Free Watercolor Article: Watercolor vs. Oils

Watercolor Vs. Oils

How is watercolor similar and different from oils? Let's take a look.

Keep in mind that my main painting medium for over 2 decades has been watercolor. I do have a decent amount of experience with all the mediums I am comparing, however my expertise is in watercolor. I feel I have worked with these other mediums enough to have a good knowledge about them, but my experience with them is far less than with watercolor.

This article is not meant to be a judgement of which mediums are better. It is simply a comparison of similarities and differences to help you perhaps decide which one might suit your next choice for learning.

How Are They Similar?

After trying to come up with similarities between watercolor and oil, it hit me that these mediums are almost polar opposites from each other. The list of similarities boils down to only one thing:

They are both painting mediums.

How Are They Different?

The list here is vast:

Watercolors are usually painted on paper, oils are usually painted on canvas
Watercolors dry relatively fast. Oils are the slowest drying of all painting mediums.
In watercolor, you work from light to dark, and it is usually mandatory. In oils, you usually work from dark to light, but it isn't mandatory.
Watercolors are inherently transparent. Oils are inherently opaque.
Watercolor requires much more planning than oils. This is because of the transparent nature of watercolor, and the fact that you can't cover up a darker color with a lighter color. Oils allow for easy coverage of anything, therefore planning is not as critical.
Because of the above point, watercolor is much more difficult to correct mistakes than oil.
Watercolors are water soluble. Oils are not. This means that with watercolor, all mixing, brush rinsing, and all cleaning is done with water. With oils, brush rinsing, mixing, and all cleaning is generally done with mineral spirits.
Watercolors require no mediums. There are mediums for watercolor, but these are generally used as occasional tools. In oils, mediums are an essential part of the general painting process.
In watercolor, edge softening and color blending is done with water. Here, you control the water, which does all of the blending and softening for you. In oils, edge softening and color blending is a physical process done directly with the brush.
Watercolor generally works with washes. Washes are basically colored water of different consistencies applied to the painting surface. Oils rarely, if ever use washes. If they are used in oils, the wash would be made with medium or mineral spirits rather than water.
Watercolors are generally applied in transparent, to semi-transparent layers. Oils are applied either all at once (alla prima) or in relatively opaque layers.