Powertex Powerwax - Cold wax painting medium -250gr

Powerwax is the cold wax medium for artists who want body, depth, and a soft glow in their work. It has a thick, rich consistency that holds a brushstroke or a palette-knife mark, and it's water-based, so there's no heating and no waiting. Unlike encaustic, it's ready the moment you open the tin.

It plays well with nearly everything on your art table. Mix it with acrylic paint, pigment powders, metallic pigments, 3D Sand, dyes, or Powertex products like Universal Medium. On its own it dries transparent, and mixed with powder pigments it intensifies their color. Stir it into absorbent powders like 3D Sand or Easy 3Dflex and you have a structural texture medium.

Powerwax doesn't contain a binder, so on its own it stays a softer wax finish and takes its time to dry. When you want a harder surface that dries faster, mix it with acrylic paint or Universal Medium. Both act as the binder.

Getting started:

1. Scoop a little Powerwax out of the tin onto your palette. Close the lid right away so the rest stays soft.
2. Work it on the palette first. Spread it and fold it back over itself with your palette knife for a minute or so. It warms up, loosens, and turns smooth and creamy, and that makes it so much easier to mix and spread.
3. Mix in your color on the palette, not on your piece. Add a little acrylic paint at a time and keep folding with firm pressure until the color is even. More paint gives you more color and a harder finish. More wax gives you more transparency and texture.
4. Apply with a palette knife, a squeegee, an old credit card, or a stiff brush. Thin layers dry faster and more evenly than one thick one.
5. While it's still soft, scrape back, draw into it, or press in texture to reveal the layers underneath.
6. Let each layer dry before adding the next. Thin layers can be dry to the touch in hours. Thicker work can take a day or two.
7. Once it's fully dry, buff it with a soft cloth for a deep, warm sheen.

What you can do with it:

• Blend with acrylic paint for thick, textured strokes and palette-knife work
• Mix with pigment powders to deepen and intensify color
• Add Bister for translucent, glazed effects
• Build structural texture with absorbent powders like 3D Sand or Easy 3Dflex
• Polish with a soft cloth once dry for a deep, brilliant shine
• Use as a glaze or finish on frames and furniture, mixing in acrylic or Universal Medium for a harder finish that dries faster

Tips:

• If the wax feels stiff, don't fight it. Work it on your palette a little longer, or let the tin sit in a warm room first.
• Mix small batches. Paint and wax mixed on the palette start to set while you work, so mix just what you'll use in the next few minutes. Slow-drying (open) acrylics give you more working time.
• Test a few ratios on a scrap board to find the mix of wax, paint and medium that gives you the texture and transparency you want, then jot down what you liked.
• For layered, heavily textured work, a rigid surface like a wood panel or heavy board holds up best.
• Clean your palette and tools with warm, soapy water before the wax dries on them.

Want to go deeper? Download the free Powerwax Guide, or browse all of our guides in the Resource Library.