How I came to love cold wax medium

From the beginning..

I love to share my story with you, about how I found my voice and what made me addicted to painting in cold wax medium and oils.

My very first self-portrait

My first portrait in watercolour

I used to be a watercolorist for many years and although I enjoyed the proces, I felt limited in my creative process and wanted to try out oil painting. I loved it and have never gone back to watercolour! The blending, the layering, the subtle colour shifts, I had found my technique! And curious as I am, I started to google new ways to use oil paints and then I discovered the cold wax medium, which absolutely changed everything.

A painting of my daughter in watercolour

Cold wax changed my creative process!

I was fascinated by the beautiful paintings that can be made by using the cold wax techniques. Creating history in a painting in an impressionist way with colours shining through different layers is exactly what I love and what I was looking for. I started to read everything I could find about the cold wax techniques and ordered one tiny pot of wax to try. Many many pots have been used ever since, I got completely hooked on the process which fitted me like a glove.

Layering, scraping back and rebuilding a painting is just want I love to do. For me the process of building up a painting is so much more interesting than a simple copy of a picture. During my research into cold wax medium, I found many abstract painters using the cold wax medium technique but hardly any figurative painters. By experimenting and exploring the medium thoroughly I found my own unique style. I became quite obsessed with it and adapted the techniques to my own creative figurative process, creating abstract backgrounds before adding a figure or a face.  

A painting of my dad in oils

My Process

I start my paintings with several base layers in one colour which I use to create textures by using stencils and other texture tools. After these bases layers have dried thoroughly (I like them dryer than just ‘dry to the touch’), I paint an abstract layer full of colour which I call my ‘busy’ layer. To this layer I often add pigments or pan pastel or scribble with R&F Pigments Sticks. I don’t have a face or a figure in mind but I am waiting for the painting to tell me which way to go. I almost always see a face or a figure appearing in my ‘busy’ background, which I find magical! When I see a face or a figure, I search in my files for a reference picture, a face or a figure that is in the same position as the one I see in my background. I do this because I like the features to be correct, so I only use the reference picture for the features and invent the rest. I draw the face on the ‘busy’ background with a soft pastel and start building up the face or figure and integrate it with the background.    

I am a ‘slow’ painter, I paint, contemplate (a lot), add more paint, scrape back or even change the subject completely during the process when  I don’t connect with the subject, which you can see in this YouTube video I made of the ‘making of Lily-Rose’

My Inspiration

I live in the south of France and my surroundings are the source of my inspiration. Old crumbled walls, weathered shutters and the beautiful light translates itself into my own unique painting process. My studio is my happy place, where I can get away from busy family life (especially during the pandemic!) and where I can work on several paintings at the same time. Surrounded by olive trees and lavender, with the beautiful light of the south of France makes this place extra special.

My Subjects

I am passionate about painting portraits and figures. I love capturing a face or a figure without too many details but expressing an emotion with the tilt of their head or the look in the eyes. I like to give my figures and faces a sort of abstract but dreamy vibe by leaving out the details and leave room for the viewer to make his own a story. It is a constant fight to find the right balance between too detailed and not detailed enough. Scratching and scraping is a important part of my process!

My Voice

I found my own voice when I stopped taking in person art classes and just started to experiment and explore the oil and cold wax medium without the pressure of having to make a masterpiece.

Although in my online art classes the process seems to be a step by step, it hardly is in real life. Under a lot of my finished paintings is a painting which I didn’t connect with and which changed drastically. I have accepted now that I almost always have to go through this stage of an ‘ok painting but not what I had in mind’ to get the painting that I really love.

I only keep the paintings that I am proud of and that might be why I find it difficult to let them go to a new home (but at the same time I feel honoured that my paintings are now hanging all over the world!) If you are interested in my paintings, please visit my artshop, they are very affordable!

This is my story and I would love to hear yours, don’t hesitate to connect with me through Instagram or email (marinatvb@outlook.com)