Demo Video: Blending Medium
R&F Blending Medium is essentially Pigment Stick® without the pigment. It is ideal for glazing colors, can be worked directly into a color to increase the color's transparency, or used to blend colors together on the surface. Blending Medium comes in 8 oz., 16 oz., or 32 oz. jars, as well as in stick form. It is available with drier or without.
R&F Blending Medium with Drier contains a small amount of Cobalt Manganese drier to speed up drying time. The use of a drier can affect color, so it is best used under a layer of Pigment Stick®. Our newest demo video illustrates three ways to use R&F Blending Medium - to create a rich patina on an encaustic painting; as a glaze for an oil and cold wax painting; and underneath a layer of oil paint to dry the painting from below.
The surface patina on this encaustic painting was created using Payne’s Grey Pigment Stick®.
TIP: WHEN OPENING A NEW R&F PIGMENT STICK®, USE A RAZOR BLADE OR A PAPER TOWEL TO GENTLY REMOVE THE THIN SKIN THAT FORMS WHEN OIL CURES.
When working with R&F Pigment Sticks® on top of a finished encaustic painting, it is best to allow the painting to cool and harden a bit beforehand. This enables you to apply more pressure when wiping without affecting fine lines and details. R&F Blending Medium acts as a barrier or release on the surface of your work, preventing oil paint from staining the wax and enabling you to easily wipe away excess Pigment Stick®.
Apply a thin layer of R&F Blending Medium on the surface of your painting. Coat your painting thoroughly with R&F Pigment Stick® and gently wipe it away with a paper towel. If you wish to remove additional Pigment Stick®, add more Blending Medium to reactivate the Pigment Stick® and give it a second wiping.
This glaze was created using Cobalt Turquoise Pigment Stick®.
There is no need to fuse Pigment Stick®. R&F Pigment Sticks® are oil paint with just enough wax to make them solid at room temperature. They will cure over time naturally just like an oil painting.
Another way to work with R&F Blending Medium includes adding it to Pigment Stick® to increase translucency, extend the paint, and make a glaze that can be applied to the surface of an oil and cold wax painting. Use a palette knife on a piece of plexiglass or palette paper. Work the Blending Medium into the Pigment Stick® until it is incorporated. Apply it to the surface of your painting and use a squeegee to draw it across over the surface.
R&F Blending Medium with drier offers a helpful way to speed up drying time. Add a thin layer to the surface of your painting or support and then work with Pigment Stick® on top of it. This is particularly helpful with the slower drying Pigment Sticks®.
To learn more about approximate drying times, check out the index on the back of our color chart.
Keep painting.