Administrator's Note: This thread was split off from another one.

Karin, but have you ever thought of trying wax as a medium? Is there a danger of toxicity?

A few years ago In Ireland I saw some gorgeous landscape paintings. The artist's name was Eileen Meaher. When I tried to ask her about technique she started to get nervous and didn't want to talk. The strokes were all effective and efficient with an almost velvet feel. The colors were so brilliant and perfect I had a hard time taking my eyes off of it. I havn't seen work like it since.

Bummer that the artist you met wouldn't share the info. about her materials. That attitude is all too common in this business. However I'm hopeful that it is beginning to slowly change for the better.

A few years ago I saw some work in "wax medium" that knocked my sox off. I think that it somehow needs to be applied hot.

Anyhow, a big art catalog co. like Jerry's probably sells it....call their toll free number and ask them. Please let us know what you find out.

Are we talking about encaustic painting where dry pigments are mixed with a hot beeswax solution that makes it easy to build up colored textures and blend with heat?

If so, I would think it difficult to control in portraiture.

I agree, the wax encaustic probably wouldn't work in realistic portraiture. Doesn't this stuff come in premixed colors and can't you buy it somewhere? Can it ever be used with our traditional oil paints?

I realize that I'm getting off subject here....sorry.

Well, I havn't contacted Jerry"s yet but after looking around on the web under the key words "wax painting technique" I gather it would take an ambitious student to master this. It would take knowledge of how to keep the colors at a temperature that is not so fluid as to make them hard to control.

There are some important advantages to using wax. They are -not- toxic unless mixed with other toxic mediums. Also, the colors don't fade, ever. Cracking can be prevented by painting on board.

This technique is difficult if not obscure. It might be useful to contact Gamblin. The Ralph Meyer book on technique and materials is supposed to have specific information on this subject. I'll write more after I talk to Jerry's.

According to Gamblin, their dry pigments can be mixed with wax.

Another Word on Wax in Medium and Paint.
 

I have a small tub of Gamblin's Wax Medium - have seen this type of medium from other vendors as well.

Wax medium is mostly white or bleached beeswax mixed with turpentine or mineral spirits. The primary characteristics of a wax mediums is an increase in paint layer flexibility, a dulling of the sheen, and the ability to create very brushy effects and have your strokes stay put. You have to be careful of how much wax you put into the medium and the paint as too much will prevent you from varnishing the painting as the varnish will not adhere properly.

I have mixed some wax medium into Galkyd to create a Galkyd Matte Medium for work that needed to be reproduced - worked just fine.

As with any medium, if you mix it into paint, do so no more than 20% medium to 80% paint.

I had the impression that wax is a medium that doesn't require varnish. It could be that is only the case with wax mixed with resin or mastic varnish. The work I saw from the Irish artist was definately matte, with every stroke brilliantly executed with precision. The paintings were very realistic landscapes.

I should add that pure beeswax is available from the catalogues, just in case no one has seen it. It might be interesting and fun to try it sometime. I can imagine small ceramic bowls of color in some kind of pan with 1/2 an inch of hot water on the bottem keeping the colors at a workable temperature.

But this thread was meant to be about Genesis paints...:) Anyway happy painting!

Rochelle

If I may, I shall interject a word of caution about the use of beeswax with a quotation from Knut Nicolaus' wonderful book, The Restoration of Paintings, at p. 141:

"According to Berger, beeswax in its pure form and in associatoin with natural or synthetic resins is thought to discolor color and paint ground layers as well as becoming discolored itself with age, forming lattice patterns, and causing oil colors to swell so that they more readily flake off. Beeswax can supposedly form craquelure effects in color layers, discolor the canvas, and attack cellulose; . . ..

"Kuhn describes the use of wax in conservation as closing the door on all possibilities. Muhlethaler also describes wax as a last resort, if absolutely nothing else will do. The object is imbedded like a medicinal preparation. 'It ceases to be itself.'"

This passage was in reference to using beeswax in a wax-resin adhesive application. However, the wording, although guarded, is filled with warnings that could equally apply to using wax within a medium for oil painting. If it were me, I would look into the issue a bit more.

All the best.

Juan

It seems that there is conflicting information of the subject. There are some ancient Greek encaustic paintings that have held up very well. To have the ability to successfully master any medium is a special gift and not for everyone. We do what we can.

Hello All,

You can make a simple mix of beeswax and solvent with dried pigment and paint with it.

There were supposed to be two types of wax painting - encaustic [ melted wax ] and the other
- wax in solvent.

Wax in solvent works.

You can use only wax in solvent as your medium.

It works. I have tested it.

Wax works best as only wax - no oil - no resin.

It will last thousands of years.

Wax can only be damaged by a super high humidity atmosphere and contact with wet soil.
Hope this helps.
Khaimraj

Apologies in advance Cynthia.

