Cold wax medium is wax that has been melted with turpentine. Cold wax medium is a paste that is combined with oil paint. Cold wax speeds up drying time of oil paint and increases the paint’s workability. Cold wax gives the paint a creamy texture that can be spread on a painting like butter.
Unlike encaustic that you heat up and fuse, cold wax does not need to be and should not be heated as it contains solvents. In encaustic painting, the wax medium must be molten to work with and then each layer needs to be fused (reheated). Cold wax is not molten.
Like encaustic, cold wax can be applied in layers.
