PAINT LIKE PICASSO

Or (at least) know the difference between painting with oil and acrylic

Although Picasso’s palettes can be seen as a work of art in themselves, there is no reason why your own talents cannot advance to a level far above ‘acrylic vs oil’. Until that day, however, keep these basic differences in mind when choosing a paint to work with:

DRYING TIME

Typically, acrylic paints dry much faster than their oily counterparts.

Where a layer of oil paint can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months to completely dry (depending on the thickness of the layer and the colours used), acrylic will dry out in a matter of minutes.

This is great if you’re in a hurry or under a deadline to finish your work, but not so great if you want to experiment with mixing colours.

COLOUR

Because of their longer drying time, oil paints allow for an unlimited spectrum of shades and, in general, are more rich and vibrant than acrylics.

This does not mean that acrylics don’t offer a kaleidoscope of colour options, or that mixing acrylics is impossible (there are products that can help with this issue).

LOCATION

Oil paints are more messy than acrylics and can give off toxic or unhealthy fumes (because of the thinners and solvents used in conjunction with the paint).

For this reason, it’s best to use oil paints in a well–ventilated room that will not be disturbed by people and pets (like a studio).

Acrylics tend to not have this issue.

COST

As a general rule, acrylic paints are cheaper to use than oil because, unlike oil paints, they only require water (no added solvents and thinners which add to the cost).