Cold facts and smooth wax
I tried to wax poetic but got stuck in the metaphor.
Why, yes, it is hard to find cold wax puns, but I did it anyway.
Last month's demonstrator was the wonderful Kristyn DeMint, a mixed media artist, teacher, and all around wonderful person!
Her demonstration was short, sweet, and to the point and very, very informational!
She even had a handout that gave out all the information on what she was talking about--Cold Wax Medium with Oil Paint!
Honestly, this printed handout does such a good job explaining what DeMint talked about, I almost feel like writing a blog post about the session is redundant.
But I didn't go to college learning how to rephrase all the literary theorists I studied under for grades not to at least try and give you a break down of what DeMint talked about, lol.
And so, if you missed the meeting, here's my recap.
Kristyn DeMint started by telling us about herself--how she's a teacher in Milan, MI and that she is a connoisseur of various different mediums of art. She took painting classes in college as well as a workshop in Milan with Kim Rhoney!
The works she brought with her were all created with the cold wax medium with oil paint!
They are also created with a palette knife as well!
What she does is take the cold wax medium and mixes it with the oil paint, a 3:1 ratio, with 3 parts oil paint and 1 part cold wax. The wax thickens the paint and creates a a matte finish to the painting as well as creating texture!
And, I don't know about y'all, but that texture is AMAZING. I love looking at a painting that has thick globs of paint on it. It makes me want to touch it (but I won't because I have manners. And impulse control...usually).
It also reminds me a lot of the impressionists--specifically Van Gogh!
She also went on to say that impasto mediums are included with this cold wax technique--which makes the paint thicker and gives it more texture!
Some impasto mediums include:
Oil Impasto Mediums: Made from natural mineral powders (like calcite or talc) and linseed oil, or alkyd resins. They stiffen oil paint so it acts like butter and holds sharp edges.
Alkyd Paste Mediums: Products like Winsor & Newton Liquin Impasto add body and speed up drying times so thick layers dry in days instead of weeks.
Acrylic Gel Mediums: Heavy-body or extra-heavy gels dry clear, extend acrylic paint volume, and retain sharp knife peaks without shrinking or cracking heavily.
Modeling Pastes: Opaque, white acrylic pastes used to build rigid, sculptural base layers before painting over them.
If you look at this example of hers, you can see where she mixed in her cold wax to give it more texture--as well as how she almost sculpted the images with her palette knife. Cool, huh?
And that was about it. A quick, super informational, and fun demonstration about cold wax techniques!
Got more questions? Want to know more about the medium itself and how you can make headway into it?
There's some helpful websites that Kristyn gave us on her sheet, now in clickable link form:
Some information about the process
Products and more information about them
A local professional artist who offers workshops!
Now go forth and create away!
Until next time,
--Sami
