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Art Lab
Colour Lab | Materials | Creative Healing | Art History | Medium | Cold Wax Medium
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MEDIUM
Cold Wax Medium
Cold wax medium is a mixture of beeswax and solvent (typically OMS or turpentine) that thickens oil paint to a stiff, buttery consistency and produces a distinctive matte, velvety surface. It has become increasingly popular as a medium for gestural, layered, and encaustic-influenced abstract work. Cold wax changes not just the texture but the entire character of oil paint — reducing its natural gloss to a waxy, luminous depth that no other medium replicates. Important rule: use cold wax only in upper and final layers. Never use it in underlayers, and never combine with fast-drying alkyd mediums like Liquin.
Properties ▾
Base: Beeswax + solvent (OMS or turpentine) Consistency: Stiff, buttery Finish: Matte to satin — waxy depth Drying: Moderate Layering rule: Upper and final layers only Compatibility: Compatible with OMS and turpentine — not with alkyd mediums Surface: Best on rigid support (wood panel)
Techniques ▾
Impasto texture
Load cold wax onto a palette knife and apply directly to the panel in thick, dragged marks. The wax holds every knife mark with precision. Scrape back to reveal layers beneath for a complex, stratified surface.

Scraping and revealing: Apply a layer of wax-mixed paint, allow to set (not fully dry), then scrape back with a metal scraper or palette knife. Underlying colour shows through in the scraped areas — similar in effect to encaustic painting.

Rigid support: Cold wax is best used on wood panels, not canvas. The flexibility of canvas can cause cold wax layers to crack over time. Cradled panels are the standard support for cold wax work.

Adding solvent: A small amount of OMS added to cold wax increases fluidity without changing the matte finish. Liquin increases fluidity but introduces gloss.
Cold wax painting has a strong connection to encaustic — the ancient wax-based painting method used in Egyptian Fayum portraits. The surface quality of cold wax work has an intimacy and depth that is difficult to achieve with any other medium. Rebecca Crowell and Jerry McLaughlin are among the artists who have written most thoughtfully about cold wax technique.
Works in ekphra ▾
No works found yet — artists using Cold Wax Medium will appear here.
Notes ▾
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