Painting with Cold Wax

Cold Wax Medium

This is a wonderful painting medium, a bit like painting with butter

 The safest way is to add your pure gum turpentine or citrus solvent to the wax in a glass jar and leave for a couple of weeks to dissolve. I have not had a great deal of success with this method.Or my preferred method is to heat the wax ( You can use either premade encaustic medium or straight beeswax) and then remove from the heat and add the pure gum turpentine stirring till well mixed and allow to cool. Begin with a 50/50 mix and adjust until you have a mix you like. Remember it can always be thinned by adding more turpentine when cold to make a glazing consistency

For a quick alternative to try but some beeswax based furniture polish

I mix my cold wax medium with dry pigment and a little walnut oil on a glass plate

you could use a white ceramic plate 

This is the beginning of some pieces of cold wax painting 

on watercolour paper covered in traditional gesso

some lovely red oxide to begin

then yellow ochre

indigo blue

I use raw natural indigo powder

This is a painting done entirely with

cold wax medium,

walnut oil,

and natural pigment 

Here it is finished with scratching 

and rubbed with indigo and walnut oil

And second piece before

and after