The only principle of art and painting that isn't eternal is the mortal that creates it.  Red (color) is.  In the beginning was the word. ie vibration.  All tones are vibratory rates.  Sound or color.  The brush as tool used to create is eternal as the archetype of that principle.  Then there is the motif ie. the world..ie. eternal time and space.

     It is important that the artist appreciate what they are working with.  The painter is essentially a conductor as well as composer. 
The various aspects of the medium are the orchestra.  The artist doesn't create color, but essentially chooses the tone in harmony with the overall composition.  The brush and its textures are likewise a choice, unless you have some pre-concieved idea that tells you how you must use the brush. There is quite literally an infinite range of expression in the creation of an artwork in terms of color and brush in relationship to the 'world' or motif.  The artist is playing in this field of the infinite.  Agony and ecstasy.

     From my early 'notes of a painter'.  "As an artist, I am as a man on death row, and each mark is the signature of my mortality.  How precious is our time?"