Painting oils on to acrylics

[kagemusha]

I am confused by the conviction that you cannot use acrylics over oils. As long as the oils are thoroughly dry, and you are using them to enhance ares of hi-lites or detail etc., there is no reason to avoid acrylics.
If you wanted to cover larger areas, again, as long as the oils are dry, just give them a coat of 'Klear' or "Dullcote' and you won't have a problem.
As previously mentioned, todays acrylics have far superior adhesion to the acrylics of past times. To avoid using them is to deny yourself another tool.

Regards

Ron

 

[taff edwards]

Thanks fort the feed back Ron having a whole day at it tomorrow yahooooooooo
Cheers Chris

 

[garyhiggins]

Hi Ron, my statement is not a conviction, it's just a general principle. In practice, the area in question is so tiny that it probably wouldn't make any difference one way or the other, but the principle of not putting a stable substance on top of an unstable one must hold good.
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[kagemusha]

Hello Gary, sorry if you thought I meant you in particular. Not my intention. It is a long/widely held belief, that you cannot put acrylics over oils.
With regard to 'stable over unstable', I agree. Hence my statement of the oils being completely dry before attempting to use acrylics over them.
As an example, you wouldn't try and paint fresh plaster (unstable) until it has dried (stable).
I can only speak from my personal experience, I have used acrylics over (dry) oils for final hi-lites for years, simply because they give a 'cleaner/stronger' hi.

Cheers

Ron

 

[MCPWilk]

I often block in colour with acrylics and then detail with enamels (clothing) and oils (face, leather and wood).

Mike

 

[taff edwards]

Cheers Mikefor the feed back

 

[garyhiggins]

Hello Gary, sorry if you thought I meant you in particular. Not my intention. It is a long/widely held belief, that you cannot put acrylics over oils.
With regard to 'stable over unstable', I agree. Hence my statement of the oils being completely dry before attempting to use acrylics over them.
As an example, you wouldn't try and paint fresh plaster (unstable) until it has dried (stable).
I can only speak from my personal experience, I have used acrylics over (dry) oils for final hi-lites for years, simply because they give a 'cleaner/stronger' hi.

Cheers

Ron

Hi Ron, no offence taken or intended. I suppose the best way to sum up the rules thing is that they are for the guidance of the wise, and the obediance of fools.
BTW I probably would try and paint on fresh plaster, I'm lousy at DIY.
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[Alex]

acrylics over oils are a big no no unless your oils are fully dry.. how do you know that they re fully dry ?
well, you can't ! some oils will take up to one year to dry completely under normal conditions.. that's why you always wait one year to varnish your oil paintings with final varnish.

also, from a conservative point of view, oils over acrylic gesso (which is done ad nauseam these days) or acrylic layers of paint will not provide the best adherence for the oil paint... the best undercoat for oils is an oil ground..
but does it matter for our figures ? no i don't think so.

cheers

alex

 

[kagemusha]

Oils taking 'up to a year to dry' is very much a thing of the past. Modern oil paints, applied in the 'traditional' way (brushes) can take up to 10 weeks to dry thoroughly.
Also, remember that the application of oils on canvas, is a far different method than that used by figure painters. We tend to use them in very thin layers which, under normal (not forced/heat dried) conditions, will dry in 24 hours.
There are some pigments that will take longer, which is why many figure painters choose to force dry them. Remember though, we tend to mix a lot of colours, and this kind of balances things out in terms of drying.
It has more to do with the application of the oils, than the oils themselves. How they were applied in days gone by, was the root cause of so many figure painters complaining of 'brush strokes' showing.
That was simply too much oil being applied (canvas style) and is why they should always be put down in very thin layers.

Ron

 

[taff edwards]

Cheers Ron
Chris