When it comes to painting, understanding the materials you work with can make all the difference in the final outcome of your artwork. This week, Stephen is diving into one of the most important distinctions between two popular mediums: oil paints and acrylics.
While many artists know about the difference in drying times, there’s another critical factor that can significantly impact your painting — tonal shift during drying.
The Big Difference: Drying Time and Tonal Shift
Acrylic paints dry much faster than oil paints, which can be both a blessing and a challenge, depending on your style. But the real surprise comes after the paint has dried. As Stephen explains in this video, acrylic paints tend to darken as they dry. This tonal shift can catch you off guard if you’re not prepared for it.
In contrast, oil paints dry slowly and maintain a more consistent tone as they cure. This means that the color you see when you apply the paint is much closer to what you’ll see when it’s fully dry.
Why Tone Matters
Tone can refer to the colour of your painting, or how dark or light the colour is. Tone can be made darker or lighter by adding white or black, or certain other colours. It’s closely related to value.
Whether you’re creating a dramatic landscape or a delicate portrait, getting the tone right is essential. With acrylics, the darkening effect can alter the balance of your piece, so it’s important to anticipate this shift when mixing your colours.
In this video, Stephen delves into this topic in more detail, explaining the science behind the tonal shift and offering practical tips for working with both oil and acrylic paints.
The key difference
When your paint is drying, it can become darker! In the case of acrylic paints, this is very obvious, and it’s the key difference from oils. You need to know this will happen, ahead of time and compensate with your original acrylic paint mix.
Understanding the colour difference when your paint dries will help you create more accurate artwork. We hope you learn a lot and get that magical “Aha!” moment while watching this video.