When I first started painting in oils, I wasn’t sure if I could paint oil paint over acrylic paint. There seemed to be a lot of rules about layering with oils and mediums and it was a little confusing.

I decided to take an oil painting class to make sure I was doing things the right way. During the class, I told a fellow painter I painted in acrylics for many years. She told me you CAN paint oil paint over acrylic paint, but never acrylic over oil. Why? Because paints with a higher oil to pigment ratio (fat) must always be layered over paint with a lower oil to pigment ratio (lean). After doing more research, I’ve found more useful tips and information when painting oils and acrylics that I think you’ll find beneficial, so keep reading.

Value may not seem like the most exciting topic to cover when creating art, but it is vital. It is the most fundamental aspect of any work of art. Value can make or break the structure of your work if you don’t get it right. Understanding value can improve your work dramatically.

“Duke” will be featured in an upcoming tutorial.

What is Value?

Value – along with line, color, shape, form, space, and texture – is one of the 7 visual elements of art. It is the range of tone between black and white (light and dark) that underlie color. Value indicates the source of light, the shape of an object and depth in space.

Think of it as taking a color picture on your phone and then changing it to black and white. You’ve desaturated the color out of the photo and are left with