I am interested in painting but there are three major kinds: acrylic, watercolors, and oil. What are the differences between them? Like do they require different painting surfaces and what are they, which is most expensive, what is the end result of each, etc. Thanks so much for your time 
Wow! Thank you everyone for your great and detailed answers! I very much appreciate your time !!
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Watercolor is a pigment in gum arabic. It is water-based. You work on an absorbent surface, usually paper. It is not permanent. You can work in a style ranging from loose washes to very tight detail.
Acrylic is essentially pigment and liquid plastic-like glue. You can work on everything from paper, canvas, metal and even your basic wall. It is permanent. You can work similarly to watercolor with washes but due to acrylic’s rapid drying time any wet techniques are limited because the paint dries so fast. There are drying retarders but these do not extend the time enough to spend much time with wet techniques. (Using too much retarder will result in a weak paint film. Sometimes the paint never dries or it can be wiped off easily). You can paint loosely or very tight with great detail.
Oil paint is pigment suspended in an oil. The oil brings out the color in the pigment unlike any other medium. Oil is an enhancement lending to a translucent and vivid quality. There is a great deal more freedom with oil paint because it is the most versatile medium. It is generally applied to canvas or a panel. With the aid of certain additives, oil paint can be used for a wide range of techniques and styles. It is excellent for layering techniques. It is also excellent for alla prima painting whereby everything is done in one session. The paint dries slower so wet techniques can be fully taken advantage of. The time that the paint remain wet and workable (open time) can be adjusted with certain additives. One can work in almost any style using almost every technique. On average, oil paintings are valued the highest in galleries and auctions. Oil paint is permanent.*
*Note: nothing lasts forever. "Permanent" is meant to indicate that it can be durable and last centuries if handled properly from beginning the painting process through to the display end. This is unlike watercolor which is far more delicate. Acrylic has not been around long enough so we really can only speculate that it will last. There are oil paintings that are 500 years old demonstrating its archival potential.
I recommend that everyone should eventually try oil painting, even beginner beginner beginners. It has to be done under guidance of a good book at the least. You cannot work with it unless you understand it. Rather than pushing a rock uphill you should take classes and read books. People will argue that something is better or easier than something else. With oil painting, there is more to learn and understand because it offers the greatest range of possibilities. The sooner you start using it the better you will be at it. Sometimes the easy road isn’t the most gratifying nor does it offer the largest pot of gold down the road.
Hiya im a huge painting fan and i think acrylic is the best but also the most expensive. water color is about 10 dollars or less because its kind of see though and its not really a good type of paint to be using it is good for practicing a painting before you use the Professional paints for your canvas. o and canvas are about 10 dollars for two at Michael’s. and oil is probably a good type of paint to be using to. the acrylic is about $2 for a small tube but for a large packet its about $30
i recommend the acrylic
water colors- are most likely the cheapest, but it always depends on which brand you buy, it requires water color paper. the paper usualy has some texture to it and will absorb with out curling as long as you tape it to a board befor painting on it. it it very tough and takes a long time sence you can keep adding alot of color to the picture till it drys sence the colors will bleed. Making your painting look muddy.I dont much care for watercolors
Gouache- is alot like watercolors but unlike water colors once the painting drys you cant add water to move the paint. adding water to a watercolor painting will shread the paper. Gouache is great if you like to take your time day by day because what you painted yesterday or a week ago can still be able to move around by adding water to the picture with a paintbrush. so lets say you didnt like the fur you painted on the dog. simply by wetting your paint brush you can change the fur. like the picture never dried.
acrylic- is a great starter (depending on what brand and thickness of paint you buy price will very)
I love acrylic the most because it can be verutualy painted on anything. you can add water to it making it as thin as water colors or adding different fillers to make the paint thicker. depending on the texture you want. it also drys very quickly making it great if you want to finish a painting in a day.
Oil- is usually more expensice then acrylic, oil paints say wet for days and days close to a week. the good thing is that it takes so long to dry that you have plently of time to work with it with out it drying to quickly. so if you started something a week ago, just by adding linseed oil you will be able to work with the paint again. it great because you can make a painting smooth as glass or with alot of texture.
WARNING when painting with oils do no put oil painted rags in a air tight container or plasic bag. these things have a way of starting a fire.
