Search Results for: beeswax

Article Writers Team

We are so lucky to have a brilliant team of artists and article writers who bring you the wonderful tutorials, projects and reviews across many elements of the mixed media arts.

Michelle G. Brown – Creative Director

Michelle G. Brown is passionate about mixed media art and enjoys sharing her knowledge and techniques with you to allow you to express your own creativity. Michelle understands that many of us have an inner need to create. By learning a few basic techniques the amazing world of mixed media art is accessible to everyone! Michelle’s creativity started with card making and rubber stamping, then progressed into the mixed media genre about 10 years ago, where she continues to learn with each new piece.

Michelle lives with her husband and two boys in Melbourne, Australia. When she’s not getting painty or hanging out on Facebook, you will find Michelle practicing yoga and karate.

Terri Sproul – Article Writers Team Coordinator

Terri Sproul is a CHA desinger and a Mixed Media Artist with her own line of stamps with Sincity Stamps and own paint line with Sakura Hobby Crafts. She and her husband have the pleasure of living on Palomar Mountain, in San Diego county. She is teaching an online live show on Tuesday night on her youtube channel.

You can see more of her work at:
terrisproul.blogspot.com

Anjuli Johnson

Anjuli Johnson is a Mixed Media Artist from Raleigh, NC. She began her art career as a scrapbooker, and it’s been an evolutionary process ever since. She loves all things mixed media- paper, paint, pens, wire, gears, clay… the list goes on and on. She is constantly trying to push through her fears to discover and develop her talents, meet new people, and learn from those around her. To see more of Anjuli’s art and techniques, check out her website at www.thefarpavilion.com, her blog at www.thefarpavilion.blogspot.com, and like her Facebook page TheFarPavilion

Articles:
Small Experiments with Mini Mixed Media Canvases
Overcoming my Fear of Mixed Media
Dr. Ph Martin’s Bombay India Inks

Ann Strecko Koeman

Ann is a Mixed Media Artist working in the capital of Canada. She is surrounded by wild life inside her home (she has teenagers) and outside her country home. All this nature is inspiring in her art work. More of her work can be viewed on her blog Annmakes at annmakes.blogspot.com

Articles:
The Multitasking Mixed Media Artist
The Needs of the Artist
Organizing Our Mixed Media Collections

Cecilia Sanchez

Cecilia Sanchez lives in Málaga, Spain. She is married and have three gorgeous sons who inspires her every day with their crazy ideas. She is a part of the European design team of KURETAKE, and she is also designer for a monthly blog challenge Sweet Card Club. She contributes with some blogs and digital magazines and organized Scrapbooking workshops in Malaga.

You can see more of her works at: ceciscrap.blogspot.com & www.facebook.com/ceciscrap

Articles:
Art Journal Page Inspired by Nature
Cheeky Photo Frames
“Truth” and “Time”: A Mixed Media Art Journal

Debbie Davis

Debbie lives in Morton, Illinois, USA. She is happily married and have a wonderful family that includes a daughter, son, son-in-law and 3 of the sweetest grandchildren ever! What she loves most about mixed media art is that you don’t have to be an expert at anything to create beautiful art. According to Debbie, art is such a wonderful stress reliever.

You can see more of Debbies’ work at her blog called In Art Therapy where she shares her art along with techniques she have learned. She also have an Etsy shop called Artful Explorations where where she place some of her art she have created for sale.

