In the late 70's, the late Bill Koelpin questioned a roomful of us at a seminar on oil painting as to why we wanted to paint in oils. The following week, I started painting using acrylic mediums and have never looked back.
Somewhere around 2009 (?), I ran into Bill's widow at a show (Bill had passed away from brain cancer long before). She was tending an exhibit of paintings by Bill's very talented son who was off on a break. When I told her I was surprised to see her son doing flatwork in acrylics rather than the oils his dad had always worked in, she related how Bill had forbidden her son to paint with oils. She added: "Bill always maintained that in the end it was the longtime exposure to the oil paints that got him."
At the time this interested me because I was seeing a stampede to oil paints and all the associated mediums, etc., by a lot of our newer carvers. Much of it was based on the assumption that somehow the medium would turn their skill level around.
Here's an interesting segue to the Terry Redlin story:
http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/04/25/archive-family-feared-lead-paint-caused-redlins-decline/83498818/
Not trying to scare anyone off "evil oil paints",or trying to start an argument about "increasing value," "patina" or all that other folderol - but just making the point that one needs to be acutely aware of what colors & mediums may pose potential health risks. In addition, new carvers on a budget are often laboring in work spaces that are less than ideal when it comes to proper ventilation, dust collection, exposure to fumes, etc.
