I feel like I’m putting my learning curve right out there for you all to see! It’s a little intimidating, but I’m so loving trying to figure out these oil paints that I don’t really care. Some day soon I will attempt a larger painting on a properly prepared surface. (All of these have been 5″ X 7″ or less.)
For those of you who haven’t dabbled in oils, here are the main differences (from acrylics) that I’m seeing:
-The paint stays wet much longer (days even!) which lets me go back and rework areas I’m not happy with.
-The paint stays where I put it. With acrylics, if it’s a little too wet, newly applied paint sometimes bleeds into another previously painted area.
-I can still do background washes by thinning the paint and applying big strokes. I can even blend out areas of the stroke that aren’t to my liking.
-The colors seem to stay true better than acrylics. Sometimes acrylics dry a very different color than what you thought they were going to be.
To anyone who has dabbled in oils or is proficient in them, I know these points sound ridiculously obvious. But until you really experience them, it’s hard to describe. I find it amazing (frustrating? stupid?) that it has taken me 30 years to give this a try. Talk about being stuck in a rut!
And, by the way, why am I painting winter vegetables and not spring flowers????