Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Friday, March 28, 2014

And the WAX of choice is...



Yes...Renaissance Wax Polish

This product manufacturer claimed it is used by the British Museum
so I called the BM  to check. I enjoyed my inquiry 
being treated with great respect by a gentleman in the
restoration department.  I was informed they 
do indeed use it and they find it truly 
is a wonderful product. Absolutely safe to use as a 
protective coat on paintings.

Get this...it dries almost instantly 
and it has not lifted off any color. 
I placed my painting done on Yupo paper 
in water overnight after coating, and it 
remained  perfectly protected so it really is excellent as a sealer.
As well as waxing the Yupo paper,
 I have tried it on a watercolor painted on aquabord,
 a gouache painting done on 100% cotton paper,
and I liked the finish it gives, very much.
It smells like furniture polish before it dries so I use it in a vented area.
Below is a very short video showing how I apply it.
(unedited as I do not know how to do that yet)




I place it on with a palette knife using the bottom flat part to spread. 
An old cotton t-shirt is perfect to buff it up to the sheen I like.

A note about price.
I purchased mine at the Artisan in Santa Fe NM.
The 200ml size was $35.50. Not cheap!
It goes a long way and this may last me a lifetime!

I do like Gamblin's Cold Wax for mixing with oil paint. This is not to be confused
with that type of use.




21 comments:

  1. I'm very glad to know this product, because I can buy from England with ease and without any other cost that the shipment (no duty). Thank you very much for this precious advice!

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  2. Thanks for sharing about the wax for finish and protection. My artist friends are all into mixin g the cold wax with oils and I tried it for the first time the other day. It seemed to take the sheen out of the paint and give it a matte finish, is that your experience? I so enjoy the last posts of your daffodils. So beautiful!

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  3. Can't wait to try it on watercolors. Informative post. Thanks Julie.

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  4. well julie, i'm going to give renaissance wax another try... i tried it a few weeks ago and didn't think much of the result, but i will try again! i *want* a wax that works! i also tried dorlands and felt that it sucked the life right out of the paint.

    thank you for this review. : )

    xoxo

    xoxo

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  5. Nice! Thanks for telling us about it. :)

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  6. I gave this info to a friend of mine who works with watercolor, Julie! Very interesting post...!!

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  7. How fabulous to know! If I ever have a piece worth the cost I am going to definitely try it myself. I think it looks amazing and is such a neat way to seal the piece.

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  8. Thanks for sharing this info, Julie!

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  9. Thanks so much for sharing! I'll have to give this one a try.

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  10. Thank you Julie and your video is wonderful!

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  11. Thanks you for sharing this Julie...Yupo, Aquabord...hmmm.

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  12. I love your going right to the top, Julie, with the British Museum!! I'm glad the gentleman was helpful and open to sharing information! I definitely will try this, probably with Aquabord. Thank you for the video (it helps so much to SEE it in action.) You are so generous and kind (and nurturing) to share your findings!

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  13. Dear Julie - thank you so much for sharing not only this product but also showing how you use it. I will have to check this out. Hope you are having a great week's start.

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  14. This is great to know, thank you Julie. I've tried using Gamblin's cold wax as a varnish after seeing Joanie Springer do it and after you mentioned it. But it doesn't dry instantly. That's awesome!

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  15. Hallo Julie Ford , mii ha sempre interessato poter lavorare con la cera ,perche penso dia degli effetti speciali , ma non ho mai approfondito questa tecnica .
    Vorrei sapere se si può usare anche mescolandola con Acryl !
    Ti mando un caro saluto dalla Svizzera , che ora é in piena fioritura primaverile !
    E molte grazie per questa notizia , Ciao ciao Bianca
    www.bianca.botes.blogspot .com

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  16. Grâce à Rita Julie j'arrive chez vous... Une publication pleine d'intérêt. je ne suis pas une aquarelliste mais de temps en temps je "m'amuse" avec ! je vais tester ce produit.
    Ne pourrait-on pas l'employer pour l'huile ?
    Gros bisous

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  17. Oh this is so great to know, thanks! I'd love to try this! Beautiful painting and it deserves the perfect finish!

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  18. How fascinating. You come up with the most interesting ideas Julie. I wonder if it gives a look a bit like hot encaustic and if you could apply a few times to give an interesting effect. What do you think?

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  19. Julie, now that the painting is coated with the wax, how do you frame it? Do you use glass or acrylic or do you frame the painting as you would an acrylic painting with only a frame and no covering over the painting?

    Also do you put any product on the back of the waxed painting?

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  20. So generous of you to share this, Julie. Thank you!!

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I love that you are taking the time to comment and thank you for it. I am sure other readers will enjoy them too. If you cannot comment through this format then email me at juliefordoliver@gmail.com
Cheers,
Julie