[Richard Monro]

There has been a lot of discussion about oils verses acrylics. Principle issues seem to revolve around working time, being able to work wet into wet and blending edges. I work exclusively in acrylics (15 Years) because of bad reactions to oils and have learned some valuable lessions to pass along. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona where drying times for acrylic paint right out of the tube is measured in seconds when applied to the canvas (It's the 7% humidity). With that being said here are some tips:

1) Drying time is a blessing allowing you to work over a passage almost right away. If you are confident with your applications the project moves along quickly.

2) Scrumbling allows subtle blending and creates very luminous skin tones. However, it may take several scrumble layers to achieve the luminous effect.

3) Working wet into wet used to be a problem. Recently I began experiments with Golden's Acrylic Glazing Liquid (AGL). That product now allows me to use oil techniques with acrylic paints. The secret is to mix the AGL 50/50 with the paint. Also, apply a layer of AGL to the surface being painted before applying any of your color mixture. You can then work wet into wet, blend edges and have extended working time just as in oils. With this technique alone I get about one hour of open working time in the dry desert. However, by periodically applying a water mist to the surface being worked, working time is extended almost indefinitely. Stop the mist and the film is dry enough to be reworked in 2 hours or less.

The archival properties of acrylics are also noteworthy. Having been a research scientist in one of my former careers, I made a careful examination of the potential longevity of fine art acrylics before making the transition from oils to acrylics. (We artists tend to be a very conservative and traditional group by nature don't we?) My research revealed that acrylics will probably match or exceed oil paintings for longevity over time. The film remains flexible while oils continue to harden. Thus cracking will be less or non existent. The acrylic polymer "locks in" or encapsulates the paint. Thus the leaching of mediums or binder chemicals that occur in oils and which ultimately can create support problems over time doesn't occur in acrylics. Because of the encapsulation ,acrylics paint layers do not tend to grow more transparent with time as sometimes occurs with oils.

With all that being said, acrylics do require some changes from the way one may have worked in oils. The biggest one is to compensate for the value shift that occurs as the polymer film dries. Colors darken slightly and become a little more saturated. However, one quickly learns to make the necessary compensations.

I venture to make a predicition that acrylics will eventually take their place along side oils in figurative and portrait fine art as a medium of choice.So if you want a change, give acrylics a try. Once you learn the tricks of the medium you might be favorabley impressed.