Shiva's Transparent Oil Colors have one advantage over standard oils, in the fact that they are transparent. All oils can be made transparent by thinning, but as the paint is thinned, the color intensity is diluted resulting in a washed-out color. Permasol Oil Colors are totally transparent, yet brilliant, straight from the tube! Permasol Transparent Oils are well suited to many techniques of oil painting and can be used with regular oils for interesting effects. They are also ideal for hand coloring photographs. Pen and ink drawings on a variety of surfaces can be enhanced by adding color washes.