Khaimraj,

Can you elaborate on that please?
Do you mean that pure beeswax can be used and mixed with dry powdered pigment? If I may ask, What brand do you use? Is there any danger of toxic substances?

For those not concerned with toxic danger, can other mediums be mixed in with wax without causing damage to the painting down the road?

Hello Rochelle,

Before I say anything please understand I never learned to type in a proper manner and I am very uncomfortable trying to give you a response. So if this comes off very mechanical please excuse
me.

I keep bees and get my virgin wax from the cappings when harvesting the honey crops.

White beeswax will combine with solvent in a glass bottle in the hot sun. Test a small amount first. Remember to cap the bottle. For solvent I use mineral spirits. Turpentine will age with time and becomes resinous. It will also begin to dry poorly.

As above but with dry pigment adding the solvent on top and finally the wax. In the doing, the next step becomes obvious. You need enough wax to bind the pigment. Normally I weigh the pigment and the wax. Usually one to one works. You need enough solvent to get a brushable quality.

Be aware that the paint made takes time to fully harden. Test on a panel. That's the non-toxic way to make the paint.

You can of course use a pan in a water bath. Watch the heat and the naked flame. Don't let your wax smoke.

Use non-toxic pigments.Handle with respect. Practice good hygiene.Breathing mask. Wash hands. Mars Colours. Titanium Dioxide. Calcium Carbonate.
ee Sinopia.com or Kremer Pigments.

Wax works best with wax. See the book - The mysterious Fayum Portraits. Good Luck.

You can also render the wax water usable. See Mayer for more information.

Khaimraj

Cynthia?

Can we back up a couple of posts and begin a new thread on this?

Khaimaraj, can you post a picture of what this looks like? I'm having a problem envisioning it. Thanks.

Hello Karin,

Apologies.I have no digital image capacity,
but all I described was how to make the paint.

I have no way of knowing how Rochelle intends
to use it ?

Forgot this Rochelle.

For the medium.
Use some pine oil to make the wax plus solvent
more - oily. Only a little.Too much weakens the
binder.
Khaimraj

This really should be a seperate thread.

Khaimraj,


Thank you for that detailed answer.
Is it possible to paint on primed canvas or is board a more stable support? Which brand of pigments is non-toxic?
A wax portrait might be very interesting.

Hi Rochelle:

I can't comment on wax with oil paints as I haven't tried it, but the encaustic technique is kind of interesting to experiment with.

You can use an old electric frypan to keep everything at desired temperature. The pigments mixed with melted wax can sit in small metal cans in the pan. You can use a hot-plate as a palette.

The tricky bit is controlling the paint on the support. Some people use a heat gun from the hardware store to melt bits of the wax on the surface. One of the teachers at my college has refined this by making shaped sheet metal shields that help direct the heat more accurately. I can't claim any expertise in this medium whatever, but like any medium it takes practice. It certainly is different.

Pure beeswax and pigment is probably the most long lasting combination known. The Romans used to coat their ship-hulls with it. I've read that murals discovered on stone walls stuck out in relief from the stone, which had weathered over nearly two thousand years. That's pretty permanent, I'd say. (I haven't seen these walls, so beware the hearsay...)

STARTING in encaustic isn't so difficult, with modern heating tools. Developing skills...well, my dabbling suggests that could be a little more difficult. When your painting melts before your eyes some interesting things can happen.

The controlled accident is a time-honored part of watercolor- so if you feel adventurous....

Thanks Peter,

It does sound like a fun idea. One of these days I will have the time to really give that a serious try.

Also it seems that there are people who melt down crayons and use the melted wax as paint. This practice is apparently not toxic.
After asking around I learned that mixing dry pigment with wax IS toxic. I'm sorry if I've misguided anyone and CANNOT recommend wax as a nontoxic medium.

The Ralph Mayer handbook has a couple of index references for wax crayons but when I looked on the listed pages I couldn't find any information on that subject.

Hi again, Rochelle..

I'm intrigued- how is wax and pigment toxic? Beeswax is edible, and I would think one could choose non-toxic pigments...??

Is it something to do with the heating process? Smoke?

Beeswax/solvent used as wax on top of oil painting
 

Hello,Rochelle, Peter, Khaimraj, et al,

I have been reading this thread regarding using wax as a medium. Some years ago, I attended a furniture restoration workshop at Sotheby's Restoration in New York City. One of the classes was on French polishing with Eli Rios. (French polish is shellac dissolved in alcohol.) This involved removing the old finish and freshly applying the new polish. This is then protected by applying a beeswax and turpentine mixture. This is a soft wax that is buffed to a lovely sheen. Sometimes carnauba wax (derived from a plant and a harder wax)is added to the beeswax and raises the melting temperature of the wax. I believe that Johnson's Paste Wax and a lot of the automobile waxes contain carnauba.

