New Recommendations for Painting Oils Over Acrylics 

This was fascinating - normally, anything technical tends to cause my eyes to glaze over, but I could have watched another hour of this, quite easily. And that's because you explain the things I really want to know, without digressing into - well - waffle. It's also good - very good! - to find a company that really invests time and money into research: I wish some others did as much, rather than churn out the same old products without showing any curiosity about their performance: the interest of some of them seems to lie entirely in the balance sheet. I should love to see more of these: I do subscribe to your newsletter and updates.

This video is gold. The guy really knows what he is talking about. Thank you very much

I typed out two question in the course of watching this video, but they were both answered before its conclusion, so thank you for that.

Well received information. Thanks.

Very helpful video! Thank you!!

Beautiful my dear friend 🥰👌👌👌 Thanks for sharing

One way to determine if this is chemical or mechanical is to perform a test on GAC100 or gloss acrylic, but sanded with fine sandpaper to knock down all the gloss. Paint thinned with turpentine is very fluid and has very low surface tension, there isn't much holding it down if the primer lacks tooth or porosity. I've seen something similar when trying to paint urethane varnish over glossy acrylic. It looks fine at first painting, but as it dries the varnish coat will wrinkle dramatically. This is because the urethane varnish is shrinking and can't hold onto the glossy acrylic, the dissimilar films are not bonding, and it allows the urethane to flow however it wants to as it dries.

I watched this video to learn about a problem that I have not encountered: cracking of oil paint layers applied over acrylic base layers. I was pretty interested since acrylic base layers are a key part of my process for building a surface that doesn’t take weeks. The video made me reflect on my own experimentation over the years and what might be behind the ease and seeming (so far!) success of my current process. I will quickly outline it here in case there is scope for further learning through further feedback from other sets of grey cells. I am currently sticking linen onto pre-sanded ACM using waterproof exterior quality builder’s PVA. I have been a bit surprised that PVA seems to stick better than a couple of glues specifically formulated for sticking to metal. I dry the canvas for a couple of days and then rotary sand (240 grit). Then a couple of layers of super matte chalk paint of preferred colour(s). Sand with 400 grit. Then artist’s oil of preferred TRANSPARENT colours mixed with Penetrol for oil layers adhesion plus Liquin alkyd medium for flexibility. Sand again. Repeat oil layers and sanding for complexity, lustre and mystery. To the touch, this surface is like canvas sex - smoother than silk. The multiple transparent oil layers mean you can see right through to the pattern of the linen in-filled by the chalk paint. Then the piece is ready for adding subject content. Would love to learn of others’ experience.

Thank you

I’ve been following the past recommendation to use gloss acrylic as my first coat on the canvas as a size and barrier to prevent SID (substrate induced discoloration) and against oil damage to the canvas. But I also added many subsequent layers including ‘matte high solid gel’ before finally painting on top with oils and I haven’t seen any cracking yet. Are you recommending avoiding gloss acrylic as a size/barrier even with subsequent layers?

I noted : three or more coats of Golden gesso or molding paste - no cracking 🙂❤

I watched this video just in time before deciding to make more stretched canvas, pondering if I should stick with traditional rsg followed by oil ground or not. The whole "oil over acrylic is ok" is too sketchy for me now. I have experienced cracking on pre prepared oil ground linen canvas glued on synthetic panels and it is pretty awful to see happen. I can only guess the linen was sized with an acrylic layer underneath with an oil ground on top. I shudder at the thought of what has happened to those paintings I have sold before the cracking appeared. So, my conclusion is to stick with what I know works and not venture into any acrylic application under oils. Rsg works and no problems unless you put your painting in extreme atmosphere conditions. All I want is for it to not crack while I am still around due to misuse of materials and buying into companies that push products to buy something unproven. Thanks for doing this video. Now I will be busy buying more raw canvas and doing it all from scratch this summer.

its happens to me with Lukas 1862 oils, only with ultramarine blue and cobalt blue, i dont use acrilic underpainting, only guesso (white guesso), excellent video BTW, other thing one thing that i discovered to prevent crackling in my colors is to watch how they dry, and if the start to lock mate to fast, then they problally will crack so i add a thin layer, (like a glaze) of pure linsed oil to them and thats help a lot

Its a very interesting subject - so thank you for sharing the interesting research - but it would be helpfull with a short artiklen just on the recommandations 😃🌷

Thank you Golden paints, you are so professional. Even if people cannot buy Golden acrylics because they are too expensive in Europe. I was going to start with oil painting over acrylics ! I need time understanding you. If you could, explain in one sentence how to paint oils over acrylics without cracking ? As I understand it: 1. No oil over gloss mediums. or 2. Gesso, applied, min. 3x of clear Gesso. or 3. Mix 10% stand oil to my oil paint, the first layer, probably 5% is enough. or 4. Further oil paint layers need to be fatter.

Thank you so much for this study report! It was insightful for me as an artist and very intriguing for me as a scientist. I am wondering now if there are any job opportunities for a geologist at your research division...

Thank you for sharing. Would you consider airbrush medium close to gac100 or gloss medium?

Your test samples seem to be on flexible materials, could the flex be contributing to the cracking? Does it crack the same when it's on stretched canvas?

A popular way to prep boards and canvas is to coat with gac 100 then use michael harding non absorbant acrylic primer. Will this cause cracking when using oils over it?

Hi, I use porous Boards which I have sealed with various products, just reacently I painted it with Binder with acrylic over the top, I then use water mixable oils on that. will this crack. Excellent Video.

I have just sealed two large cradled birch panels with gac 100. If i gesso over this will i still be able to paint with oils over this ? What im confused on is are you painting diectly over gac 100 as if its a primer ?? Is it ok to use gac 100 as a sealer then acrylic gesso thrn oil paint ??

