Acrylic vs. Oil: Same Eye, Totally Different Personality
Have you ever looked at one of your old paintings and thought, “Yeah… I can do better.” 😂
That’s exactly what happened with this eye painting.
I was never completely happy with the acrylic version, so instead of letting it collect dust, I decided to give it a second chance… this time with oil paints.
Team Acrylic… Mostly
Acrylics still have my heart. I love how easy acrylics are to use. Cleanup is quick, I don’t have to worry about solvents, and I can just grab some water and get to work. My biggest complaint? Blending.
I wish acrylics would just chill out and stop drying so fast. Sometimes by the time I decide I want to blend two colors together, they’ve already made other plans. I have come up with a statagy that mostly works. I use two brushes at the same time with the 2 colors I want to blend.
Then Came the Oils…
Oil paints are a completely different beast. They’re messy. I love the mess. They blend like a dream.
Seriously, I could push the paint around forever, and it was so much easier to get soft transitions than with acrylics.
Then…my brushes betrayed me.
Apparently, those bargain brushes that have been sitting in my art supplies for years were NOT the heroes of this story. Sorry to whoever gifted them to me… I appreciate the thought… but these brushes and I are no longer on speaking terms. 😂
Lesson learned: cheap isn’t always better.
When Your Brushes Fail…
I refused to let the brushes win. So what did I do? I started using my fingers and Q-tips. Was that the original plan? Absolutely not. Did it somehow work? Surprisingly…yes.
Honestly, some of my favorite parts of the painting came from ditching the brushes altogether. Finger painting is so much fun, just be ready to get messy.
Oil Painting Isn’t Just Acrylic With Different Paint
One thing I learned pretty quickly is that oil painting comes with its own set of rules.
Water? Nope. You can’t just rinse your brushes in a cup of water like you do with acrylics. I even tried using a water-based brush cleaner… and it wasn’t cutting it.
Which One Wins this challenge?
Even though acrylic is still my favorite medium overall…I have to give this one to the oil painting. The acrylic version feels kind of stiff to me. The oil version has more emotion. More personality. It feels like it actually has something to say. And honestly? I like that neither one is realistic. Realism has never been my thing.
I don’t want people looking at my paintings and wondering if it’s a photograph. I want them to have character. A little weirdness. Maybe even make someone stop and wonder what they’re looking at. Mission accomplished.
Final Thoughts
This challenge reminded me that sometimes the best art happens when things go completely off the rails. I started out trying to repaint an old acrylic and I ended up arguing with my brushes, finger painting like I was in kindergarten, using Q-tips as art supplies, and somehow creating a painting I like way more than the original.
I’d call that a win.
