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Painters and acrylic
Prior to the 19th century, artists mixed their own paints which allowed them to achieve the desired color, thickness, and to control the use of fillers, if any. While suitable media and raw pigments are available for the individual production of acrylic paint, due to the fast drying time and other technical issues, hand mixing may not be practical.
Acrylic painters modify the appearance, hardness, flexibility, texture, and other characteristics of the paint surface using acrylic media or by simple adding water. Watercolour and oil painters also use various media, but the range of acrylic media is much greater.
Differences between acrylic and oil paint
The vehicle and binder of oil paints is linseed oil or another drying oil, whereas water serves as the vehicle for an emulsion (suspension) of acrylic polymer that is the binder in acrylic paint. Thus, oil paint is said to be "oil-based", while acrylic paint is "water-based" (or sometimes "water-borne").
The main practical difference between most acrylics and oil paints is the inherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colours and apply even glazes over under paintings.
Oil provides a different (less clear) refractive index than acrylic dispersions, imparting a unique "look and feel" to the resultant paint film.
Due to acrylic's more flexible nature and more consistent drying time between colours the painter does not have to follow the "fat over lean" rule of oil painting, where more medium must be applied to each layer to avoid cracking. While canvas needs to be properly sized and primed before painting with oil (otherwise it will eventually rot the canvas), acrylic can be safely applied to raw canvas.
Oil paints fade in color and develop a yellow tint over time; they also begin to crack with age. Meanwhile, acrylic paint is very elastic, which prevents cracking from occurring. Acrylic paint's binder is acrylic polymer emulsion; as this binder dries the paint remains flexible.
Due to acrylic's more flexible nature and more consistent drying time between colours the painter does not have to follow the "fat over lean" rule of oil painting, where more medium must be applied to each layer to avoid cracking. While canvas needs to be properly sized and primed before painting with oil (otherwise it will eventually rot the canvas), acrylic can be safely applied to raw canvas.
Oil paints fade in color and develop a yellow tint over time; they also begin to crack with age. Meanwhile, acrylic paint is very elastic, which prevents cracking from occurring. Acrylic paint's binder is acrylic polymer emulsion; as this binder dries the paint remains flexible.
Another difference between oil and acrylic paints is the versatility offered by acrylic paints - acrylic is very useful in mixed media, allowing use of pastel (oil & chalk), charcoal, pen, etc. on top of the dried acrylic painted surface.
Mixing other bodies into the acrylic is possible - sand, rice, even pasta may be incorporated in the artwork. Mixing artist quality acrylic paint with household acrylic emulsions is possible, allowing the use of pre-mixed tints straight from the tube or tin, so presenting the painter with a vast color range at his or her disposal.
This versatility is also illustrated in the wide variety of additional artistic uses that acrylics afford the artist.
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