Articles:
Painted Paper Collage
Getting Started with Beeswax Collage
Beeswax Collages for Christmas

Elaine Brady Smith

Elaine Brady Smith loves creating acrylic mixed media and encaustic collages. Key ingredients in her work are vintage papers and her own collage papers made with repetitive marks, simplistic shapes and transparent layers. She also enjoys other art mediums such as art journaling, oil painting and colored pencil drawing in addition to writing, teaching and spending time with her family. Find more on her website: elainebradysmith.com and on Facebook: Elaine Brady Smith Art

Articles:
Basic Encaustic – Part 1: FAQ’s about Encaustic Painting
Transparent Stamped Collage Layer Technique

Gloriann Irizarry

Gloriann was born and raised in the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. She loves to sculpt and will never stop creating. She was born this way and for that she thanks GOD every day. According to Gloriann, Art has been a great way to be creative and to express herself. She likes to keep her hands busy creating – whether it is unique jewelry, art dolls, oak sculpture figures, fairy wings or even wigs and clothing for sculptures. She loves all the variety in art!

“Seeing your creation take form is an awesome feeling” – Gloriann Irizarry

You can see more of her work on her website – ByGlori

Articles:
Magnetic Chalk Board
Paperclay Hand Sculpted Elf Fairy Throne

Jean Mullins (Stevenson)

Jean Mullins lives in Caboolture, Queensland close to beautiful Bribie Island. Not only a mixed media artist, Jean is also a craft teacher, teaching many different mediums, including book making, crochet, patchwork and quilting, ceramics, porcelain doll making, sculpting in clay and mold making. Pattern designer and author of the books, “Dolls Clothes in crochet”.With a lot of knowledge gathered over the years she considers it a pleasure and privilege to share. Being a member of the Caboolture Artisans Guild, Bribie island Community Arts Centre as well as a tutor for U3A and a pet rescue foster “mum” life is busy and fun.

More about Jean can be found at: www.jeaniesartyplace.blogspot.com and www.nannasworkroom-stitcheriesandsuch.blogspot.com

Articles:
Canvas Pen and Wash: Zentangle Style
DIY Business Cards

Kate Palmer

Kate Palmer though perhaps better known as Sparkle Tart loved playing with mixed media and techniques. Most of her work incorporates sparkly media of some sort, which is used on journal pages, canvases, scrapbooks or hand made cards.

You can see more of Kate’s work at Sparkle Tart or via Facebook – Keep It Simply Sparkly

Articles:
Rainbow Grunge Backgrounds
Creativity and Inspiration throughout 2013
Layering Mediums for a Unique Art Journal Page

Kathi Rerek

Kathi F. Rerek is a mixed media artist who lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and two cats. She’s been crafting for almost fourteen years and has been lucky to have served on several design teams.

Her blog, Kat’s Tales of Stamping and Scrapping can be found at kathstales.blogspot.com

Article:
An Upcycled Cigar Box

Katja Blum

Katja Blum is a writer and translator from Tulsa, OK. As an artist, she started with yarn, fabric and papier mache (rarely together), branching out into collage and other paper arts about ten years ago. Her latest obsession is making soft stuffies and art dolls – to the delight of her toddler. She also likes to find creative solutions for ugly or broken things around the house – to the delight of her husband.

You can see more of her work with fiber, paper and words at www.thewaywardsheep.com

Articles:

Calligraphy for Mixed Media Artists
Wearable Art: Fabric and Fiber Jewelry
Ten-minute art idea: “Tie-dyed” paper

Keri Sallee

Keri Sallee is a paper-crafter and mixed media artist who believes that EVERYONE was made to create. She loves thinking outside the box when it comes to her designs, like her Wizard of Oz inspired high-heel shoe that won her a spot on Graphic 45’s 2014 Design Team. She has also designed for The Canvas Corp family of companies, Susan K. Weckesser, The Craft Warehouse, Authentique Paper, Want2Scrap and The Buckle Boutique. Her favorite artistic quote is by Picasso and it says “Inspiration Does exist, but it must find out working.”

You can see more of Keri’s work on her blog ~ The Creative Life

Article:
Taking the leap from Hobbyist to Full-Time Artist

Kim Kelley

Kim Kelley is borderline obsessive about her crafting and her art. She loves mixed media art because you are free to go beyond your comfort zone, using your imagination and exploring an anything goes mind set. Kim loves to learn and explore new techniques and hopes that any art she creates leads someone to find their inner creative artist!

