County
Artists | Hampshire
Artists | Herefordshire
Artists | Humberside
Artists | Isle of Wight
Artists | Kent
Artists | Lancaster
Artists | Lincolnshire
Artists | Aberdeen
Artists | Bangor
Artists | Bath
Artists | Birmingham
Artists | Bradford
Artists | Brighton
Artists | Bristol
Artists | Cambridge
Artists | Canterbury
Artists | Cardiff
Artists | Carlisle
Artists | Chester
Artists | Chichester
Artists | Coventry
Artists | Derby
Artists | Dundee
Artists | Durham
Artists | Edinburgh
Artists | Ely
Artists | Exeter
Artists | Glasgow
Artists | Gloucester
Artists | Hereford
Artists | Inverness
Artists | Lancaster
Artists | Leeds
Artists | Leicester
Artists | Lichfield
Artists | Lincoln
Artists | Lothian
Artists | Manchester
Artists | Merseyside
Artists | Mid Glamorgan
Artists | Norfolk
Artists | North Yorkshire
Artists | Northampton
Artists | Northumberland
Artists | Nottingham
Artists | Oxfordshire
Artists | Powys
Artists | Rutland
Artists | Shropshire
Artists | Somerset
Artists | South Glamorgan
Artists | South Yorkshire
Artists | Staffordshire
Artists | Strathclyde
Artists | Suffolk
Artists | Surrey
Artists | Tayside
Artists | Tyne and Wear
Artists | Warwickshire
Artists | West Glamorgan
Artists | West Midlands
Artists | West Sussex
Artists | West Yorkshire
Artists | Wiltshire
Artists | Worcestershire
Artists | Liverpool
Artists | London
Artists | Manchester
Artists | Newcastle
Artists | Newport
Artists | Norwich
Artists | Nottingham
Artists | Oxford
Artists | Peterborough
Artists | Plymouth
Artists | Preston
Artists | Ripon
Artists | Salford
Artists | Salisbury
Artists | Sheffield
Artists | Southampton
Artists | St Albans
Artists | Stirling
Artists | Stoke-on-Trent
Artists | Sunderland
Artists | Swansea
Artists | Truro
Artists | Wakefield
Artists | Westminster
Artists | Winchester
Artists | Wolverhampton
Artists | Worcester
Artists | York
You are viewing the text version of this site.
To view the full version please install the Adobe Flash Player and ensure your web browser has JavaScript enabled.
Need help? check the requirements page.