Comparing colors in oils and acrylics

Vianna Szabo · 09-02-2007, 10:22 AM

Hello everyone,

I will be teaching several classes concerning color. I offered the classes with oil and pastel because they are mediums I am most comfortable with and I know the color mixing properties of different brands. Several students will be working in acrylic but I am not familiar with how they compare to oils. I teach a very limited palette in oils of:

Pam Powell · 09-02-2007, 02:42 PM

I'm sure there are plenty of people here that will give you more complete information, but I remember one thing about acrylics that drove me mad. I painted with them for several years before I discovered oils 17 years ago. I don't remember being shocked about differences in the actual colors and how they mixed together when wet, but I was amazed at how much acrylics darkened when they dried. I didn't realize how much I'd struggled with that until I switched to oils and the problem went away. I thought the hardest thing was getting accurate values.

Vianna Szabo · 09-02-2007, 04:52 PM

Thank you Pam,
That is important information to know. I usually make value and color shift decisions on the palette and will have to adjust for that. How much does the value change and does the amount of medium affect them as well?

I worked for another artist in his studio using acrylics, His philosophy was that any mistakes could be covered by another layer of paint but I found it got muddy if you were not sensitve to the preceding layer.

Pam Powell · 09-03-2007, 03:02 AM

The good thing about acrylics is that they dry fast, as long as the paint is opaque you really can paint on top and correct anything. The only circumstance where an under-layer would effect an over-layer is if the top layer is transparent.

I painted opaquely when I was using acrylics, I just remember that there were times when I was painting on dry hot days and I thought I'd loose my mind. I'd put a brushstroke down, reach for another brush full of paint from the same pile, and discover that the first brushstroke was dry and half a value step darker than the wet paint.

Sometimes I'd stop painting because I had to tend to something else, I'd come back to find that matching the dry paint was really hard because I had to mix a lighter value than what was on the canvas because if would dry darker. Of course, sometimes, I just had to repaint the whole darn thing.

Just before I gave up on acrylics I discovered a medium that extended the drying time and actually made it possible to do some blending. I imagine it's used commonly now, I don't remember it having any effect on that value nightmare.

Vianna Szabo · 09-03-2007, 08:02 AM

[/QUOTE]I'd come back to find that matching the dry paint was really hard because I had to mix a lighter value than what was on the canvas because if would dry darker.

There lies the excitement. In oils I can always match color that was previously mixed. I think it is time for me to pull some old acrylics out of the basement and do some quick still lives. A student of mine uses the extender medium but it still dried to fast for my liking. Softening edges will also be more of a challenge I would think.

Thank you for your information, Pam, it really helped.

Sharon Knettell · 09-03-2007, 08:13 AM

Vianna,

I taught a course on color in Scottsdale last spring.

One of the most frustrating things was to have a student who is not on the same page as you. It is a very difficult subject to teach- for me at least. Color is so subtle, as you know. A slight shift in color can mean all the difference beween radiant and oops!

I would insist that your students all work with the same colors and medium.