You can see more of Kim’s work at itsallaboutcrafting.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/kimscraftyconcepts

Articles:
Mixed Media Canvas With Copics
Mixed Media Canvas: Creating with Feeling
A Book with a Different Look

Laura Shelton Thykeson

Laura Thykeson has been totally immersed in mixed media art for many years. She discovered altered books and art journals about a year ago and have been hooked ever since! She has always loved mixed media art because of the variety and the “no rules” aspect! Laura lives in Granbury, Texas USA.

You can see more of Laura’s work at Taz’s Corner

Articles:
Making Greeting Cards from Recycled Art Scraps
Making Mixed Media Mini Books
Artistic Healing Anyone Can Do

Marilyn Harris Mills

Marilyn Harris Mills, aka Maer, is a Published Artist, Teacher and Designer, in Ottawa Canada. You can read about Marilyn at Maer’s Muses or join her online Watercolour Pencil Class. Her art has been published in “Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life”

Articles:
Everything you Wanted to Know About Artist Paint Brushes
Choosing Paper for a Substrate

Martice Smith II

Martice Smith II is creative director of Martice Smith II – Illustration & Design Studio, based in Kansas City, Missouri and owner of Uneek Art Boutique. She established herself as a freelance Illustrator and graphic designer after receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree. Her stunning illustrations reveals her love for fashion, typography and wildlife- using a combination of analog and digital techniques. Martice also contributes as an article writer for the Creating Mixed Media Art website.

You can see more of her work via her Facebook page or her blog. She invites you to join her monthly newsletter, Uneek Art Letter, for art biz tips, advice and free digital goodies!

Articles:
Designer Block Puzzle
Packing Tape Postcard
Graffiti Charm Bracelet

Melanie Statnick

Melanie Statnick is a Canadian Mixed Media & Collage Artist out of North Carolina. Melanie creates art daily from her private studio. Her style is fun, whimsy and eclectic. Melanie is also an Art Instructor for local venues and community colleges for students of all ages. Learn more about Melanie: www.melaniestatnickart.com

Articles:
Doodling: More than Mindless Drawing
Upcycle Paper Roll Mini Book
How to Make an Accordion Book

Sandra Parés

Sandra Parés loves working with mixed media. The colors and textures leave her amazed and she enjoys creating and getting their hands dirty with paint and gesso. She lives near Barcelona and works in her art workshop. On her site My mixed media you can find a mixed media online store, art and craft products, mixed media workshops in Spanish, tutorials, ideas and mixed media techniques.

Articles:
Autumn Layout
Mixed Media Magnet
Handmade Candle Holder

Shari Welch

Shari Welch is a mixed media artist living in Denton Texas. She is known for using reuse and recycle materials in her artwork. She volunteers for SCRAP Denton where she is on the education committee, teaches workshops, art camp, and performs art demos. She is passionate about mixed media art and enjoys helping others discover their creativity.

You can follow Shari and see her mixed media art at her facebook page.

Articles:
Altered Dominoes
Creating your Own Mixed Media Birdhouse

Tamara Dinius

Tamara Dinius lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and chocolate lab. She has two grown daughters who make her life meaningful. They support her, ground her, embrace her, and are amazing people in their own right. Her love for mixed media has taken over most aspects of her creative journey. She believes mixed media allows for a broad range of styles and anyone can find success in this form of artistic expression.

You can find more of Tamara’s work, and on her website countrycraftersusa.com, Etsy shop, or via her Facebook

Articles:
Mixed Media Bookmarks
Chosen Moments Art Journal
“It Takes Courage” Art Journal Page

Vicki Ross

Vicki Ross is focused on sharing her journey to art and how life events can shape us through creativity www.Axully.com. Vicki has always been involved deeply in the creative arts, from professional soft crafts publications (knitting/crochet/needlework) to French Hand-sewing, stenciling to macramé, oil painting to encaustics. Whatever your leaning, she believes in the healing power of creating.

