What’s the difference between Acrylic VS Oil paint?

Starting my painting journey as a watercolor artist, then switching to acrylic paints, was a game changer for me; always wanting to learn, I thought, let’s try a new medium and see what the difference is between acrylic and oil paints. And more importantly, is it worth switching teams?

As a new oil painter, I used the materials listed below in this comparison test. First, I picked this lemon still-life photo and used Photoshop to remove the background giving a clean composition compared to the original image. Then, using the filter layers in Photoshop, I made a black-and-white value study with 4 to 5 values to clearly see the light, dark, and mid tones. This breaks down my painting process into easy-to-follow steps, including a grid photo to help with proportions when drawing the canvas.

Here are the materials I used for the oil & acrylic painting.

OIL PAINT SUPPLIES:

  • Turpenoid Natural

  • Liquitex Neutral Gray Gesso

  • Winsor Newton Safflower Oil

  • Art Alternative Gray Paper Palette 12x16

  • Winsor Newton Oil Paints *See Pic for exact colors

  • Silver Ruby Satin Brushes

ACRYLIC PAINT SUPPLIES:

  • Liquitex Hardbody Acryric *same colors as oil

Season in South Florida is starting to slow down; this is the perfect downtime to start playing. Comparing apples to apples, in this case, lemons to lemons, I did the same subject in both acrylics (which I am familiar with) and oils (which are new to me) to see the difference between the two mediums with my own work. Here is my setup:

As I started painting with oil, I immediately notice a major difference in both mediums. Being a fast painter, the main thing that irritated me was how long oil takes to dry! With that being said, what I loved about painting with oils is how easily I could blend seamless transitions. Both had their PROS and CONS.

Having finished the experiment, I found several differences I would love to share. So, here is my simple explanation.

ACRYLIC PROS:

  • Cleans with water

  • Drys fast

  • Good for beginners

  • No need to varnish the finished painting

ACRYLIC CONS:

  • Hard to blend smooth

  • It dries too fast on the palate

OIL PROS:

  • Buttery rich texture

  • Smooth transitions

  • Blends softly

  • Pre-mix colors without dying 

OIL CONS:

  • Hard to clean-up

  • The painting process takes longer to dry

  • You have to varnish the finished painting to enhance the true beauty of the colors


Two different looks for two different mediums. My outcome is I love them both!

This is what I learned from my little experiment. I will take the PROS from each medium and use them both! First, I will start my undercoating black-and-white value sketch in acrylic because it dries fast. Then I can paint with the oil, blending, smoothing, and enjoying the painting process.

I would love to hear what your favorite painting medium is.

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