This is the question I am asked more than any other. There are variations on this question, but essentially everyone interested is asking for similar information.
Here are some of the more frequent questions:
What is cold wax painting?
How should I paint with cold wax?
Can I make cold wax medium?
Do you mix it with oil paint?
Can I Use it with acrylic paint?
How do I seal a cold wax painting?
Where can I buy a ready-made cold wax medium?
I will try to answer these questions using my current painting 'Der Wald' as it demonstrates many of the techniques that can be used with oil and cold wax medium.
What is Cold Wax?
Cold wax is a medium used with oil paint. It is composed mainly of beeswax, with a small amount of solvent to soften it and other ingredients to aid in drying time. It has a soft, paste-like consistency at room temperature and dries to a matte surface. Unlike encaustic processes, it requires no heat to use it. But it does require heat if you want to produce it yourself. More about this in a later post.
How should I paint with cold wax?
Even though you will find numerous guidance videos and recommendations if you do a cursory search on Google, there are no rules. The key characteristic of cold wax is that it is extremely versatile and adaptable. It can be used in so many different ways that I doubt you will exhaust its potential. In these works, I have used a sequence of layers. The first layer of relatively dense/thick medium was applied with a brayer and palette knives. If you produce cold wax you can make adjustments to the solvent/wax ratio to create different flow qualities. For example, the cold wax used in the initial layers here was very thick to enhance and maximise sculptural and textural qualities. If you increase the ratio of solvent to wax you can produce a very thin mix that will allow the control of fine details and marks. Most of my paintings are developed with a variety of cold wax blends.
Can I make cold wax medium?
Most of you will be capable of making a cold wax medium, it is relatively simple and the ingredients are readily available. However, I must make the reader aware that this is not a recommendation and I would ask each reader to do their research and apply stringent safety measures if you decide to make it yourself. I will create a separate blog post on this, detailing the specific methods that I use. The key advantage of making cold wax medium as opposed to buying a commercially available product is the additional level of control you have over viscosity and fluidity. There are many different recipes used by cold wax practitioners but it is essentially a combination of beeswax and a solvent such as turpentine. One key advantage that should not be overlooked, particularly as we experience a 'cost of living crisis', is the significant savings to be gained over proprietary products. Having the freedom to use materials generously is liberating and may make a difference in terms of risk-taking, experimentation and final creative outcomes.
Do you mix it with oil paint?
Yes indeed, cold wax and oil paint make the perfect partnership. Oil paint is notoriously slow to dry and you have to wait for each stage to dry before moving on. This is not the case with cold wax. Drying times will vary depending on the mix you have created or the commercial brand purchased, but in general, the speed of potential execution is accelerated dramatically. Cold wax is very forgiving and there is no requirement to follow the traditional oil painting rules of 'fat over lean', you are free to work in any way you want and cold wax will not present too many obstacles.
Can I Use it with acrylic paint?
I have occasionally been asked if acrylic can be used with cold wax medium. Well, yes you can, but it isn't something that I generally do. As with all oil paintings, you may start working with acrylic and then switch to oil for the later stages but it doesn't work the other way round. However, I am aware of a cold wax medium that is water-based and therefore can be blended with acrylic but I have no experience of working with this and I think a water-based medium would negate many of the qualities achievable with oil.
How do I seal a cold wax painting?
Cold wax medium makes a perfect sealant for a cold wax painting. A thin layer of cold wax can be applied at the end of the final drying or curing stage and the medium can be applied with a cloth or brush. It will then allow you to selectively burnish the surface to add sheen, translucency and colour intensity. This will protect against dust and dirt and can also be re-burnished at a later date to extend the life of the painting.
Where can I buy a ready-made cold wax medium?
If you do a quick search on Google you will find many art stores that will supply cold wax medium. Gamblin and Dorlands are currently the main manufacturers but there is also Zest-It which can be found on Amazon and eBay.
I will create future posts that will look in greater detail at some of the issues touched upon here. If you have any particular questions on any aspect of cold wax painting please don't hesitate to contact me.