Acrylics and water-based cold wax medium
Acrylic and cold wax medium
One of my most asked questions (after 'How long does it take for a layer to dry?) is 'I am an acrylic painter, I can’t stand the smell of oil paint, can I mix cold wax medium with acrylic paints?' And unfortunately the answer is NO, You Can't.
Acrylic paint is water-based and the 'regular' cold wax medium contains a solvent, which doesn't make the two a good match. Your surface will become unstable and might flake off over time. BUT I found a water-based cold wax medium called Powerwax which can be mixed with acrylics and can be a solution to those who only paint in acrylics but want to create beautiful textured and layered paintings.
I have explored the possibilities of this new water based medium while painting a portrait (of course..). I tried the different cold wax medium techniques that we use with ‘regular’ oil cold wax medium, like glazing, making textures, using a brayer etc.
What is water-based cold wax medium?
According to the website this Powerwax is a water-based painting medium that can be mixed with pigments, metallic pigment powders, sand, coloured sand, acrylic paint, dyes and other compatible art materials. It doesn’t smell or irritates the eyes, which can be an issue with bee wax. It dries transparent when no colour pigments or paint is added. The proportions of medium to pigment depend largely on the characteristics of the pigments and the desired effects of the artist. Let harden for several days and buff with a soft cloth. Use warm water and soap to clean your tools. Contains no VOC
You will to use a binder when mixing it with dry powder pigments, but you can directly mix it with acrylic paint (which has already a binder in it) The pigments will appear more intense than when dry. It is also possible to scratch into wet or dry wax.
Drying time
The dry time depends on the thickness of the wax layer, but compared to the oil/coldwax mix it dries quick! Once dry you can polish your artwork with a soft cloth which gives it a deeper shine.
I filmed my explorations of the water-based cold wax medium and you can see part I on my YouTube channel. If you want to see how I added the portrait, you can sign up for my mini-class.
I quite loved the effects that I could create and although not as rich, transparent and exciting as the ‘regular oil cold wax medium’, I see lots of possibilities and will certainly experiment more!
Are you interested in an online class on water-based cold wax and acrylics? Put yourself on the waiting list to get the info!
Or sign up for the Mini-Class!
As always, don’t hesitate to ask me questions, I would love to connect with you!💙
PS. If you want to learn more about painting with me, here’s things you can checkout now: