Cold wax medium and drying time

Drying time layer

My most asked question is ‘how long does it take for a layer to dry?’ and also ‘how can I speed up the drying time?

There are several factors that determine the drying time:

The thickness of your layers: thicker layers take longer to dry than thin layers. I prefer to do many thin layers (even when creating textures) than one or two thick ones but that is all personal preference. After a day (or two) your layer will be ‘dry to the touch’ which means that it feels dry but the inside is still soft. It is important to keep your touch light at this stage if not you will flatten the beautiful textures your created in the previous layers.

The humidity of your working environment: Your painting will dry faster in a dry environment. Don’t put your paintings in the sun because that will make the cold wax even softer!

The support you are working on: Paintings on paper dry a bit faster than paintings on wooden panels. I scotch my paper to a board with masking tape which gives beautiful clean edges when you remove the tape.

The quality of your paint and even the colour of your paint: Cheaper paints take longer to dry than artist grade paints because they have more binder in them. There are even certain colours that take longer to dry than others. My Daler&Rowney alizarin crimson takes ages to dry (but is one of my favourite colours)!

I have made a short YouTube video to show you how important the quality of your paint is, don’t forget to subcribe, more videos are on their way!🔔

How can I speed up the drying time?

You can speed up the drying time by adding marble dust to your mix of oils and cold wax medium. Adding Gamblin solvent free gel or Galkyd (lite) to your oil/cold wax mix helps too and also makes your mix more fluid and transparent. You can also put your paintings in the wind or use a ventilator.

If you have more questions on painting with cold wax medium and oils, download the free guide with my 10 most asked questions to find the answers!

As always, don’t forget to ask if you have questions, I would love to connect with you! you can reach me at marinatvb@outlook.com