You can see more of Vicki’s work at VickiRossArt or via blog posts at Axully – Solid. Useful. Beautiful

Articles:
Delft: Encaustic and Collage
Soft Pastel, Collage and Encaustic
Is Mixed Media Crafts or Fine Art?

Victoria Warren-Mears

Victoria Warren-Mears is a full time scientist and part time artist working in paper and mixed media. She can be found at work in her home studio, along with her husband, son and rescue dog. You can see more of her work online at Victoria’s Mellifluous Musings

Articles:
Getting Artistic with the Heroes Around All of Us
Seaside Inspired Shelf

Encaustic Basics Part II: Preparing Substrates, Fusing, Adding Color

By MMA Team 13 Comments

This article is written by Elaine Brady Smith

Welcome back to the Encaustic Basics Series!!! This is Part II, on how to make it easy and economical to get started with encaustic painting. If you missed Part I, click here. In this article we will talk about how to prepare your substrates, fusing, and adding color to your work. So let’s get started!

Preparing Substrates

Encaustic wax will adhere to a variety of surfaces. It is important that the surface is absorbent and porous or it will eventually crack and flake off. So glass, plastic, smooth metals, and any surfaces painted with acrylic paint are not suitable for encaustic. I will be using ¼” birch plywood for the demo pieces in this article that I purchased from Dick Blick.

If you are doing 2 dimensional works, some good choices for substrates are: Birch Plywood, Regular Plywood, Unfinished Pine, Un-tempered Masonite, MDF, and Cradled Panels. When choosing your substrate, make sure that it has not been previously treated with any oils or chemicals. Once you decide what type of work you want to do, spend some time researching what substrate will best suit your needs.

To prepare your substrate, encaustic medium or plain beeswax can be applied directly to most unfinished wood. If you are doing a painting, preparing the surface with a ground of encaustic gesso will enhance and give brighter color results. R & F Encaustic Gesso is my go-to product for surface preparation for an encaustic painting. It is easy to apply and gives me a solid white background. It is important to know that regular gesso made for acrylic and oil painting does not work with encaustic painting. Encaustic gesso has a “higher proportion of solid to binder, making it highly absorbent” R&F Paints.

If I plan to do a collage piece that will eventually be covered with paper, I don’t bother with the gesso, I just work on the raw wood. Also, as an alternative to encaustic gesso, you can glue any type of absorbent paper to your surface to serve as a ground. Bristol paper is a good choice for a white, smooth, consistent surface.

Steps for gluing paper to your board:

Lightly sand your board and wipe away any dust particles.
Cut your paper slightly larger than the size of the board.

Brush an even layer of glue on to the board and on to the back side of the paper.
Lay the glue side of the paper onto the board and brayer down to make even contact, smoothing out any air pockets.
Place the board upside down on a sheet of wax paper and wipe away excess glue with a damp paper towel.

Weight the board with a heavy object. I have inserted a thin piece of Masonite board (shown in photo above) between my boards and the books…my heavy object, to evenly distribute the weight.
Allow to dry overnight.
Trim excess paper from the edges with an x-Acto knife or single edged razor blade.
Sand the sides of the board to remove dried glue.

In the photos above I have used 100lb Bristol Vellum Paper and white glue. You can also use gel medium or PVA as your glue, just make sure that your paper is evenly covered with glue and that none gets on the surface of your paper.

If you’d like a patterned background, you can glue collage paper directly to your board. This is a good way to add heavier papers that might be difficult to attach with wax. Shown above are boards that I have prepared with heavy weight scrapbooking paper. This is also an excellent way to incorporate drawings or artwork as background to your piece. Just make sure they have not been painted with any acrylic paint.

Note that the paper will absorb whatever glue you use, so be mindful that glue might seep through your paper if it is too thin or between cracks of adjoining pieces. If it is a lighter weight paper, don’t bother with glue; just attach it to the board with wax.

