DEMONSTRATION

STAGE ONE ►

To prevent the oil and cold wax painting cracking I sealed the board with two layers of gesso primer. I wanted a dark ground so applied a mix of clear gesso and acrylic. Acrylic alone won’t have enough tooth to grip the wax long term

STAGE TWO ▲

I mixed a pale grey with oil paints and mixed an equal quantity or less of cold wax into the oil paint with a palette knife. I used a silicone bowl scraper to apply the mixture to the black wooden panel

STAGE THREE ◀ ►

I cut into the oil and cold wax using the edge of the bowl scraper to reveal the black gesso layer below. You can also use other tools to make interesting marks at this stage. I used a bamboo skewer and a textured embossed wallpaper scrap to print into the wax. On the first day it may be too soft and sticky but the wax takes three days to firm up completely, so you have plenty of time to try different textures to add interest. A brayer used on the back of textured paper or scrunched tissue paper pushes the texture into the oil and cold wax

STAGE FOUR

When the surface is touch dry or even before, more oil and colour wax layers can be pulled across with the silicone bowl scraper, which will pick up and emphasise the texture worked into the layers below. A wooden BBQ skewer can also be used to make small marks and textures. As the surface becomes firmer, a pottery ribbon sculpting tool can be useful for digging back into the layers of wax to reveal the history of the working process; this can be very effective, especially if you have applied several layers

STAGE FIVE ▼

I mixed up a few of the colours I could see in the fish and added a small blob of cold wax to each colour. I then picked up a little of an oil and cold wax mix on the corner of the bowl scraper and painted the first fish with a series of suggestive marks. The detail of the fish is masked by the water above it, to paint it in a detailed way would have suggested it was on top of the water. I wanted the fish to appear under the water – that was the challenge

STAGE SIX ▲

I continued around the painting, adding small marks to suggest the fish in the water, creating the composition. I noticed how the water changed the colour of the fish and added more saturated colour where the fish break the surface tension

STAGE SEVEN ►

I made other small adjustments with a black oil bar or Marabou art crayon, a little white oil and cold wax, splashed a few small drops of ink across the surface, and left it to dry

FINISHED PAINTING ▼

Koi Study 11, oil and cold wax on board, 19¾319¾in (50350cm).

When completely dry I sealed the whole piece in a layer of cold wax, which I pulled across using the bowl scraper. I then signed the work using a wooden skewer to carve back through to the dark ground layer