I get asked a lot what medium I work in and while I also enjoy drawing and sketching, acrylics are my medium of choice. I recently read an interview from acrylic artist Marcia Burtt that echoed many of my similar reasons for choosing acrylics over oil. Nothing against other mediums. I just prefer acrylic for many of these reasons:
“Acrylic is not only opaque and quick-drying, but it cannot be lifted or dissolved by subsequent layers. If I don’t like the stroke I just put on, I can use a damp rag to remove it immediately.
In essence, it’s oil painting without the waiting. The colors are just as rich, and I can mix and apply them exactly the same way. Yet it’s easy to scumble one color over another to create a pointillist effect or to revise the edge of a grove of trees without getting the sky color dirty.
When the weather changes, I can too. As the sun and shadows move, I can follow them. When the tide and waves go in and out, I can paint over and over, searching for what works with the rest of the painting.
When my drawing isn’t accurate, I can paint the negative shapes to correct it, working back and forth from one shape to another in a lengthy painterly duet.”