<p>Pure beeswax is compatible with oil paint and you can use it as a top coat or "varnish" on oil paints to provide a matte finish.</p>

<p>There are also cold wax mediums and varnishes that you can use with oil paints. They are a mixture of solvent like mineral spirits or turps, pure beeswax, and resins, the same materials you use to make mediums and varnishes for oil painting with the addition of beeswax. These you can work cold mixed with oils, dry pigments, or as a top coat to get a matte finish. In my experience they work fine but do not have the same depth as encaustics. They will take longer to set but will be easier to work with and provide a stronger finish than pure wax.</p>

<p>The curious may want to look at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic_painting" rel="nofollow noreferrer">encaustic painting</a> which is painting with pigmented beeswax and gives a distinctive appearance of depth and translucency which using a wax varnish approximates.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T20:39:54.073Z
Hey, I liked your answer for the most part, but I haven't accepted it as my solution because of the off-topic parts of the answer. (Encaustic painting and mixing paint with wax don't relate to my question about creating a finish on top of a completed painting.)  I'd be happy to accept your solution if you edited out those parts; part of my goal in participating on this site is to create a good database of art knowledge with clear, topical answers to questions. =)
A. Staffelbach
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-18T23:06:17.637Z
IMHO mentioning encaustics is useful as the look is similar and the materials used are the same, and are  a cool thing some readers may want to know about. As far as wax mediums, they will be far easier for an artist to work with than applying hot wax and are another way to reach your goal of a wax finished painting which also seemed useful.  I will rearrange it so as to emphasize the limited amount of information your question demanded, will that satisfy?
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-24T12:23:27.003Z
So now it's waiting for someone who repeats the answer without the additional information? Can a compromise be made, maybe, highlighting the answer more clearly, or placing the additional info in <sup> tags?
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-29T21:20:38.450Z
@Joachim - well I did edit it so the first sentence provides a direct answer to the question. Not unhappy about the edit, it does read better. But the rest of the info is on topic so I am not going to delete it. OP and anyone else who is disinterested in the rest could just stop reading after the first sentence. If someone else (including OP) wants to copy paste the answer for the credit more power to them.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-09T02:10:00.260Z
I don't see how covering alternative but closely related materials is off topic especially when they provide a more practical or alternative solution. More related info does not unanswer the question IMO. (I'd get it if there were pages of blather to wade through, but I don't think this ranks among those kinds of answers.)
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-10T13:22:34.870Z
@rebusB I completely agree with you. Additional information is usually a bonus, especially here on Arts & Crafts. And it's certainly not off-topic.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-09T23:08:55.570Z
2019-02-09T02:00:48.393Z
2019-02-09T02:00:48.393Z
rebusB
<p>I've heard of paintings being finished with a thin wax coat, but I didn't know if this could be done with oil paintings specifically. </p>

<p>If wax is not compatible with dried oil paint, what other materials could be used to create a similar, even matte finish?</p>

<p>For clarification, I am asking if wax can be used in place of varnish on a finished, dried/cured oil-painting. If so, is there a specific kind of wax one would use in this circumstance?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-18T17:39:30.237Z
I don't have an answer but I'm curious why not use a matte varnish? I'm not asking to sound smart I assume you have a reason and I'd like to know for my own education. Is there a benefit for lack of a better word in using wax?
Tony
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-18T22:14:08.113Z
We worked with wax a lot, finishing large plaster panels and other projects, so I have been thinking a lot about wax finishes. Now that I am oil painting again, I was curious if wax would work similarly with oil paintings. I remembered a student in one of my undergraduate classes finished some paintings with wax, but I couldn't remember if what kind of paint she used or if her methods were sound.
A. Staffelbach
<medium-selection><oil-paint><wax>
Can an oil painting be finished with wax to create a matte finish?
A. Staffelbach
# Can an oil painting be finished with wax to create a matte finish?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-09)

I've heard of paintings being finished with a thin wax coat, but I didn't know if this could be done with oil paintings specifically.

If wax is not compatible with dried oil paint, what other materials could be used to create a similar, even matte finish?

For clarification, I am asking if wax can be used in place of varnish on a finished, dried/cured oil-painting. If so, is there a specific kind of wax one would use in this circumstance?

**Tags:** medium-selection, oil-paint, wax

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I don't have an answer but I'm curious why not use a matte varnish? I'm not asking to sound smart I assume you have a reason and I'd like to know for my own education. Is there a benefit for lack of a better word in using wax?  
> **username_0**: We worked with wax a lot, finishing large plaster panels and other projects, so I have been thinking a lot about wax finishes. Now that I am oil painting again, I was curious if wax would work similarly with oil paintings. I remembered a student in one of my undergraduate classes finished some paintings with wax, but I couldn't remember if what kind of paint she used or if her methods were sound.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-01-09. Score: 7

Pure beeswax is compatible with oil paint and you can use it as a top coat or "varnish" on oil paints to provide a matte finish.

There are also cold wax mediums and varnishes that you can use with oil paints. They are a mixture of solvent like mineral spirits or turps, pure beeswax, and resins, the same materials you use to make mediums and varnishes for oil painting with the addition of beeswax. These you can work cold mixed with oils, dry pigments, or as a top coat to get a matte finish. In my experience they work fine but do not have the same depth as encaustics. They will take longer to set but will be easier to work with and provide a stronger finish than pure wax.

The curious may want to look at [encaustic painting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic_painting) which is painting with pigmented beeswax and gives a distinctive appearance of depth and translucency which using a wax varnish approximates.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hey, I liked your answer for the most part, but I haven't accepted it as my solution because of the off-topic parts of the answer. (Encaustic painting and mixing paint with wax don't relate to my question about creating a finish on top of a completed painting.)  I'd be happy to accept your solution if you edited out those parts; part of my goal in participating on this site is to create a good database of art knowledge with clear, topical answers to questions. =)  
> **username_2**: IMHO mentioning encaustics is useful as the look is similar and the materials used are the same, and are  a cool thing some readers may want to know about. As far as wax mediums, they will be far easier for an artist to work with than applying hot wax and are another way to reach your goal of a wax finished painting which also seemed useful.  I will rearrange it so as to emphasize the limited amount of information your question demanded, will that satisfy?  
> **username_3**: So now it's waiting for someone who repeats the answer without the additional information? Can a compromise be made, maybe, highlighting the answer more clearly, or placing the additional info in <sup> tags?  
> **username_2**: @username_3 - well I did edit it so the first sentence provides a direct answer to the question. Not unhappy about the edit, it does read better. But the rest of the info is on topic so I am not going to delete it. OP and anyone else who is disinterested in the rest could just stop reading after the first sentence. If someone else (including OP) wants to copy paste the answer for the credit more power to them.  
> **username_2**: I don't see how covering alternative but closely related materials is off topic especially when they provide a more practical or alternative solution. More related info does not unanswer the question IMO. (I'd get it if there were pages of blather to wade through, but I don't think this ranks among those kinds of answers.)  
> **username_3**: @username_2 I completely agree with you. Additional information is usually a bonus, especially here on Arts & Crafts. And it's certainly not off-topic.  

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