I am both an artist and an art scholar/teacher. My fascination with the materials and techniques of art through the ages has led to much research and experimentation, finally bringing me to settle on my two favorites - oil and encaustic.
Most people have never heard of "Encaustic Painting" because it is rarely seen today. In a nutshell it means that the artist paints with melted wax on rigid panels. The wax is mixed with pigments and resins, and is one of the most stable media known to man. There are encaustic portraits from ancient Egypt that date back before Christ was born. The colors are as fresh as if they were painted yesterday.