It is quite natural that with the invention of oil painting over the already existing watercolor painting, evolution would not stop. Acrylic painting is the exact idea to this concept as it is similar to both the ideas but has its own uniqueness. As far as acrylic painting is concerned it has been taken up in many places and preferred over oil painting also.

 

Unique characteristics separating it from the rest:

 

(a) The basic difference that distinguishes acrylic painting with oil painting is the drying duration of the paint applied. Traditional painters think that the oil paints are much reliable as they allow the paints to mix for a longer period before drying. This certainly is a good technique but on certain occasions this time delay may cause the painter to lose the true essence of what he wanted. For these purpose acrylic paints come in much handy as they get dry off quite instantly.

 

(b) As far as watercolor painting is concerned; it may be considered similar to acrylic painting based on the fact that, even acrylic paints are used after they have been mixed in water. However, there is a subtle difference between acrylic paints and watercolors as the acrylic paints, though water soluble, are resistant to water once they have dried. This definitely is an advantage over the watercolors, which may be washed off even after the paint has dried.

 

Ability to suppress other techniques:

 

It should be noted that the acrylic painting style can resemble any other form of techniques. Considering the amount of dilution in the paint and the composition of the mixture we can determine if the paint would resemble watercolor painting or canvas painting. This however, does not necessarily mean that it may not have anything of its own. Instead it may have various unique genres of paints to paint with depending upon its composition just like the shades of different colors obtained by blending a few of them.

 

Nowadays, people seek to get paintings done with acrylic paints as they may be as good as an oil painting and for that matter it also allows the painter to work efficiently. The work done with acrylic paints is done in no time in comparison to an oil painting. However, one should not consider the fact that acrylic painting is simple to do and can be done away with pretty easily.

 

Points to remember while using Acrylic paints:

 

It is to be noted that acrylic painting takes a considerable amount of dexterity on behalf of the painter. This is because the paint itself used in acrylic painting dries out sooner than normal paint. Thus the person painting has to apply his strokes deftly at more regular intervals than normal painting. It is a work of careful and skillful hands and is practiced on the canvas itself like oil painting.

 

Because the paint dries of quickly the painter must pay careful attention to the fact that, it must be kept on a moist palette. The color or paint must be kept in sufficient moist condition, to prevent it from drying out, or else it would be rendered very useless, as it would not blend with water any further.