Don't get me wrong, I love my oil paints and wouldn't think of changing to another medium but with that comes certain frustrations. One of the main ones that I face on just about every painting is the slow drying time of oil paints. Many times I would like to put my hand down on a certain area of my painting in order to paint something else near it in a detailed manner. The problem arises when that area under my hand is not dry yet. I know what some of you are saying "Pat, they make this thing called a maulstick", and yes I know and in fact I use one. The only thing with them is that for very detailed areas I like to have the hand on the canvas, and sometimes it doesn't feel like I can get what I want with my hand on the stick. The rested hand allows me to move just my fingers with the base of my hand as an "anchor". I have learned as the years have gone by to "pick my way around" my work and plan for it so that it doesn't come into play that much.

  The other thing that I like about acrylics is that again because of their fast drying time an artist can paint a layer, add another one on top of that, and add another one on top of that, and get instant feedback as to if their idea will look right. Working in oils I would have to wait for the first layers to dry before putting on the third and I might not like what I have painted by the time that comes.
 
  These two situations don't happen as often they used to because as I just mentioned, I have learned to plan better. I still do wonder about what would happen if I really put some time into acrylics, would that change the way I paint? How would my paintings look? I don't know as I have too much invested in my oil paints and to little time to to explore it more. At the end of the day I guess it's "oil paints or bust" and its not like I lose anything with either of these two situations as I still can make the work look the way I want, it just takes time.

  Thats all I got for today, what did you think? Leave me a comment or question and I'll be sure to get back to you. I'll see you again on Friday, take care.