as far as oils vs acrylic.. its really up to the person.. and what you are painting.. sometimes acrylic's plastic look might work best for you.. or the flexibility of oils mgiht. If you want your acrylics to dry slower so you can blend more, theres a product called redarder.. it slows the drying process.. But i think you need to try both, oils can ofer alot more and a tube of oil last much longer than a tube of acrylic..