Building Depth, Texture and Expression with Cold Wax and Pigment Sticks | Andrea Wedell

Workshop: Building Depth, Texture and Expression with Cold Wax and Pigment Sticks

Instructor: Andrea Wedell (View Instructor Bio)

Dates: June 18-21, 2025, 9:30am - 4:00pm

Registration Deadline: February 28, 2025

Class Size: 12

Level: All

Tuition: $1195

Workshop Overview:

This immersive four-day workshop is designed for intermediate to experienced artists who want to deepen their understanding of abstraction, expand their mark-making vocabulary, and refine their compositional skills using cold wax medium and R&F pigment sticks. We will push the boundaries of surface development, layering, and color interaction while exploring the intuitive and intentional aspects of abstract painting. Through structured exercises, personal exploration, and expert guidance, you will create multi-dimensional, expressive paintings that resonate with depth and meaning.

What to Expect:

Mastering Layering Techniques with Cold Wax & Oil

Learn how to build nuanced, textural surfaces using cold wax, pigment sticks, and oil paint. Discover the secrets of transparency, opacity, and subtle veils of color to create depth and richness in your work.

Exploring a Broad Range of Compositional Structures

Work across multiple formats—small squares, elongated rectangles, and larger canvases—to understand how scale impacts movement, balance, and energy in abstraction.

Expanding Your Mark-Making Vocabulary

Develop new gestural and textural marks using unconventional tools, including squeegees, brayers, silicone wedges, and handmade implements. Find ways to create contrast between bold, expressive marks and quieter, atmospheric areas.

Harmonizing Color and Value for Impactful Composition

Delve into advanced color relationships—how to unify, contrast, or disrupt color harmonies for maximum emotional and visual impact. Learn the subtle nuances of shifting warm and cool tones to guide the viewer’s eye.

The Power of Reduction and Simplicity

Learn when to push a painting further and when to strip it back. Through structured critiques and guided revisions, discover how to refine compositions by eliminating distractions and strengthening core visual ideas.

Intentional vs. Intuitive Decision-Making

Balance spontaneity with intentionality. Develop strategies for making bold moves while still maintaining cohesion and meaning in your work.

Surface, Edge, and Transitions

Explore the interplay between soft, atmospheric transitions and crisp, deliberate edges. Use scraping, burnishing, and glazing techniques to add refinement and tension to your compositions.

Working in Series for Cohesion and Growth

Move beyond isolated pieces by developing a small body of work that speaks cohesively. Learn how to maintain spontaneity while working across multiple paintings.

Who Should Attend:

This workshop is ideal for intermediate to experienced artists ready to push their abstraction further in a warm and supporting environment. If you’ve explored or experimented with cold wax and oil already and want to refine your compositional voice, deepen your mark-making, and develop more layered, complex paintings, this is for you.

Takeaways:

• A collection of abstract paintings demonstrating advanced layering and mark-making techniques

• Expanded ability to compose dynamically across various scales and formats

• A refined personal vocabulary of marks, textures, and color interactions

• Confidence in knowing when to build and when to simplify a composition

• A deeper understanding of how to create paintings with depth, movement, and energy

• Techniques and strategies to continue evolving your work beyond the workshop

• Possibly a new group of fabulous friends

Teaching Statement

Teaching is an essential part of my own art practice. As I help others expand on their skills, develop their eye, and express themselves, I too deepen my own expression. It's a circular, rewarding relationship. Generosity is central to my teaching, and I fully embrace the challenge of articulating abstract concepts to others with skill and precision.