R&F Blending Medium: With and Without Drier
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. 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®.
Both our Blending Mediums come in 8 oz., 16 oz., or 32 oz. jars, as well as in stick form. It is available with drier or without.
How do you know which one you are choosing? In the image below the Blending Stick on the right has the words "With Drier" located just below the word "Blending Stick." Make sure you look at the label carefully so you select the correct Blending Medium for your project.
HOW TO USE R&F BLENDING MEDIUM:
1. 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.
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.
2. Another way to work with R&F Blending Medium is to add a small amount to some 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.
3. 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. You can find a color chart at your local retailer or download from the Resources page on our website.
Haven't checked out our YouTube channel yet? We've got a demo video that 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.