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Another newbie..thanks for the likes
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Message
Posted
Hello all. I joined a few weeks ago, but have only just got around to posting a few pics and reading the forums. I paint in acrylics and have been thinking of trying some oils, not the real stuff, but water mixable. I had all manner of questions etc,..but have found all the answers I need in the forum posts without having to ask anything! I think I will stick with the acrylics, as I am too impatient to wait seven years for it to dry before I can paint the next bit. Or what seems like seven years, plus I love the squeeze and go of acrylics without having to mix it with anything. I use it straight from the tube with no add ins whatsoever, other than water when it starts to dry before I have finished blending, but however...just wanted to say thanks for the kind words and hopefully will have something to input or intelligent to say at times.
Posted
Seven years is a teensy bit of exaggeration .... oil can take a long time to dry if you use too much medium; straight out of the tube, oil paint will usually dry within a week, depending on weather conditions (i.e. humidity as well as temperature). If you want to keep going with your acrylics, fine - I use them often and am quite happy with them as a medium. But now and then I sneak back to the oil paints, and I wouldn't if they were that frustrating to use.... You may not need to know this if you've decided against oils, but the colours that take a long while to dry are the cadmiums, crimsons - especially Alizarin - and Titanium White, because these are heaviest in oil (need to be, in order to make the colour workable). If you use a lot of those colours, or use them unmixed with others, your paintings will take a bit longer to dry - but they get there in the end!
The longer drying time is actually useful if you want to work on a painting and to blend colour over several days. On the other hand, acrylics are great for glazing, or direct painting - or almost anything. I wouldn't willingly be without either medium, or without watercolour. But there's also a strong case to be made for developing your skills in a single medium and becoming so good at it that no one will notice you don't paint in any other, nor will it matter. If you use paint straight out of the tube with minimal mixing, oils could actually suit you rather well. But - s'up to you! Welcome to the forum.
Posted
Welcome Geoff. I started painting in traditional oils about 12 years ago and loved them. The trouble was that I had to have the room to store them during drying - which, incidentally, is nowhere near 7 years, perhaps a year or 2 at the outside. I couldn't get on with the water-mixable oils, although lots of artist do use them, so I turned to Golden Open Acrylics which don't dry so quickly and you have a day to mess about with them if you wish. However the main thing is that you enjoy the medium you are using. In time, though, you will want to experiment with other mediums. Such a vast selection out there nowadays.
Good luck and look forward to hearing from you on the Forum. If you have looked at previous threads, you know that you don't always have to be intelligent to comment - ha ha! Apologies to the other contributing artists here!
Posted
If you have looked at previous threads, you know that you don't always have to be intelligent to comment - ha ha! Apologies to the other contributing artists here!
Oh wicked, wicked, Adele!
Did make me splutter into my coffee, though....
Incidentally, I know you meant it takes 2 years for oil paint to dry right through - although that can be variable - but it doesn't take that long to surface dry, and you can varnish a picture after around 6 months, although I do prefer to take a year.
Edited
by RobertJones
Posted
Wow!..thanks for all the welcoming and advice. I have used alkyds before. Both to paint a picture, and use as highlights(especially white) over acrylic. Great result and enjoyed using them. Drying time was 24 hours, give or take, so no real problem there, but it was the odour. I now have an even smaller studio than previous, which is attached to the house so the smell meanders and wafts its way inside which is why I was interested in trying the water mix variety. I guess only way to find out is to try it and see.
Interesting titbit mentioned by Marjorie is the dipping the brush into quick dry medium every now and then. How long does it actually take for the paint to dry just doing this. I presume you do nothing else other than squeeze onto palette, and I presume you are talking about the real oils, and not WM's. Would it also work with the Wm's.
Thanks again