5 Key Differences Between Oil Paints and Acrylic Paints

Drying Time: Speed Versus Patience

The most noticeable difference, which you’ll feel from your very first brushstroke, is how quickly the paint dries. Acrylic paints, such as popular lines from KREUL or Royal Talens, dry almost immediately. This makes acrylics a great choice for artists who like to work in layers and want to keep moving without a long wait.

Oil paints, on the other hand, including professional lines such as Schmincke Mussini or Lukas, dry through oxidation. This means the layers remain workable for several days, allowing you to blend colors smoothly right on the canvas. For beginners, this gives you a great opportunity to make corrections, but it requires more patience and planning.

If you need to paint quickly and efficiently, acrylics are the clear choice. But if you want subtle gradients and the “wet-on-wet” technique, oil paints give you the time you need to achieve details that would dry too quickly with acrylics.

Thinning and Cleaning Your Supplies

Working with paints also differs in what you need to thin them and clean your brushes afterward. Acrylic paints are water-soluble. This means you only need clean water and a little soap to thin the paint or wash Mont Marte brushes. It’s eco-friendly, safe, and ideal for painting in smaller spaces without needing to ventilate the room.

Oil paints require specific mediums, such as turpentine, linseed oil, or special odorless thinners. Cleaning brushes after working with oil paints, such as Lefranc & Bourgeois, is more demanding and requires brush cleaners or oil mediums. Always make sure your studio is well ventilated when working with these substances.

If you’re concerned about chemical odors, modern technology also offers solutions such as water-mixable oil paints. They combine the benefits of both worlds: oil paints’ long drying time and easy cleanup with water, making them a great compromise for today’s artists.

Appearance and Final Texture

Once dry, acrylic paints form a flexible, plastic-like film that is usually slightly glossy or satin. The paints retain their intensity, and their shade changes very little as they dry. With the wide range of mediums from Pebeo, you can thicken acrylic paint or dilute it to a watercolor consistency without losing pigmentation.

Oil paints are known for their depth and richness. The pigments in oil paint have a unique ability to reflect light, giving a painting a distinctive character. Once dry, oil paint does not yellow over time (when you use quality brands such as Schmincke Mussini) and retains its saturation.

The choice depends on what you want to achieve on the canvas. Acrylic is great for modern, graphic works with sharp edges, while oil is the king of classical painting, portraits, and landscapes, where subtle color gradations and lighting effects matter.

Layering and Technical Limitations

When painting with acrylics, you can layer paints very quickly. Just wait a few minutes and you can apply another layer without worrying that the paint underneath will smear. This quality is irreplaceable when creating collages or working with Posca markers, which pair beautifully with acrylic underpainting on canvas or Fabriano paper.

Oil painting follows the “fat over lean” rule. This means that the lower layers should contain less oil than the upper ones to prevent the painting from cracking as it dries. It is a more technically demanding process that requires knowledge of materials and patience while waiting for each layer to cure completely.

If you are a beginner, acrylics are more forgiving because you can simply paint over layers. Oil requires more planning, but rewards you with durability and the ability to work on a piece for several weeks, while still changing the composition or color tones.

Keep Reading

• 5 Reasons to Paint with Acrylics Instead of Oil Paints
• How to Choose a Canvas
• The Eternal Dilemma: Turpentine or Linseed Oil?
• Do Paintings Need to Be Varnished?