Comments on: So you’ve decided to try oil painting

By: David

David — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:02:07 +0000

David,

I’ve used acrylics; they’re OK. I find that I can achieve what I want more easily with oil paint. If I go back to water media, it will be egg tempera.

By: David A. P.

David A. P. — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:47:40 +0000

I painted with oils way back when I first tried painting -- as a high school student -- and enjoyed them, but now that I've taken painting back up I decided to try acrylics. They're definitely...different...but do allow some techniques that oils would make much harder. I'm still not sure whether I actually like acrylics as much as I liked oils, but I'm putting in the time -- and paintings -- to get good, solid, empirical knowledge of how to make them work. (Also, I have a bunch of them, and even if I go back to oils, I plan to squeeze the acrylic tubes dry ;) ). What do you think about acrylics vs. oils?

By: Peter Garrett

Peter Garrett — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:40:50 +0000

On the other hand...

If you start with watercolor, oils will seem SO much easier ...

Just kidding!

Actually. if you start with watercolor you will have to unlearn a lot of habits - the medium is entirely different of course, requiring a different approach.

I started with watercolor, so this is from experience. I'm not sorry that I did, but certainly simple "competence" in painting oils is probably easier to achieve. Making good paintings, on the other hand, is not going to happen easily in any medium.

By: Jen Seals

Jen Seals — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:59:59 +0000

wonderful! Not too complex, just right for a beginner. Plenty of room for learning and experimenting. Thank you for the sound advice.

By: David

David — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:44:16 +0000

LuAnn,

I'm glad you find this helpful. I would have found it pretty useful when I was starting out as well.

By: LuAnn

LuAnn — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:20:12 +0000

This is such good advice! I wish I had seen this when I started painting — not quite 2 years ago — I would have avoided some mistakes. And watercolors — amen to the above comments! I thought they might be a nice thing to do in winter — ha ha! I’m putting them away for a long while.
I just found your site yesterday, I was looking for some better way to prepare a palette. Mine is turning out very very nice, so thank you for that too!

By: David

David — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:05:00 +0000

I agree completely. I've always been terrified of watercolor. I'll never understand why it's so widely considered to be a beginner's medium.

By: Jeff Hayes

Jeff Hayes — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 04:25:00 +0000

Number Eight - thank your lucky stars you didn't decide to start your painting adventures using watercolor.

That's said in a joking manner, but it's serious advice. Many beginners assume they should learn painting with watercolor before "moving up" to oil. I could not disagree more. Oil is prized for its ability stay workable for days... ie, you can paint OVER your mistakes, whereas watercolor is absolutely tricky and absolutely unforgiving. It's a lovely, wonderful medium that's magic in the hands of an accomplished artist. Beginners, however, would be well advised to stick to oil for at least five years before touching watercolors; you'll get results you can be pleased with much faster. Personally, I'm still scared of the stuff.