Another note about using paper with encaustic is that the wax will make many papers transparent or darker, so it is best to test before you start! We’ll talk more about adding collage paper to encaustic work next month in Part III of this series.

Fearless Fusing!!!

You should begin your painting with a primer layer of wax on your substrate regardless of what type of ground you chose. The layers of wax cool very quickly as you add them and will remain individual layers, one on top of the previous one until you fuse them together. It is necessary to fuse each and every layer to make it one with the previous layer. This may seem tedious at first, but after a while, you will begin to enjoy the Zen-like practice of fusing.

Fusing is the process of adding a heat source to the surface so the wax melts enough to bond with the layer beneath. It is possible to fuse very large areas with a heat gun or acetylene torch, and it is possible to fuse very small areas with a small butane torch or mini quilt iron. As you practice with different heat sources, you will begin to know which heat source you prefer and which to use for various techniques. In the photo above, I am showing the heat sources I use most often. I generally prefer a heat gun because of the amount of collage paper I use in my work. I don’t want any of it to catch on fire!

Steps for adding primer layers and fusing with a heat gun:

Melt encaustic medium or plain beeswax directly on your heated palette or in a clean tin can.
With a natural bristle brush, dip into the medium and paint an even layer onto your board. This should also be done on top of a collage paper ground. 2-3 layers are sufficient as primer for a painting. You will get the feel for how many layers are needed, depending on what techniques you plan to use next.
Point the heat gun 4-6 inches away and perpendicular to the surface (depending on the air flow of your heat gun). Move it slowly across the surface until you see a slight shine on the wax. When you see the shine, move the gun nozzle on to the next area.
Be careful not to heat too long in one spot, as this will cause the wax to spread and create bare spots on your surface. I recommend using your heat gun on the lowest setting until you get used to the process.
When the shine disappears and the wax is dull again, your piece is cool enough to brush on another layer of wax and fuse again.
Fusing takes practice, so don’t become discouraged if your first attempt isn’t perfect. And don’t be afraid to try all the types of heat sources, so you know what you will like! I know many artists who love the big acetylene torch!

And Finally – Adding Color!!!

Adding color to your work is the beginning of the real fun! In addition to adding color with collage papers, encaustic paints are available in readymade cakes. I recommend Enkaustikos brand pigment cakes, as they are affordable, good quality encaustic paints with a large variety of colors.

You can heat the pigment cakes in a tin on your palette, or if you only need a small amount of paint or want to mix colors together, melt the paint right on the palette. The pigment colors can also be thinned with encaustic medium to make glazes.

Use a natural bristle brush to apply the color to your piece. Once you use a brush for a particular color, it is best to dedicate the brush to that color, as it is difficult to completely clean wax from brushes.

Steps for adding encaustic paint to your work:

Brush on the melted encaustic paint with a flat natural bristle brush.
Fuse the paint to the surface.
Add more of the same color or add another color to the surface.
Fuse this layer to the previous layer.

You will notice as you fuse multiple colors, you will be able to use the heat gun to move the wax around to blend them and create new colors. This is the fun and unpredictable nature of encaustic painting.

Here are the three boards I started earlier with scrapbooking paper. They may or may not be finished. I never really know until I look at them for a while! I’ve added more collage paper, encaustic paint, and an incised line technique. Let me know what you think.

So I have given you a lot of information, but these instructions are by no means the whole ball of wax (no pun intended!). There are many more techniques to discuss, but you can see that getting started is very simple. It is not beyond your reach to learn encaustic painting. I will keep sharing information here and on my blog www.elainebradysmith.com about encaustic painting and some of my other favorite mixed media techniques. Next month in Part III of the Encaustic Basics series, we will discuss adding collage and embedding objects to your work. So until then, go play and have fun with encaustic painting!!!