In the case of an acrylic under painting, would it make any sense to add a very thin layer of alkyd medium prior to starting in with the oils? Assume a canvas primed with three layers of gesso, and then one or more layers of acrylic paint…

I'm starting using aluminum panels for oil paintings, will the Golden gesso stick to aluminum well??

Im actually c9bfused can i use gac100 as a size or not ? I have already used it on goldens own recomendation !i was just gling to gesso these panels. Please advise promptly. I shoukdnt have to worry about this since gac100 was sold to me as a great sizing product.

Can you use clear gesso over acrylic as opposed to white

So if more matte means less cracks, then I wonder if acryla gouache would work as a base? Acryla gouache is really just very very matte acrylic that looks like gouache after all.

When priming an HDF panel with 3 coats of gesso prior to oil painting, should one also paint all sides & back of the panel with gesso in order to mitigate the chances of the panel warping, or is this not necessary? Thanks in advance! 🙏

Could it be that gloss acrylic takes longer to fully cure than mat acrylic?

My oil paint is not sticking to the canvas even after gesso and underbody why ? Help !!

😊👍🙏

11:45 is that oil paint or acrylic color paint also the next one I cant tell if you are spreading oil white paint over GAC 100 or acrylic paint over GAC 100 that is cracking, I was going to use GAC 100 under acrylic gesso for hardbard, but not sure what to do now. Also the question of oil paint over acrylic paint wasn't answered that made sense, so cant you or can you??? I am more confused now. Any way you can repeat this video with more information on exactly what you are doing, with more on what you are painting with etc. Remember we are not researchers out here, just normal people that need a more complete description, it seems scattered more for a researcher to researcher.

Can the Golden gesso go directly on unprepared Masonite or hardboard? Can you not oil paint on Golden gesso anymore? So are you saying you cannot use GAC 100 anymore as a ground under the gesso??? very confusing, also, why would I add oil on my first then layer of oil paint, very confusing what happened to fat over lean????? We shouldnt have to call you to get the correct information, please I encourage you to do a good job the first time. Are you calling GAC 100 the 'gloss medium'????

HA HA HA HA!!!! Well. This is a long post, but bare with me... Doesn't this just beat all. Five years ago (~2016-17) the internet was abuzz about how good it was to use GAC 100 to seal panels and canvas. Now, I have had extensive experience in using acrylics and oils together from my illustration days, and I know when and why oil cracks and why. I have also used acrylic over oil, and vice versa on many occasions. (None of my art has degraded to the point of being trash, but there are cracks in my work that appeared after the first five years, but none have suffered since, nearly thirty-five years later) To use oil over acrylic, the best hope for the medium is to use on panels, rigid support that will not flex. Second, to make sure the acrylic underlayers are dried at least two to three weeks prior to painting upon. Any Gloss medium is NOT a good candidate for any use under oil of any kind due to the nature of the gloss, as it shrinks profoundly during the first few days, and even as long as one month into its life on the canvas. Oil is not a fast reactionary medium, and after it sets up, it will become hard, and only have a certain amount of flex. You call it a "phenomenon" but it is happening due to the shrinkage of the acrylic under the oil that is dried, and a immobile layer underneath. I am not entirely sure if the oil is activating something in the acrylic to allow it to move, or is reaction of off gassing from the acrylic itself due to the solvents in the oil, or if it due to ongoing acrylic off gassing which might be related to gloss. Your tests (I assume) have only been going on for about a year thus far for GAC 100 and acrylic underpaintings, so you have not the longer term effects of these samples. I believe some ill effects will happen in the far reaching future- say about 80 years plus... But these effect are not something I look at to be that much of an issue, as any decent restorationist can mitigate with little skill or trouble. A fast setting oil ground is more brittle than a linseed oil paint film, and therefore be more susceptible to cracking that just regular oil paint. But do you think any of these fact were received by anyone on RU-vid? HELL NO. I got blasted by everyone in the comments, along with the content creators. My recommendations follow very close to what you are saying here, the usage of sandable mediums is completely fine. The reason for this is the additive within these mediums because they generally embolden the rigidity and strengthen the acrylic, along with being a strata that will not flex within the medium of the acrylic paint layer, this above all else minimizes the movement of that acrylic, WHILE allowing the rapid off gassing of the acrylic due to the broken surface tension in the paint film itself. Without the chalk, the plaster, (gypsum) pumice, marble dust, titanium dioxide and god knows what some put into their gesso's, the acrylic will be at risk of cracking any thinner, fast drying oil layer. The flex of that oil layer is the key to its survival. I tend to believe the longer term cracking of oil will happen as the oil ages over top of acrylics, far into the future. Acrylic does lose integrity as it ages, and this is not negotiable to conditions. It will become almost void over time. I have seen paint in some houses that is over forty years old that simply shriveled up under topcoats of paint, leaving a gap of around one millimeter under corner areas of paint. (The thicker areas of paint) In a layer of an oil painting, this is more than significant for delamination to occur in gloss acrylics, and in thinner acrylic coating cause cracking of the oil paint. Gesso's and primers do not follow this same fate, for the aforementioned additives. However, cheaper flat paints do not contain enough acrylic medium to bind over a longer time frame, and this is another such problem artist should watch out for, trying to save money by using cheap flat paint as a primer or in place of gesso. These are a few of my musings of the past ten years, after having done many of the things (successfully, I might add) that people say not to do.

Are you calling the GAC 100 the gloss medium??? Why cant you put the acrylic gesso over the GAC 100 if you are using it as a sealant for your panel to paint oil on the gesso. I don't get it, one moment you say its ok, then you say it cracks.

I fell asleep in the first 5:00 minutes, was the video good?