What is the difference between acrylic paint, watercolour paint and oil paint?

New students wanting to learn how to paint are faced with deciding which medium to choose to paint with. This can be really confusing, so I want to give you a synopsis of the differences between the three types of paints most commonly used - acrylic paint, watercolour paint and oil paint.

All paint is made of two things - pigment (the colour - a dry powder) and a binder (this is what holds the dry pigment together and let's you apply it on a support like paper, canvas, wood etc.).

The three paints we are discussing use different binders - so each type of paint will dry differently, move differently across the paper or canvas, create different transparencies, and reflect colour differently. It is the type of binder used in each type of paint that makes the paint handle in these different ways. An artist is able to do different things which each type of paint and paint quite different paintings depending on his or her choice of medium.

Certain painting techniques work better with certain paints and, certainly, an oil painting does not look like a watercolour. However, every paint produces extraordinary work and the choice will depend mostly on your personality, and your style of art.

If you can, try all three paint mediums before you invest heavily in one type of paint. Everybody is different and your personality will likely respond more to one type of paint more that another. If you can't find classes in your area to do that, start with a limited colour palette first - just a few tubes of colour and a couple of brushes to try each medium.

Here are some pros and cons of each type of paint to help you choose what to begin with.
But seriously, they are all amazing, every medium creates beautiful art.
​(The photos provided of each medium do not speak to the range that each medium can achieve, but I have tried to select pieces that represent the medium and well-known artists that worked in each specific paint type.)

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Soupcans
​Andy Wahrhol, 1962 - MOMA
32 canvases , each 20" x 16" - Acrylic on Canvas

 
​ACRYLIC
​Acrylic is made of pigment and acrylic polymer emulsion. When water evaporates from the acrylic polymer emulsion, the remaining molecules lock themselves into a stable solid paint film. 

This is the medium I personally start my students with. Artists started using it in the 1950's. It is easy to use and very forgiving so I personally feel it is the best for novices to try painting with.

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PRO
 - Easy to use.

- Great for sharp lines, graphic style work.

- Well suited for detail work.

- Dries fast, so you can paint over mistakes.
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- Easy clean up - water and soap.

CON
- Colour shift. Colours dry darker than when wet.

 - More difficult to do blends and gradations with.

 - Dries fast - so you can't fix and move lines or keep working on an area you may want to.
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- You can't leave paint on your palette and come back to it later as it dries so fast.

For inspiration and to see what acrylic paint can do visit the National Acrylic Painter's Association
http://www.napauk.com/artists.htm

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WATERCOLOUR
Watercolour is made with pigment and gum arabic (which is tree sap obtained from the acacia tree).

Magical things happen with watercolour, but sometimes you have to be prepared to except the way the watercolour wants to go ....Loose or controlled, watercolour can create paintings like Turner's or highly accurate botanical illustrations. This is the second paint that I introduce students to.

A Wreck, Possibly Related to 'Longships Lighthouse, Land's End' c.1834 - Tate Museum
Joseph Mallord William Turner
338 x 491 mm - Watercolour on Paper

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 PRO
- Very cool effects if you allow the watercolour to do what it wants to do.

- Create ethereal loose work or highly detailed work.

- Dries quite fast, depending on humidity where you are. If colours dry on your palette you can re-hydrate them later.
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- Easy clean up - water and soap.

- Quick painting techniques, can be used quickly to capture a moment.
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CON
- Colour shift. Colours dry much lighter than when you put them on the paper.

 - More difficult to cover a mistake.

- Harder to control, paper buckling and paint.

 - Watercolour techniques are simple in theory, but can be more challenging to  master. It takes time to learn how the colours interact with each other and why they behave the way they do on the paper.

- If you are doing glazes, there is a lot of wait time between each drying cycle.

For inspiration and to see what watercolour paint can do visit the Royal Watercolour Society
https://www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk/artists/

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Elizabeth Winthrop Chandler
​John Singer Sargent,​ 1893 - Smithsonian American Art Museum
49" x 40.5 " - Oil on Canvas

OIL

Oil Paint is pigment plus oil used as the binder - usually linseed oil. Oil dries much slower than water, so the paint has a longer time for an artist to work with it.

​This is the medium of the masters. When you see a painting in a museum you are most likely looking at an oil painting. The glazing effects and the way light and colour reflects through oil paint is extraordinary.

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PRO
- Longer working time than the other mediums.
You can start a painting and come back to where you were the next day - the paint on your canvas and palette stays wet.
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- Oil paints blend beautifully creating smooth transitions which makes them excellent for portraiture

- No colour shift (except over many, many years ....) what you mix on your palette is what you see when it dries.

-Higher ratio of pigment to binder than acrylic or watercolour, creating very intense colours.

-Incredible transparency effects can be created with oil paint and it is luxurious to paint with. Like painting with butter.

CON
​- If you want crisp sharp lines, or want a different colour on top of one you have already painted, you have to wait for a day or up to week before the underlying colours are dry. 
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- Colours can become muddy if you paint on top of another colour when it hasn't dried.

- Clean up is a bit more complex than acrylics or watercolours. Oil and soap, or solvents and soap are used.

- An oil painting takes a long time before it fully dries so that you can varnish it.

- If you use solvents or certain mediums, you will need ventilation.

For inspiration and to see what oil paint can do visit the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
http://theroi.co.uk/roi-members/

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