I was wondering if I could apply the beeswax/mineral spirits to an oil painting that is thoroughly dry and buff gently. Does any member of the forum do this? I do not see that it would hurt the painting and can be removed with mineral spirits later. Maybe this would give the painting a matte finish. Of course, instructions would have to be attached to the back of the painting for a future cleaning and rewaxing of the painting. I'll just give it a try and let you know.

I remember one of my painting teachers from college saying that he had painted a portrait using a wax medium in his paint. His client placed the painting on the edge of a table, leaning the painting against the wall. The table was moved. The painting dropped to the floor, jarred the canvas, and some of the paint fell off. Could the humidity/heat in New Orleans have had something to do with this?

Perhaps these paintings should be painted on board to support the paint which must be applied in thicker layers than oil. If the wax and pigment is used correctly, it is beautiful and can last for thousands of years. The Greco-Egyptian painters used encaustic in painting realistic funerary likenesses.

Also, art conservators and restorers have used and some may still use beeswax and turpentine or mineral spirits in relining paintings. One reason they did/do is because this is reversible (the wax mixture can be softened later with mineral spirits or warmed and the lining removed from the painting).

Rochelle, is it possible that the painting you saw was done with colored pencil? Was it a small painting? If the colored pencil strokes are built up layer upon layer on a solid surface such as a gessoed masonite panel, it can result in a soft waxy matte surface. Using light sprays of fixative between layers helps to build up more layers. Some artists use a solvent brushed into the colored pencil and this helps to even out the strokes. I know that the painting you saw was indeed special to have drawn you to it.

I apologize to everyone for running off on different thoughts stimulated by your postings.

Greetings,

Yesterday I just finished moving across town to a slightly bigger place and I'm exhausted!

I've just recieved the new Pearl Paint catalogue where I saw a new set of products that pertain to wax painting. Included are small spatulas that are heated and used in the wax, color sticks, and a palatte with a heating element for keeping the wax at a workable temperature. The pallette is around $250. The colors are close in price to tubes of paint with traditional names like Burnt Umber and Titanium White.

As far as toxicity is concerned, the dry pigments are toxic when breathed in and are also cancer-causing. Apparently it is necessary to use resin in making wax paint. I received this information from the people who work in the local art supply store here in Bellingham. There is a book, the exact name of which I don't have at hand just now, that contains recipes for mixing mediums, including emulsions, temperas and encaustics. It is available in most art supply stores.

The paintings mentioned earlier in the thread had distinguishable brush strokes, as if the paint underneath was already dry, almost like wax that was soft and had hardened. There was a beautiful sense of efficiency and confidence. All the paintings were of local Irish country landscapes with horses and cows within short walking distance of her home, and possibly backyard. The colors were so perfect that you could get lost in the painting and imagine sitting on the grass in the painting and looking at the pink clouds and purple mountains. There was an almost velvet look to the finish with no glossiness. This was at Merion Square, in Dublin right across from the National Gallery.

There were some who seemed to try to immitate her style and would complain that no one was buying their work. One thing she said was that she'd been a painting teacher for 20 years but hadn't the energy for teaching anymore.

Dear Rochelle,

I am very happy you found the set of wax colors with what you need to try out this medium. I looked up the Irish artist on the Internet. Apparently the spelling is Eileen Meagher.

This web address will take you right to her biography and thumbnails of some of her works.

www.lavelleartgallery.ie/artist.tmpl?artist=EileenMeagher
They are indeed beautiful.

I understand what you mean about the velvety surface of the painting. I managed to achieve this with one of my colored pencil portraits, but it takes lots and lots of time to build up the layers and does not give the translucency that the wax must. Seeing the brushstrokes and colors beneath the surface must be as hypnotic as looking into a precious jewel.

Andrea,

Thank you for finding that website.

Now that I've seen it I should say that the paintings are beautiful on the site, but seeing them in real life is different. Computer graphics can't show the brushstrokes or true colors. When I saw her work it was going for 300 to 600 Irish pounds which was about $400 to $800. Every Sunday of the year the artists had an outdoor show.

Hello to All,

I had hoped to avoid the technical and toxicological information in these posts, but here goes.

Resin will harden your wax paint, but wax will not yellow or brown over time. A resin will. Better to use a small quantity of a harder wax.

Since wax never really "dries", it is a poor practice to add wax to a drying oil or vice versa. Plus, once again, drying oils will brown with time and may spoil your unchanging wax painting.

To avoid toxic dry pigments, use sensible hygienic
pratices, and look up oxide information in the
Pharmacopoeia. See your druggist, please, or Patty's Industrial safety books.

Never heat wax to a smoking state.

You can also render wax, water mixable. Once again, see Mayer for excellent and easy instructions.M aybe someone out there can create beautiful portraits in water-colour type wax work?

Khaimraj