Oil and Water Mixing in My Studio

"Red Gate St. Augustine" (oil)

"Red Gate St. Augustine (watercolor)

Oil and water -- well known not to mix in a recipes, on our precious open waterways, and yes, when working with a painting.  But I mix my mediums if only on completed pieces these days.
For 25 plus years I worked in watercolor.  I like the medium and as finicky as it can be I have grown accustomed to the quirks. I love the immediacy and freshness of a watercolor painting.  But, as with any relationship, things were getting a bit old, a little boring.  They (who are "they"?) say artists shouldn't switch mediums when they are successful.  I say bull pucky.  And I succumbed to the seduction of oil paints.
   I have a marvelous instructor who is guiding me through what seemed a trickier process than painting with watercolor.  I love oil paint for the texture, viscosity, and bright, vivid colors.  It has more body for me, enabling me to build, correct, and give my images a certain patina.  But in many ways I want to work it like a watercolor, not overworking and letting the light places "sparkle" rather than dulling a painting.
   I am reworking paintings I have done in watercolor with oil these days.  Attached you will find a current effort.   On the left is the recent oil of an entrance in St. Augustine, Florida.  On the right is a watercolor image done some years ago of the same scene.  I know which one I like better.  How about you?