The cold wax painting process creates a rich (often textured) matte surface on canvas or a wood panel. I usually begin a painting using acrylics, whether I paint over it with cold wax or oil paint with any medium. Acrylics dry super fast on a surface and speed up the painting process considerably (see previous posts for acrylic painting and how to set up a palette). The photo shows pretty much everything you need to begin a cold wax and oil painting. The cold wax recipe I’m using is on a previous post and is really easy to make.
Setting up your palette: I usually premix about 50% Galkyd gel with 50% cold wax medium and put this in a separate jar near my palette. These percentages are somewhat arbitrary. For thinning the paint or doing thinner washes I premix the following: 50% Galkyd liquid medium with 50% turpenoid, odorless paint thinner, or Gamsol. Any one of these solvents will work (Gamsol is a brand name and more expensive). I set up my palette for painting by laying out the oil paint and next to each color, approximately an equal amount of the cold wax/gel mixture. I then mix each color and the medium with a palette knife. I never use more medium than paint, sometimes 70% paint to 30% medium. It is not necessary to add Galkyd gel – you can use just the cold wax. This medium can also be mixed into dry pigments (see photo detail 2 below). I often add marks with my DIY oil bars (see previous post) after the painting has dried a bit.
