When you first decide to paint, it can be difficult to decide on what is the best painting medium to use if you are a beginner. Below, American painter Eliyahu Mirlis goes over the options for each paint and the other things to think about before choosing your medium. This roundup includes lists of pros and cons for the most comment painting mediums. In addition to those listed below, paintings can be made with many other mediums such as gouache, oil pastel, ink, pencil, markers, spray paint and silkscreen among others.

Watercolor, acrylic or oil?

To choose one or another paint medium, look at the works of some artists. You may be inspired by the specific use of a type of paint. Some artists use a variety of mediums and techniques, while others use the same one for all their paintings. The choice is made based on factors such as drying time, ease of use, and the size of the painting. If you are interested in a work with a specific feel, identify what technique was used to create it.

Pros and cons for choosing your art medium

Watercolors

Watercolors are diluted with water, which makes them easy to use and clean. They re-thin even after drying, so new colors can be added to an already dry color. You can use transparencies to quickly cover large areas.

Pros:

• They are relatively cheap.
• They dry very fast.
• They give the possibility of creating expressive paintings with techniques such as glazes, drips and splashes.

Cons:

• It is difficult to master watercolor techniques.
• It is difficult to correct mistakes.
• Fragile: A single drop of water can spoil the entire work.

Acrylics

Acrylics mix advantages of both oils and watercolors. They dry fast and can therefore be layered in a short time. They can be mixed with water, so there is no need to worry about paint thinners or cleaning products.

Pros:

• Thick coats or thin glazes can be applied.
• They dry in minutes.
• Useful on various materials, such as canvas, paper, plastic or metal.

Cons:

• Quick drying means you have to work quickly to mix colors.
• Colors darken when drying.
• It is difficult to make large uniform areas.

For absolute beginners, New Jersey artist Eliyahu Mirlis recommends acrylic because is the easiest medium to gain confidence. The paint is opaque, meaning you can paint over mistakes – great when you’re starting out.

Oil paints

Oil paints have a great tradition and popularity thanks to their rich color palette. They confer a thick and structural quality. With techniques such as glazing, filling and layering, everything from abstract works to hyper-realistic images can be created.

Pros:

• They are more flexible thanks to a longer drying time.
• The colors blend very well.
• You can create textures with thick layers.

Cons:

• Canvases should be well primed if possible using a traditional technique.
• They require solvents such as white spirit.
• Difficult to create clean lines due to long drying time.

A watercolor can contain different techniques, from delicate glazes to clean lines and clear highlights. With acrylic you can build vibrant layers of color and add depth with bright hues. With oil you can use soft colors or not and achieve filling qualities that acrylic or watercolor will not give you.

Choosing an art medium can be challenging, especially when you are new to the arts. As Eliyahu Mirlis explains, there are plenty of strategies, tips, and proven methods for choosing an art medium. But at the end of the day, this is your choice, and it will be up to your own feelings, thoughts, and conclusions about different art styles to ultimately help you decide on a medium.

Cubism is an avant-garde movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture in the early 20th century.

Painter Eliyahu Mirlis, whose artworks have been influenced by this movement, indicates that the essence of cubism is that, instead of exhibiting a work from a simple and fixed angle, the artist breaks them down into a multiplicity of facets, so that several different aspects / faces of the theme can be seen simultaneously.

CUBISM

According to Mirlis, this style began in 1906 with two artists: Georges Braque (French) and Pablo Picasso (Spanish).

Both lived in the Montmartre district of Paris, France. They met in 1907, and worked closely together until World War I broke out in 1914.

The term “cubism” was first used by the French art critic Louis Vauxcelles, in 1908. (“bizarre cubiques” = cubes).

Subsequently, as Mirlis further explains, the term was widely used, but the two creators of cubism refrained from using it for a long time.

INFLUENCES

Picasso and Braque were the greatest exponents of this style and great innovators in the search for new ways to express space and form in painting.

As it was shared by Mirlis, they were influenced by Paul Cezanne, artist of African Tribal Art and Iberian sculpture.

FIRST PHASE OF CUBISM

Firstly, Picasso and Braque worked in parallel, between 1906-1909 in the period that we could call pre-cubism. From then on, they started to work side by side to promote their conceptions about what was later called analytical cubism.

“In a style in which the almost monochromatic surfaces, densely populated with incomplete and multi-directional lines, the shapes constantly played against each other,” indicates Eliyahu Mirlis.

SECOND PHASE OF CUBISM

The second phase of Cubism, which begins approximately from 1913, was called synthetic cubism.

These works of art were composed of distinct overlapping parts - often painted or glued to the canvas - and were characterized by much brighter colors.

Eliyahu Mirlis claims that the movement known as Cubism, was born in the artistic community of Montmartre and then expanded greatly, thanks to the influence of artists in Montparnasse, and the promotion of the art dealer Henry Kahnweiler.

It became popular so quickly that by 1910 critics already referred to this style as the “cubist school” of artists influenced by Picasso and Braque.Talented painter Mirlis is one of the contemporanean artists influenced by cubism.

However, many other artists who referred to themselves as "cubists", advanced in very different directions than those of Picasso and Braque, and went through several distinct phases before 1920.