Playing with cold wax and oil paint

After a lengthy project I believe an artist should take some time to play so I have chosen cold wax and oil paint to experiment with. And I am loving the soft buttery consistency, the ability to create transparent and opaque colors, the ability to add layers then scratch into them, scrape away, even sandpaper the heck out of them. Whatever you do it just seems to add more character and more depth to the image. 

So far I have tried one figurative piece and one abstract. I was pretty much won over by the consistency when I started blending the wax into the oil paint. I guess I still harken back to my mud pies stage of child hood. I've never got over the wondrous sensation of squishy mud in my hands! Probably never will (hence my incessant desire to plant things in the earth.) I am using Gamblin cold wax that I bought through Dick Blick online. And I purchased a few new tools too; 2 silicone brushes, a couple of silicone scrapers and a new set of palette knives since mine were shot. I dug out an old printmaking brayer as well that is marvelous for moving paint around. 

The palette knives are great for applying the oil/wax mixture and the the scrapers and silicone brushes both move paint and remove paint. The process seems to work best when it is both additive and subtractive. The marvelous thing being that as you take a part of the image away there is always a residue or shadow of the lines and colors beneath. The wax creates the most beautiful transparent colors and the process can be enhanced with straight oil paints and R&F oil pigment sticks (which I love!)

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I used an old photo I took of my son-in-law Brady as inspiration for the figurative painting. I basically used the gesture and the values but the color was all me. I wanted to use unrealistic color and push the saturation of the color too. I am happy with the result and will try this again soon maybe with a full figure.

The abstract one was inspired by a visit to the salt flats in the northern part of the Great Salt Lake. I planned on starting dark and getting lighter and keeping it fairly monochromatic. Haha! That didn't last long! I worked on it over a couple of days but it just wasn't coming together. Gradually I kept adding more and more color while still trying to keep the value pattern intact. It's interesting how a piece can become something so different than what you had intended in the beginning. What do you think? I'd love it if you let me know by liking and commenting below. Playing with oil paint and cold wax is a definite cure for the winter doldrums!​
PS. If you leave a comment you will be entered into a drawing for a free zoie silicone scraper. Comment by February 21 and dm my instagram (fionaphillipsartstudio) with your email so I can let the winner know. 

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