Oil/Acrylic Painting vs. Pastel Painting

By Dino Nicosia

Since I work primarily in acrylic and pastel, people often ask me which I like best. They also wonder what determines which medium I use.

Acrylic and Oil is, of course, a traditional medium that can produce very realistic paintings. The very properties of acrylic paint allow a wide variety of effects and expression, as well as certain limitations. Solving the challenges of mixing the right colors and applying paint appropriately to a surface to get the intended result is what most artists find the most satisfying.  

I prefer using Acrylic or Oil medium for scenery, abstract and still life paintings.

Pastel or “soft pastel” is also a painting medium, despite the perception that the end result is more of a drawing, because it is painted on paper. Pastel paper is thicker with unique properties. The name of the medium has suffered from the misconception that it only produces soft light tones or “pastel colours”. Yes, you can produce faint and light colours, but you can also produce dark thick applications and in black and white.   

Once the painting is complete, it is sprayed with a fixative and protected with a non-glare glass frame. The colours will last for many years and will not fade. As an example, the portrait below of Lucy (my wife) was painted approximately 50 years ago and still looks vibrant today.

I prefer using Pastels for painting portraits, and animal paintings due to their soft application for skin and producing highly detailed results in hair and eyes.