An Oil and Cold wax course in the wilds of Yorkshire

In addition to preparing for the Horizons exhibition, I also took time out recently to attend a 3 day advanced course in oil and cold wax in Bingley. I have used cold wax in my landscape painting for around 3 years, having been inspired by the moody landscapes of Paula Dunn. I use this method to create blended landscapes and moody clouds, but was ready to learn more.
Cold wax is a product added to oil paints and it changes their characteristics, making them softer and easy to spread and layer. There are a few manufacturers, we used Gamblin. The wax makes the paintings dry much quicker than traditional oil methods, but that does depend on the number of layers in the painting.
Paula lives in Saltaire and runs courses from her studio base in Bingley which is close by, she has a studio in the basement and runs occasional workshops from the 1st floor, (there is a convenient café on the ground floor), as well running courses as far away as Canada and Ireland.
We were a small contingent of 4, having all travelled to the workshop from afar, in fact one lady came from the Netherlands. We all had some experience.
Paula teaches the technique, not her style of painting so our group results were quite diverse. It was very enjoyable, but hard work and especially painful on the back, as we were standing much of the time, leaning over our artwork.
Our objective was to create 16 small paintings on one panel, working on them all at the same time using a similar colour mix. We used oil sticks, pigment, various tools, a bowl scraper, a brayer and a comb used for taking hair out of hairbrushes! We masked areas of work, and painted over them again…and again.
We dripped solvent on oil paint to release colour from layers beneath the surface, scratched over the top of oil paint, knocked back colour, layered on transparent colours using a limited pallet of colours. Very little use of a paint brush!
At the end of 3 days, some of us had created a complete result, others had more work to complete. We were all tired and covered in paint!
I can highly recommend Paula’s courses, or trying out the technique. Below is a photo of my work, which is currently drying – not sure how long it will need due to the number of layers. Next stage is to cut it up and mount on board or frame, not sure yet!

Gillian Thompson

Paula has a book being released in October – which looks to be a must read. There are a few other books on the market, notably one by Rebecca Crowell and Jerry McLaughlin called “Cold wax medium: techniques, concepts & conversations’.
You can see more of Paula’s work and her courses on her website – Paula Dunn Artist