I personaly would recommend acrylic, very cheap great beginner paint. and can be painted on almost anything as long as surface has been primmered
Paint is pigment. It can come from either natural sources such as pulverized stone, or artificial, such as chemical dyes.
Oil paint suspends these pigments in a base of linseed and other oil. It is very permanent, but requires a lot of skill in application since adding another layer may prevent the one beneath from drying properly. It is most often applied to primed canvas, but can also be used on masonite and other surfaces. It usually isn’t used on paper since the oils soak in and damage the paper fibers. It can take days or even weeks to completely dry, so it’s a wonderful media if you want to paint for a while, walk away, come back hours or days later to work more. But a work in progress must not be touched, and should be covered with a drape to keep dust off.
Water color is water soluble. It can be purchased either in a semi-liquid state in tubes, or in hard ‘pans’ that liquify when water is added. It is considered less permanent than oil, but can last for centuries if it’s properly handled and stored. It is usually applied to paper, and the water carries the pigments into the paper fibers, marrying the image to the surface in a manner other paints do not. Good water color paper is made of pure cotton fiber, and is acid free and very heavy to prevent buckling and wrinkling from the water. Because paper is cheaper, water color is the least expensive to use, but can be expensive to frame since it needs to be under glass. Because of the way water moves accross the paper, it’s the best choice if you wish to create fast, ‘organic’ images. It’s much harder to acheive a comparable level of detail offered by the other media, and it usually isn’t possible to do major revisions once the image has dried since each layer will tend to disolve the one below.
Acrylic uses similar pigments to the others, but they are mixed into an acrylic media. Acrylic is a form of plastic, comes in tubes, has water added to keep it liquid. It is very fast drying, and once dry it is very permanent. It isn’t prone to flaking as oil is, and can actually be used as an adhesive. This makes it less demanding in technical terms than the others and allows it to cling well to a wide range of surfaces. Many artists treat is like oil and use it on stretched canvas, but it can also be diluted with water and applied to paper like a water color. However, the plastic content keeps it from entering the surface of the paper, and it doesn’t ‘move’ the way water color does. It can be used on masonite, board, or any surface that’s properly primed. Once dry, it’s no longer water soluble– only chemicals like alcohol that attack the actual plastic media will alter it.
I’d strongly recommend you talk to your local university or craft store about upcoming beginners classes, especially if you choose oil or water color. It will save you a massive amount of time, trouble and money in the long run since you won’t be stuck trying to re-invent the wheel. You can try acrylic on your own, but even there a class is very much worth the trouble.
Also, check out the arts and crafts section of your library or bookstore: I’ve learned a lot from books.
EDIT: I need to add that some answerers here are stating as a matter of established fact that water color isn’t ‘permanent’ and not a suitable media for serious artists. This simply isn’t true: It can be very long lasting, and some major figures of the last century of art [like John Singer Sargent] have used it extensively. It remains water soluble, but if framed with archival grade materials can last for centuries. As with oils and acrylics, some pigments will fade on exposure to ultra violet light, but a well cared for water color will last longer than a poorly constructed oil painting. The bigger question is whether any of us is producing work that is worthy of lasting for centuries…
Acrylic – Water based.
- CAN come out of clothing.
- Pretty cheap and easy to work with.
- Dries quickly
- Can be see-through, if you are going to use it make sure it is solid (if that’s what you want)
- Can paint almost anything.
- Can use it on any surface, although to much on paper can cause the paper to get lumpy.
Oil – Oil based
-Can’t come out of clothing
– Dries very slowly (8 weeks to because pretty solid/touch dry, takes a full 6 months to become completely dry)
- VERY thick. If you make a peak, it will dry like that.
- Opaque
- Only use on canvas
- VERY expensive
- The end result is usually bright, (thick colors) and very bold, and nice.
Water – Water-based
- Can come out of clothes
- VERY transparent
- Hard to work with, the color can run
- Dries over night
- Nice finished product, although hard to work with
- Only use on paper (even better if it is special water color paper), although still don’t use to much paint)
- Moderately priced, seems expensive, but a tiny tube can last a long time, because you mix it with a lot of water
- The end result, if done well, is beautiful, but you need to practice
- You can do simple things, trying to do TO much will cause it to be to much, and it gives the paint more of a chance to run
- Wait for layers to dry before continuing
Hope I helped!!!