Experimenting with textures in cold wax/oil
Recently I have been experimenting a bit more with blending found nature based materials within the image. Considering everything has an energy frequency, I feel the image can only be enhanced with interest and beauty of additional materials.
Initially, I begin with a rough atmospheric concept in mind of interesting reed based Norfolk landscapes which incorporate a calm, peaceful ambiance in the skies. I like contrast in light and textures. I also have in mind two panels one with mauve and indigo as the base, the other with magenta and green umber.
I don’t want to start the cold wax directly on a white base because I plan to end with the sky area as white with interesting underlay of embedded layers popping through. Well that is my conceptual intention at this stage. So first I add some acrylic base colours of moss and cerulean blue, gold acrylic (3 x coats) Golden crackle paste and a few interesting specks and vertical lines of gold leaf.
Leaving the panels about 3-4 days for the crackle to dry before adding the first wax layers.
Later that week.........
Next I mix up the Michael Harding paint with 50:50 cold wax (from Zest) all in advance and start applying lumps with palette knives. Next I use the silicon wedges to mix, flow and create the large areas, carefully avoiding the gold leaf. Sometimes using a pad with a tiny bit of Zest solvent to wipe over any accidental smudges on the leaf. Elsewhere, maps of Fairhaven garden are ripped and embedded in the surface. I really liked the little spatula tool as it had a bit more control over the small spaces.
