How to make acrylics work and look like oils?

You can make acrylic paints look and feel like oil paintings by using special tricks that help them behave more slowly and smoothly.

Acrylics are like watercolor, they dry fast and don’t mix well once they’re on the paper. Oils, though, move slowly and keep mixing even after you paint them. To make acrylics work like oils, we give them a helper called gesso or matte medium.

Imagine you're painting with syrup, it moves slowly and stays sticky for a long time. Gesso is like putting on a layer of syrup before you start painting. It slows down the acrylics so they stay wet longer, letting you mix them just like oils do.

After using gesso, you can mix your colors more easily, and even add water or oil to make the paint flow better. This helps it look soft and shiny, just like oil paintings!

Now, acrylics can behave slowly, mix well, and look rich, no magic needed, just a little helper and some clever mixing!