Synthetic or taklon brushes, can also be used for oil paints and depending on personal preference, are also an alternative if you don't want to use natural hair brushes like hog bristle. Synthetic brushes hold and apply paint well and can even be scrubbed against a canvas too, just like hog bristle.
Regardless of specificity, natural bristle brushes work best with oil mediums. This is because, regardless of advances in synthetic bristles (many are excellent), synthetic bristles tend to be affected by the mediums and solvents used with oils. They tend to rapidly cling together and become useless.
While you can use your gouache/watercolor brushes for acrylic and oil painting, it's best to have separate brushes for different mediums to maintain their quality and performance. If you decide to use them interchangeably, ensure they are thoroughly cleaned after each use to avoid cross-contamination.
Very small round brushes or long haired-rounds known as ``scripts'' or ``riggers'' are great for final details, hatching, and signing. I recommend synthetic brushes whose hairs form a point at the tip. Don't shy away from watercolor brushes of this type as they will work well with oils.
Oils Blend Like a Dream
One of the most significant advantages of oil painting is its ability to blend with little effort. The slow-drying nature and creamy consistency of oil paints allows me to manipulate the colors on the canvas, effortlessly blending shades together to create smooth transitions and soft gradients.
While traditional gesso is the most commonly used primer for canvas, there are several alternatives that artists can use. Here are some alternatives to traditional gesso: 1. Acrylic medium: Acrylic medium can be used as a primer for canvas and dries much faster than traditional gesso.
This may seem somewhat obvious, but oil paints are oil-based (surprise!), however, a little less clear is the water-based nature of acrylic paint. This means that their very chemical basis makes them completely incompatible. If you were to try, the first thing you'd notice is that they simply don't blend.
Types of Brushes for Oil Painting
Synthetic brushes mimic natural hair bristles and provide a good allergy-free, less-expensive, and more sustainable alternative to them. Natural brushes are just that--made of natural animal hair like sable, or natural hog bristles.
They can be soft or stiff; the soft brushes work well with watercolour, while the stiff brushes work well with oils. Cass Art Grey Synthetic brushes are ideal for use with all brands and types of oil and acrylic paint, whatever technique you want to use.
Natural brushes are ideal for oil and watercolor painting but may not withstand acrylic paints.
Use the same kind of oil that is in your paint to avoid adulteration with slower-drying or never-drying oils. I use linseed oil, but walnut oil is also recommended. Use a painter's tray or something similar, so they are not tip-down and distorting the shape of the brushes.
Brush Care
Avoid dipping a dry brush into oil paint. For natural hair brushes, first, dip the brush into painting medium. This distributes the natural oils of the brush hairs and allows each hair to load properly with paint. Different levels of the painting require different types of brush hair.
Natural bristle is the best choice for oil-based paints, varnishes, shellac, alkyd enamels, oil stains and oil-based polyurethanes. The highest quality bristles come from mainland China. Experienced, traditional painters will say there's nothing like the finish that a China bristle can provide for oil-based coatings.
Acrylic brushes can be used for oil painting but oil painting brushes should not be used for painting in acrylic. The number on the brush lets you know the width of the bristles. The brush should be labeled with the brand and the type of bristles.
Untreated, or right out of the tube, oil paints usually dry to a semi-gloss that will stay looking “wetter” than most of acrylics will. Thicker paint will be glossier. Mixing a thinner or medium can adjust the finish of an oil painting up to a high gloss or down to a matte finish, but it won't be perfectly even.
Except for the lightning fast drying time, oil paint can essentially do everything that acrylic can do, and has superior quality, luminous colors, and much higher functionality overall. If you really want pro level skills for making all kinds of art, then you should consider joining the Evolve Artist Program HERE.
In any case, the acrylic will definitely flake off at some point. So in short, you can use both oil paints and acrylic paints in your painting - just be sure to use oil over acrylic, and not acrylic over oil - and don't mix the two on your palette!
In general, oil paints can take from 2 days to 2 weeks to dry to the touch. The reason drying times can vary is that each oil paint colour dries at a different rate depending on the pigment. For example, Umber and Sienna might dry in 2 days, but Titanium White can take up to 2 weeks.
What Can Underpainting Achieve? An underpainting in oils, if used correctly, is a great way to unite color values in the overall painting and add a subjective color key to the painting that will create a tonal dominance. It helps establish the overall composition and values, providing a roadmap for subsequent layers.
Prepping your canvas makes it less absorbent, helps your paint sit better on the surface, and protects your canvas from natural corrosion. The primer gives you an even ground to work with, which means your brush strokes can flow easier and you will end up using less paint!