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Elaine Brady Smith loves creating encaustic and mixed media art. Key ingredients in her work are vintage papers and hand printed collage papers made with repetitive marks, simplistic shapes, and transparent layers. She also enjoys other art mediums, such as art journaling, oil painting, and colored pencil drawing. Among her other interests are writing, teaching and spending time with her family. Find more on her website: elainebradysmith.com and on Facebook: Elaine Brady Smith Art

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Techniques Tagged With: collage, encaustic, encaustic painting, Mixed Media

Basic Encaustic – Part 1: FAQ’s about Encaustic Painting

By MMA Team 7 Comments

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This article was written by Elaine Brady Smith

A lot of people are fascinated by encaustic painting. I meet so many that say…”oohh, I’ve always wanted to learn how to paint in encaustic!” And I love to hear that kind of enthusiasm for this medium. However, getting started in encaustic painting can seem like a daunting task, especially when you don’t even know yet if you will like it or not.

I’d like to help take the mystery out of “getting started” with encaustic painting and show you how to gather tools and equipment in an easy and economical way in this 3 part series. Yes, there is a lot of information to relay, but I want you to be thoroughly informed so you will have fun with this exciting medium. Here is what will be included in each of the articles:

July – Encaustic Basics-Part I-FAQs about Encaustic Painting
August – Encaustic Basics-Part II-Preparing Substrates, Fusing Methods, Adding Color
Sept – Encaustic Basics-Part III-Adding Collage and Embedding Objects

What Does Encaustic Mean?

“The word encaustic originates from the Greek word enkaustikos which means to burn in, and this element of heat is necessary for a painting to be called encaustic.” Wikipedia.com

Encaustic painting is an extremely versatile medium with techniques and styles that are as individual as the artists who use them. There are numerous techniques to use in encaustic painting that can produce a wide range of results from a smooth flat finish to very textural surfaces. Encaustic can also be used to add collage and assemblage elements to your work and surprisingly it is also a superb sculpting medium. I am always amazed at how different artists approach encaustic with similar techniques and get such varied results. It’s really incredible!

There are many artists using plain beeswax for collage art and that is perfectly okay provided it is done on a stable surface and fused properly. I will be discussing “encaustic painting” here, which uses a medium made of beeswax and damar resin and the paint (color) made from encaustic medium and powdered pigments.

What is Encaustic Medium?

Encaustic medium is made with beeswax melted with Damar resin. I usually purchase refined beeswax and Damar resin from Swan’s Candles to make my own medium.

The ratio between the beeswax and damar resin can be 5:1 up to 10:1. I prefer the 5:1 ratio for hardness and shine factor. It is not recommended to ever use bleached beeswax for encaustic painting. And if you have a local beekeeper who can supply you with beeswax, that is fine to use too. Just know that there will still be a good amount of pollen suspended in the beeswax, which acts as a pigment and darkens the color of the wax.

It is less expensive to make your own encaustic medium than to purchase ready-made medium; however, ready-made medium is as clean and pure as you can get for clear coverage and bright colors. I make my own medium to economize, but I also love using ready-made encaustic products for their convenience and consistency.

Milled, powdered pigments are added to the medium to make colored pigment cakes that are used as your paint. You can make your own pigment cakes with medium and powdered pigments, but it is labor intensive and extreme safety precautions must be taken when handling the dry pigments.

For beginners, I recommend purchasing medium and pigment cakes from Enkaustikos. They are one of my favorite companies and the quality vs. cost of their products is outstanding. They have made encaustic painting affordable with convenient product sizes and pricing. Go to their website to find a retailer near you to purchase their products. There are also many online sources for Enkaustikos products like The Fine Art Store.

What Substrates Can I Paint Encaustic On?

Wax will adhere to a variety of surfaces. The most important thing to remember is that the surface must be absorbent and porous. If it is not absorbent and porous, the wax will eventually crack and flake off the surface.

