Should you ditch acrylics for oils?

For ages now, I’ve been wondering whether or not to make the switch to oils. After all, oil paintings command more respect in the art world, they fetch higher prices (on average) and they are considered to produce a nicer end result. So, I decided to put it to the test.

I painted the top image in oils first, using a free reference image from Unsplash. I was a little bit hampered by not having a lighter yellow (only a mid one), and my titanium white was quite thick and dry (perhaps I have left it too long before using the tube). Those limitations aside, I feel like this painting went well.

Oil paints lend themselves easily to blending, and they keep the brush marks nice and crisp. Unlike acrylics that shrink as they dry, oils don’t end up drying patchy either, and so the final result feels more professional, and predictable.

Having said that, I did stick my hand in the paint by accident a few times, when I forgot how long they do take to dry. This rather thin painting on paper took a week…