Limitations of Acrylic Paint
Acrylic paint is a very versatile medium. As a water-based paint, it is easy to clean up and can be thinned with water. You can add various substances to acrylic paint to create texture on your canvas. It dries quickly and it doesn't have an unpleasant odor. However, there are still a few limitations to acrylic paint.
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Dries Too Quickly
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One of the major limitations of acrylic paint is that it dries too quickly. Within a few minutes, acrylic paint will be completely dry on a canvas. A tube of acrylic paint left open will be rock hard around the edge within a few hours. Drying so quickly makes it hard to subtly blend paint as you can do with oils. Also, paint dries very quickly on the palette, unless you buy a special kind. These special palettes help to maintain the moisture of the paint as you create your masterpiece, but they aren't cheap. There does exist acrylic gel retarder, though -- a semi-clear gel that you can add to acrylic paint to slow down the drying time.
Stains Clothing
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When acrylic paint gets on clothing, it generally stains. First of all, because it dries so fast, it generally is completely hardened on your clothing in a matter of minutes. Acrylic paint doesn't come out in the washing machine and scrubbing it with a detergent or stain remover won't usually work. However, this is easily combated when painting -- simply wear an apron, smock or old clothes that you don't mind getting ruined.
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Ruins Paintbrushes
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Acrylic paint has a tendency to ruin paintbrushes. This is because of how quickly it dries, and because acrylic paint is slightly abrasive. Over time, acrylic paint ruins softer paintbrushes, especially nylon watercolor brushes. For this reason, painting can become an expensive hobby if you are using acrylic paint, because you'll constantly have to be buying new brushes. The other alternative is to use less fine brushes which can handle more abrasive paint. These tend to be less expensive but they also are poorer in quality and may be more difficult to use.
Durability
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While acrylic paints seem durable, they still have yet to pass the test of time. Acrylic paint has only been in existence for a little over half a century. There is simply no way to know how acrylic paint will hold up in the long run. There exist oil paintings dating from centuries back that are still completely intact. Whether acrylic paint will hold up in the same fashion for as long is completely unknown.
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References
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