BLACK OIL WAX MEDIUM
What Is It?
To understand what Black Oil wax medium is, it is helpful to break down the three major ingredients. Black Oil Wax Medium is made up of 1) Cold Pressed Linseed Oil, 2) Litharge (the rust of lead) and 3) Bees Wax. These ingredients are boiled together to create Black Oil Wax Medium or sometimes called Italian Black Oil Wax Medium.
Black Oil
The major base medium useful to the High Italian Renaissance painters was Black Oil. Made by mixing and boiling 10 parts cold pressed linseed oil with1 part Litharge, Black Oil was developed by Giorgione between 1477-1510. It is a thicker oil than cold pressed linseed oil and walnut oil and gives painting mixtures (when added to regular oil paint made with just pigment and linseed oil) a versatility in tack, body and fluidity. It is fast drying to the touch over night and creates a beautiful sheen with little change in appearance than when it was applied wet. Reference: P.164 The Lead And Wax Formula Simplified; The Secret Formulas And Techniques Of The Masters by Jacques Maroger c. 1948.
Black Oil Wax Medium
After a century following the High Renaissance movement the Italians continued to add more and more bees wax to their Black Oil medium creating the thickest Black Oil Wax Medium known to date. Black Oil Wax Medium is Black Oil with wax added to it and was termed by the Italians back then as "IMPASTO" and they used it mainly for creating thicker highlights in their oil paintings. Today Black Oil Wax Medium is excellent for Modern Impasto Painters for several reasons. When added to regular oil paint it:
1. Increases the color brightness giving it a richness and making it come alive!
2. It is lighter than pure black oil and does not darken colors.
3. It has "Tack" which is very appealing to any painter because when placed atop other thick colors the oil underneath does not come through or try to mix. It simply allows the painter to lay in the cleaner color without unwanted accidental mixing.
4. It keeps the integrity of the brush or knife mark used by the painter in regards to viscosity. The paint does not relax or change its shape and becomes a truer record of the expressive mark intended by the painter.
5. The painting won't crack over time, because it has virtually no solvent based elements such as turpentine, mineral spirits or varnishes.
6. It has a linseed oil odor which is referred to as "An Honest Smell." It is not dangerous to breath as with solvent-based mediums including distilled Turpentine, Mineral Spirits and Copal Painting Mediums.
7. It is the ideal medium for impasto painters and can be thinned by adding a few drops of Black Oil for a more desirable consistency.
8. Black Oil Wax Medium never needs varnishing because the medium is mixed in and throughout the painting mixture.
9. It can be mixed into most pure tube paint up to 50% giving you a more translucent painterly effect without wrinkling.
10. Because of the wax, the medium allows for better clean up, although I would recommend gloves because of the Litharge.
What It Is Not!
Black Oil Wax Medium is not Flemish Meroger's Medium. Similar to Black Oil Wax Medium, it is a mixture that starts out with Black Oil, but it has Mastic Varnish added to the medium instead of Bee's Wax. This medium is thinner and more of the consistency of a gel than the Black Oil Wax Medium. It does not work as well for impasto painters but is used in conservation and restoration work. This is what a lot of people confuse as being Black Oil Wax Medium because it has Black Oil in it as a base ingredient.
How to use Black Oil Wax Medium
To use black oil wax medium simply add the medium to all of your paint mixtures. It is very compatible, permanent and lightfast as long as you use ready- mixed paint in the tube that is made up of pigment and linseed oil only. Black Oil Wax Medium will work with lesser quality brands but you sacrifice permanency if there are extra fillers in the paint.
The Black Oil Wax Medium I make is the same that the following painters in art history used to create the luster in their exquisite paintings including: Peter Paul Rubens(1577-1679), Van Dyck (1599-1641), Van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669), and Frans Halls (1580?-1666). If you are taking one of my workshops or are an artist friend whom I have painted with, I would be happy to make you some. The following is the prices. They all come in 2 oz or 4.65 oz tubes to keep the medium from drying out as much as with jars.
Prices
2 oz Tube of Black Oil Wax Medium...............................................................................................$50.00
4.65 ox tube of Black Oil Wax Medium...........................................................................................$100.00
Shipping............................................................................................................................................$3.00
To order please pay through your PayPal account.
Caution: This product contains 1/10 part of Litharge which is the rust of Lead and must be used responsibly and with respect. I recommend using disposable super-soft vinyl gloves when painting. The paint is perfectly safe after it dries and usually skins over the next day.
