The term oil is the one used to designate the product known as oil that is obtained from the pressing of different seeds or fruits. Normally, in common language the name of oil is used more to designate edible products and oil is reserved more frequently for oily products that are used in other disciplines such as art. Thus, when we speak of oil, we refer in most cases to paints made on the basis of inedible oil that are used for a special type of paint.
Artistic oil is a material that has been used for many centuries, more specifically since the late Middle Ages, in the 13th century. It was at this time when it began to combine the different pigments and natural dyes with different types of oils that made the colors take longer to dry and were more permeable, which allowed to combine different tones, pigments and colors in a more real way and partner. Artistic oil painting was made in those days based on common oils but nowadays the technique of oil painting production has advanced a lot and that is why we are talking about products that do not go into poor condition or lose their basic characteristics over time.
Oil painting is easily recognizable and significantly different from the paints used in other techniques such as watercolor. In this sense, due to its heavy composition, oil painting allows the finish and the final image of a painting to be much more loaded and heavy, which contributes to giving an image of greater power and relief to the painting. In addition, as said, oil allows colors to be combined in a more realistic way, which is why different tones are obtained when mixing colors. While watercolor uses water as a base, oil uses oil as an emulsifying element and therefore does not require the use of water for the paint to be diluted.