Some excellent choices are: Birch Plywood, Regular Plywood, Unfinished Pine, Un-tempered Masonite, MDF, and Cradled Panels. The wax can be painted directly onto most unfinished wood surfaces, but by preparing the surface with Encaustic gesso or Bristol paper, the look of the piece will be enhanced and give brighter color results. I’ll cover prep of wood surfaces in the next article.

Stretched canvas is not a good surface for encaustic work. It is too flexible and the give is too unstable over a long term. Most paper is absorbent and porous and does provide a good surface for encaustic monotype and printing. It does not, however hold a great amount of wax and will become saturated at some point.

There are many surfaces available for purchase from retail artist supply companies that are perfect for encaustic art. More and more companies are making products that are compatible with encaustic work. I often purchase ½” unfinished pine boards from the lumber yard and have them cut into convenient sizes. Many hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s (in the US) will cut the wood for you, but I like a bit more control over my sizing, so I usually ask a friend to make the cuts for me. You can also purchase unfinished wood painting panels from many art stores and online.

What Equipment do I need for Fusing?

Each layer of wax that you brush onto your painting surface cools very quickly and hardens almost immediately as you work. As you add additional layers of wax they each become individual layers, one on top of the other. If you were to leave them as separate layers, they would eventually become unstable and begin to flake off over time. And you wouldn’t want that to happen after you have worked so hard on a piece!

It is necessary to fuse, or add heat to each and every layer in encaustic painting. This may seem tedious at first, but it is a necessary part of the process. As you fuse, each layer becomes one with the previous layer. As you add layers and fuse after adding each layer, your work becomes one solid layer of wax. This will make it strong and last many lifetimes.

Fusing is the process of adding heat to the surface until you see a slight shine, then remove the heat and allow the wax to cool. It is possible to fuse very large areas with a heat gun or acetylene torch, and it is possible to fuse very small areas with a small butane or crème Brule’ torch or a mini quilting iron. As you practice with different heat sources, you will begin to know which you prefer and which to use for different techniques.

I prefer a heat gun that has low/high settings so I can control the amount of air when fusing my layers and I believe the heat gun is the best heat source for beginners. There is no flame involved and that alone eliminates much fear when you are just learning. The torches are great for large works of art and to experiment with, but I recommend getting used to the basic process of encaustic before using them!

Inexpensive heat guns are available at many hardware stores. I purchased one for $15 at Harbor Freight. I have used many other more expensive heat guns, but this by far my favorite!

Can I do Encaustic Painting in my House?

You do need a bit of space to work on encaustic, and just like many other art mediums, in an area of your house that you do not have to worry about the mess. You should have a sturdy table to work on, be close to electric outlets and have sufficient ventilation. My work station is in my basement studio near a window and I have a fan sitting in the window to draw the air out of the room. As long as your area is well ventilated and your wax in not heated at too high a temperature, you will be fine. The proper temperature for melting encaustic medium and encaustic pigment cakes is between 170 degrees and 200 degrees. If anything starts smoking, you know your temps are set too high.

What Equipment do I need for Encaustic Painting?

You will need a palate on which to melt your medium and pigment cakes. Many encaustic artists start out using a pancake griddle, which is an easy item to find. I checked on Amazon.com and for $25-30, there is a huge variety of pancake griddles so I won’t recommend a specific one. I would however, recommend getting one with a numbered temperature gauge to control the heat setting. If you have a griddle that has low/high heat settings, then I would recommend getting a flat surface thermometer. There are commercially made encaustic electric palettes with anodized aluminum surfaces that are great, however I would recommend starting with an inexpensive pancake griddle until you find what suits your needs.

What Other Tools do I need for Encaustic Painting?

In addition to a heat gun (or other heat source) and pancake griddle (palate), you need tools to apply the wax to your surface. Cheap bristle brushes are great for this and can be purchased at the hardware or craft store. Don’t use synthetic brushes, as the heat will eventually melt them. And once you’ve used a brush with pigmented wax, it is best to dedicate the brush to that color, as it is difficult to completely clean brushes once they are used with wax. In fact the tools I use for encaustic are all dedicated to just encaustic work. You will also need metal containers to hold your medium and paints. I used aluminum or tin cans. It’s a great way to recycle cat food or tuna cans. Just make sure they are very clean and dry before putting your encaustic paints in them.

