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Message
Posted
I wonder if anyone else has encountered a certain snobbishness from fellow artists towards the use of acrylics. I was recently in the middle of an acrylic painting at my local art class when a fellow student commented, 'That's really good but I presume you will finish it in oil'. When I asked why I would do such a thing he just laughed and simply said, 'I don't know really...........it's just...........you know.......acrylics!' It seems some artists acknowledge the versatility and quality of acrylics but somehow feel that oil will always have the trump card.
Posted
I suggest that if he or anyone else says that again, you take a handy canvas (preferably his) and brain him with it.
No serious artist would be snobbish about acrylics, and the idea that somehow you have to "finish" an acrylic painting in oil (even if that were necessarily an especially sound practice to follow, and I don't believe it is) is just misconceived and idiotic. Presumably he was suggesting you should glaze over the acrylic with oil - not a thing I would ever do; you can, but preferably only on a rigid surface; and I'd rather not do it even then.
I paint in oil, watercolour, and acrylic. No medium is "better" than another: they're just different.
Posted
Your fellow student is obviously a prize pillock, ignore him! If Acrylics had been invented centuries ago you can bet most of the masterpieces in our top galleries would be in Acrylic, there is nothing done using Oils that can not be achieved using Acrylics its just a matter of each requiring a different technique. When I started painting in the sixties Acrylics were non existent in my area so I used Oils developing a style and technique ( albeit much despised these days) that worked well for me and so I stuck with it. Many artists are the same as your fellow student they will slate anyone who paints in a different medium or style from their own or as Thea says paints from photographs, though how anyone can be so daft as to ignore photographic resources is beyond my comprehension. Ignore everyone, just paint what your heart tells you to.