Re: Thinking of giving up on Oil ! 352 by Les Hubert on 03/07/01 at 2:49 AM
Re: Thinking of giving up on Oil !

In Reply to: Thinking of giving up on Oil ! posted by tish on 01/18/01 at 10:53 PM:

: Can someone encourage me otherwise? Never went to an art class, but have been doing fine with selling my acrylic portraits. I love the appearance of an oil picture, but the prep work for the canvas, the toning. the underpainting, layers, waiting for them to dry, varnishing or some other strange protecter, or this and that to use to bring up the luster. And back in the 1400's and 1800's, How did these oil artist icons protect their's? they didn't have this stuff then, didn't they just paint their pictures, let them dry and that was that? MY GOODNESS! Is this why oil paintings are so expensive? Using acrylic it seems is like a blessing! dries quickly, learning to blend was tricky, but I kind of mastered it. Soon as your done, spray it with a clear coat sealant---BAM ! your done. Could somebody please give me a good debate on this?

Hello Tish,
Your argument is a viable one. But have you ever looked closely and compared oils to acrylics, or oils to water color, etc...? They all have something to offer. Have you experimented with the different paints? Each has qualities that are unique unto themselves. Oils can be wonderfully warm and real, acrylics can be full of excitement and spontaneity. Have you looked closely at works of the old masters? They were willing to pay the price of preparation, cleanup, etc and in a day when they had to grind their own pigments! No tubes back then! As for the old masters, it is said that their "secrets" have been lost to us. I'm not sure this is true. It's more likely that their world was far less polluted than ours, thus allowing a painting to last much longer.
But don't be so harsh on oils. Each medium has 2 sides to them. Just use those artists' eyes of yours and you'll see for yourself.
Regards,
Les
ps have you tried water soluble oils yet?


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Post a Followup 241,352"> Les Hubert"> Les62759_aol.comRe: Thinking of giving up on Oil !_03/07/01 at 2:49"Re: Thinking of giving up on Oil !"
Can someone encourage me otherwise? Never went to an art class, but have been doing fine with selling my acrylic portraits. I love the appearance of an oil picture, but the prep work for the canvas, the toning. the underpainting, layers, waiting for them to dry, varnishing or some other strange protecter, or this and that to use to bring up the luster. And back in the 1400's and 1800's, How did these oil artist icons protect their's? they didn't have this stuff then, didn't they just paint their pictures, let them dry and that was that? MY GOODNESS! Is this why oil paintings are so expensive? Using acrylic it seems is like a blessing! dries quickly, learning to blend was tricky, but I kind of mastered it. Soon as your done, spray it with a clear coat sealant---BAM ! your done. Could somebody please give me a good debate on this? : Hello Tish, : Your argument is a viable one. But have you ever looked closely and compared oils to acrylics, or oils to water color, etc...? They all have something to offer. Have you experimented with the different paints? Each has qualities that are unique unto themselves. Oils can be wonderfully warm and real, acrylics can be full of excitement and spontaneity. Have you looked closely at works of the old masters? They were willing to pay the price of preparation, cleanup, etc and in a day when they had to grind their own pigments! No tubes back then! As for the old masters, it is said that their "secrets" have been lost to us. I'm not sure this is true. It's more likely that their world was far less polluted than ours, thus allowing a painting to last much longer. : But don't be so harsh on oils. Each medium has 2 sides to them. Just use those artists' eyes of yours and you'll see for yourself. : Regards, : Les : ps have you tried water soluble oils yet?

 
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