So this is basically what you will need to get started in encaustic painting. Of course there are many more tools that you might collect to use in your encaustic work, but this is a basic list to show you that it is not that expensive or difficult to get started. You can begin to collect your tools and equipment and next month we will discuss how to prep your substrates, fusing methods and adding color to your work. There is a lot more to talk about. We are just beginning to have fun!!!

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Materials Tagged With: encaustic, encaustic painting, fuse, fusing

Soft Pastel, Collage and Encaustic

By MMA Team 1 Comment

This article has been written by Vicki Ross

After months of studying and researching encaustic techniques, collecting the supplies, and setting up a workstation in my studio, I was ready to ease into some serious play! Being an analytic person by nature, I always work from information to play, rather than play and learn-as-you-go. I made my first batch of encaustic medium (beeswax + damar resin) and ended up with 20 or so mini-muffin shaped cakes of medium. Won’t do that again in a mini-crock pot because it had three legs and was full- wax all over my counter. Miss Brain did everything right, down to micro-managing the measurements, but forgot a piece of newspaper on top of the counter. DUH! Did a few small 7″x7″ experimental pieces on watercolor paper mounted on foam core (materials on hand). A few got scraped off, and the used medium saved into a ball for later use…too precious to waste.

Now I felt like something larger…

Materials:

12″x 9″ Luan panel
R&F encaustic gesso
Deli Paper (thank you mixed media artists)
soft pastels
gold leaf
encaustic medium
Razor Blade
Ranger Tacking Iron
Heat Gun

Prime the panel with two coats of clear medium, fusing each with heat gun. To get the surface as smooth as possible, alternate a Ranger tacking iron, scraping with a razor blade, and fusing with the heat gun. Next, I laid on a layer of tinted medium (melted with scrapings from the early pieces. To achieve an aged look, I placed the panel on the heated surface of the griddle until the wax was moving.

In photoshop, I planned the position of my portrait (reversed), and made the same composition lines onto a piece of deli paper. With soft pastels, I painted the portrait on the paper, continuously checking my drawing.

Gently heating the prepared panel with the heat gun, align and place the deli paper pastel side down, and burnish it carefully and thoroughly.

Carefully remove the deli paper from the panel. If any non-burnished areas show, lay paper back over that spot and re-burnish. If the paper tears, begin peeling it from another direction.

As with the first panel, gently warm the surface with the heat gun. Carefully position the deli paper with the ghost image pastel side up this time, creating a mirror image. With the heat gun again, warm the paper. The underlying layers of encaustic medium will encapsulate the paper, rendering it almost invisible. Carve a circular halo, add more touches of gold leaf, and voilå! Katherine and Katherine Reflected.

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You can see more of Vicki’s work at VickiRossArt or via blog posts at Axully – Solid. Useful. Beautiful

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Tagged With: collage, encaustic, Gold Leaf, Katherine, pastel, portrait, V.N.Ross

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Vicki Ross

Victoria Warren-Mears

Encaustic Basics Part II: Preparing Substrates, Fusing, Adding Color

Steps for gluing paper to your board:

Steps for adding primer layers and fusing with a heat gun:

Steps for adding encaustic paint to your work:

Basic Encaustic – Part 1: FAQ’s about Encaustic Painting

What Does Encaustic Mean?

What is Encaustic Medium?

What Substrates Can I Paint Encaustic On?

What Equipment do I need for Fusing?

Can I do Encaustic Painting in my House?

What Equipment do I need for Encaustic Painting?

What Other Tools do I need for Encaustic Painting?

Soft Pastel, Collage and Encaustic

Materials:

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