From Marion Boddy-Evans,
Your Guide to Painting.
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I have been painting part-time for about three years now, and have tried both oils and acrylics. I think they both have their pluses and minuses, and I have yet to make up my mind (keep going back and forth). I tend to paint more in acrylics because I have a good stay-wet palette and my paints keep in there for days without drying. It seems if I can't paint for a day or two, my oils are dying up on my palette. I also like the clean-up with acrylics, but like other, prefer the 'smell' of oils. Who knows, I may never make up my mind and keep painting in both. -- Leo

I like to paint with oils, only because this was the first medium I worked with. Due to grandchildren, I am unable to work with oils because of the odour of the paint thinner/turpentine, etc. and have resorted to using acrylic and watercolour. I can paint with any of them but when the opportunity presents itself, I prefer the oils. When first beginning, I found that taking classes using all mediums to be of great assistance in becoming familiar with each. -- Rose Mary (Mouse85)

I use both, but I'm partial to oils. However, I also only do knife painting with oils: no brushes to clean. I'm not a big fan of using brushes: they seem to take away some of the paint's lustre (to me, anyway!) Also, I like to lay colour on thickly to produce an impasto effect: I'm like a big kid, I guess. Oils have so much more body than acrylics, which I find too thin. I know you can buy something that thickens acrylics, but what's the point? I also like the smell of oil paints, believe it or not, and the smell (or lack thereof) is important to me when I pick them out. -- Mark R

Both are good for different things. I love oils. You can't beat the richness of the colours or the transparency and glazing effects you can get. If you like time to push the paint around and get it right oils give you plenty of time. I like acrylics because they do dry fast. Yes, you have to learn to paint faster but then, if it isn't right, let it dry and paint over it. You will NOT remove acrylic once it's dry, unlike oils. I have several paintings that rely on thick texture. Guess it would take oils months or even years to dry whereas I can lay on a quarter inch thick glob of "texture" in acrylic and come back the next day and it's dry, ready for the next step. You can get a glazing effect with acrylic though it is difficult and will never be quite as transparent as oil. It is possible though. -- Artmaker1

I have used acrylics for years but recently took a seminar in oils. The paint used during the seminar was Genesis Oils and I was immediately hooked. They are heat-set oils so they never dry out until you want them to. Then you just use a heat gun or bake your painting in the oven for 10 minutes. You can leave you paint on your palette or in your brushes forever and it will not dry out. The paint behaves like traditional oils in all other ways. The other great things about these oil paints is that there is no smell, they clean up with Murphy’s Oil Soap and water so there is no need to mess about with toxic substances. -- Dawnflame

I have been an illustrator for over 30 years. Acrylic is a medium that very popular with illustrators as it has a very quick drying time. Drying time is always an issue with illustrators as many of the paintings we do are due the same day or the next day. There also reasons not to use acrylic paint. One is the fast drying time, which means you must understand under painting. For example, if you put blue on a dry yellow you get green. Another is that acrylic ruins brushes in a hurry. I tried to clean some of my brushes the other day and found that they never can be cleaned. That's okay if you use cheap brushes but some of those brushes were sable and cost nearly $100 each. Watercolour brushes cost much more than oil brushes. To an illustrator this simply the cost of doing business but to a beginner the price can be a real problem. -- Ron

Why don't you try using both media -- acrylic first with its translucency and then overt his with oil paint for its opacity. Just make sure the acrylic paints' totally dry (begin with thin layers on well-primed canvas) before applying oils -- don't be afraid to experiment! You could also try "glazing" your acrylic painting with thinned oil paints (using linseed oil) -- it will take a while to dry but you may be surprised with the effects! -- Ado1963

Theory is all very well, but until you play with them yourself, you won't know. I reckon just play till you decide yourself. -- Taffetta

What you should do is go the local art store and purchase both oil and acrylics of the main colour groups. Like red, yellow, and blue ... and get some small board canvas and just try them out. -- MissySue