Choosing between Oil, Acrylic, and Watercolor

This is a long overdue topic that I've been meaning to address. So often clients come to me with a commission request, but they have no idea what media (paint type) they'd like me to create it with. Below I will describe some differences, according to how I work as an artist!

WATERCOLOR example

WATERCOLOR is looser and feels more translucent. It is arguably more "painterly".

WATERCOLOR

SO many people lament to me that they are "terrible" at watercolor. Once upon a time I felt the exact same way. Until you become VERY well acquainted with watercolor, it will feel hard to control, unforgiving, and it will always look amateur. When I finished college, I made a living doing custom home illustrations for the real estate industry. They were ink drawings and I'd add "watercolor accents", which was a very un-intimidating way of using watercolor. As the years progressed, I began adding more and more watercolor and about a decade into it I realized I had become pretty good with this medium!! Today watercolor is one of my favorite things to paint with. Its translucent nature allows it to be layered in the most beautiful ways, utilizing one's knowledge of color theory to the fullest extent. Great watercolor paintings achieve a full range of values (lights and darks) and balance them throughout the composition. I love watercolor for loose, painterly portraits of people, homes, pets, and florals. Watercolor is completed on paper, not canvas. I don't typically do it live, as it doesn't work well mounted on an easel. I have painted live in watercolor at a few weddings, but I need to paint on a table, not an easel.  
​

ACRYLIC

ACRYLIC

Acrylic was developed in the 20th century as an affordable alternative to oil. It is water based  (rather than oil based) with a plastic binder and dries very quickly. Acrylic works beautifully on so many surfaces - canvases, windows, indoor wall murals, a nice piece of primed wood, etc. I love to use it for live paintings because I'm often painting in very fancy spaces and clean up is a breeze! Acrylic brushes can be cleaned with water and soap and there are no toxic vapors to contend with. The fact that it dries so quickly allows me to put down a layer of paint, let it dry for about 10 minutes, and apply another layer right on top of it. This lets me build up compositions super quickly, and when I'm painting live, time is of the essence! One down side to acrylic is that blending requires a little more finessing than one will find with oils. If the paint is on your palette for too long it'll start to get thick and difficult to use.  Some artists mix their acrylics with a medium that slows down drying time and reduces drag.  In addition, it may not maintain is pristine quality for multiple generations as easily as oil will. After a few decades, the thickest parts may develop hairline cracks. Alternatively, the synthetic nature of the colors will last in the sun longer than some natural pigments found in many oil paints. One way of addressing some of acrylic's "issues" is to apply a quality varnish seal on top to protect the painting and give it a cohesive luster. 

OIL

OIL

Oil is the OG for painters. It's been in widespread use since it replaced the medieval egg tempera paints during the Italian Renaissance and eventually (thankfully!) made its way out of the studios and apothecaries and into portable tubes! Over time, even turpentine has been widely replaced by an odorless "turpenoid" or a less toxic option known as Citrus Thinner. Still, oil painting can be cumbersome to clean up and most painters feel most comfortable using it in a studio setting where we don't have to be concerned with accidents or spills. In addition, oil paintings can take weeks or even months to dry and fully cure, so giving it to a client to transport right away is a big risk. The paints and their required accoutrements (linseed oil, proper brushes, thinner, etc) cost significantly more money as well. With that said, I LOVE LOVE LOVE to do my portraits the "old fashioned way" in oil paint. The texture of the paints are so buttery and smooth, they blend like a dream, and the colors are so dependable. The artist can choose to apply thin layers of paint and build them up into a rich "glaze", or work in an "impasto" style which means using thick, textured strokes of paint. Personally I do a little of both! An oil painting can last forever if taken care of properly and is a timeless, classic choice. 
​