In my last column, I walked you through the early stages of creating a painting with dry pigment and cold wax (using Gamblin’s Cold Wax Medium and Pigments). This time, I’ll show you how I bring the piece to completion—or at least to a stopping point. With abstract work, declaring something “done” is always tricky. And because cold wax remains somewhat workable even after it sets, the temptation to keep going is strong!

One of the wonderful qualities of cold wax is that its surface never becomes as “closed” as traditional oil paint. It cures to the hardness of candle wax, so you can carve into it long after it’s dry. Oil paint, by contrast, eventually forms a tough film that limits your options—you can only layer more paint on top. And if the painting has been varnished, you’d have to remove that layer before adding anything new.