Samantha writes: In your first Q & A video you mention in passing how much you hate water-soluble oil paints. So, as someone who has used water-soluble oils for some time now, I am SO CURIOUS why you dislike them so much. I have debated switching to regular oil paint many times, but tend to get bogged down by the range of brand options. Is there something I’m missing out on by using them vs. regular oil paint? Is there a massive quality difference that I’m blind to, or is this more of a difference of opinion?
This really comes down to personal preference. To me, the water soluble oils aren’t even the same medium as oil paint. It’s sort of like calling Inktense (water soluble ink) pencils “colored pencils”. This is an argument my podcast cohost and I have all the time. He swears they still count as colored pencils, I say they don’t because they don’t work the same haha.
In my opinion, compared to regular oils, they didn’t blend well, they were hard to glaze with, I just didn’t like the feel of them at all. It seemed like they would be harder to work with than a nice quality oil paint. You have to remember though that I started with regular oil paints, so I knew the feel of those first. I like regular oil paints. There was really no good reason for me to keep working with the water soluble.
That said, there is nothing wrong with anyone using them. I’ve seen beautiful work completed with water soluble oils. I’ve also seen beautiful work created with coffee grinds, so there’s that.