Oil Paints Vs. Acrylic
Oil painting is an ancient painting technique that dates back to 650 AD, found in the Bamiyan Caves in Afghanistan in 2008. Acrylic painting, however, has only been around since the 1950s, when the acrylic polymers were invented for exterior house paints. Artists alike use modern acrylic and oil paints to create beautiful masterpieces, each having their own distinct advantages.
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Composition -- Oil Paint
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Oil paint is made by combining ground pigments with an oil binder, usually linseed oil, until the mixture is a crumbly mass. A tool called a muller, which is a round piece of glass mounted on a handle, is used to grind the crumbly mixture between the stone slab it is being worked on and the glass in the muller. When an ultra-fine paste consistency is achieved, the paint is scooped into a canister or inserted into a tube and sold.
Composition -- Acrylic Paint
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Acrylic paint is made suspending pigment inside an acrylic emulsion, which is an organic acid that has been emulsified, or one liquid is suspended inside another.
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Drying Time
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Oil paint will be dry to the touch within two weeks, depending on the colors used. Colors like Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and Viridian (green) dry slow where Mars Black, Naples Yellow and Prussian Blue dry fast. Oil paint dries as it absorbs oxygen. Conversely, acrylic paint dries when all the water evaporates from the paint, which could be several minutes up to half an hour. The determining factors are the quantity of water mixed into the paint, the humidity and air circulation.
Toxicity
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Oil paint is made with natural ingredients like linseed oil, walnut oil, safflower oil and poppyseed oil. Most of the pigments are minerals and dirt. However, lead, manganese and cadmium is used in some of the pigments and should not be eaten or exposed to cuts. Oil painters often use solvents like mineral spirits, denatured alcohol or turpentine to clean their brushes and thin their paint. These items are toxic and flammable. Acrylic paints, however, only require water to thin them. Their cadmium, manganese or cobalt pigments, if absorbed in the skin, can be toxic.
Painting Techniques
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Oil painters enjoy the benefit from the long drying times of wet-on-wet painting techniques that acrylic painters do not. Oil painters can blend their tones easier because the paint is fluid and workable for such a long period of time. Acrylic painters must work fast to match the blending techniques achieved with wet-on-wet painting. Conversely, acrylic painters benefit from the fast-drying properties of their paint because they can thickly apply paint quickly to achieve texture, without having to wait days or weeks to achieve the same result.
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