newsletter entry #2: Why Oil Paint Over Acrylics?

I’ve been working for several years on my concentric art with heavy texture overlay. Along the way, I’ve been asked about my choice of pigment between oil and acrylics.

I’ve given the same answer consistently about my preference, and I wish to bring more clarity to that curiosity here. Acrylic pigments are water-based and can be manipulated by water and several acrylic-related solvents. Oils, however, are based on color pigment and oil binders. They can be manipulated or combined with related vehicles like linseed oil. Therefore, for my textured paintings, I have a choice between acrylic paint and oil paint. There’s also a third choice of water-based oil paint, but we’ll get to that another time.

Acrylics dry quickly, while oil paint will become ‘surface dry’ over a few weeks, but remain moist on the inside layers for months, or sometimes years - depending on application and atmospheric conditions. Acrylics often evaporate and flatten when they dry, and therefore do not create the bulky texture that I prefer for my paintings. However, oils do not lose weight and remain bulky during their drying process. That is why I prefer the use of oils to create my thick higher-relief paint texture.

Additionally, oil paint has existed for centuries before the emergence of acrylic-based paints. Because of this, I’m invested in oil paint’s heritage and longevity to satisfy the durability expectations of my paintings.

Finally, oils are more versatile and adept at expressing different genres of painting. They are also more valuable and high quality than acrylics. However, I still love to use acrylics for specific works where their qualities thrive well.

Thank you.

Chu

The Artist. August 2026.

As an artist who works with brushes and palette knives, people always ask me which of the two I prefer. For centuries, brushes have been the typical tool used by painters on wood panels or canvases. Even the early cave artists created tools similar to brushes, and painted to inspire animal hunting and the consequential need for survival . They rendered animals on cave walls with these early brushes. Legendary artists like Leonardo and Picasso also relied a lot on brushes. 

However, palette knives and related tools began to make meaningful impact in the early 19th century and have since become an elegant and bold option for painters. Prominent artists like Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and recently Essien Nsikak (one of my mentors) relied heavily on their use. Palette knives allow for the application of heavily-layered paint to create distinct textures and rich effects on painting surfaces. Hence, I use both brushes and knives as my vehicles to drive my story.