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Experimenting with Photographs in Encaustic

Encaustic Photographs | Experimenting with Photos & Hot Wax

Photo Encaustics: Experimenting with Encaustic Photographs

After attending an excellent presentation by Danielle Correia at last year’s Encaustic Conference on painting with encaustic on photographs, I have done some experimenting of my own.

Five experiments with Encaustic Photographs are outlined in this post.

1. Photograph Dipped in Wax:

When I dipped a photo into wax the whole image released from the photo paper -not good!

What went well was dipping a photo printed on computer paper. The paper became transparent, which was a beautiful effect on its own. I added just a little bit of dabbing and went over the edge of the photo onto the paper. Here is the result.

Encaustic Photographs 5 experiments
Dipped photo (computer paper)

2. Matte photo paper, glued on hard board:

I had the same photo printed off on matte photo paper (6×8). This one I glued with matte medium on a piece of hardboard, then added clear medium on top. In the next step I built up texture, especially where the trees were and at the concrete boat launch area at the bottom. The texture was highlighted with a contrasting colour, light for the trees and dark for the foreground. The rocks were painted over with dark wax (my favourite indigo again!), using the tip of the iron. This piece has a totally different feel, but I still like it very much.

Encaustic Photographs 5 experiments
Matte photo paper, glued on hard board

I am now preparing to teach a workshop on “Encaustic Painting on Photographs“. Here are a few recent experiments in preparation for the class.

3. Photograph Printed on heavy cardstock:

This one was printed with my inkjet printer on heavy cardstock. I started colouring with coloured pencils, then coating with medium, using a brush. After fusing I added more colour with wax this time and finally rubbed the piece with copper magic powder, which sticks nicely to any texture. The original photo was of a couple of birch tree trunks, but it has now a much more abstract feeling.

Encaustic Photographs 5 experiments
Printed on heavy cardstock


4. Photo Printed on Arches Velin Museum Rag:

This time, the photo was printed, again with my inkjet, on special paper: Arches Velin Museum Rag, which is a beautiful, smooth paper. I cranked up the colours a bit with a photo editor and by accident I printed the image twice, but it really was a nice effect, so I decided to run with it. After printing the photo was dipped in a bath with medium and coloured with Panpastels. The Panpastels started to run and bead up beautifully while I was fusing.

Encaustic Photographs 5 experiments
Printed on Arches Velin Museum Rag

5. Photograph printed on glossy paper:

The last one is a 4×6 photo printed on glossy paper. I sanded the photo a bit, to make it more receptive to the wax, then coated it with medium. I rubbed several colours of alcohol ink over it, blending and lifting here and there to bring out the big flower to the right and the smaller one on the left. In the lower left corner I added more medium and pressed some netting in the soft wax. After removing the netting the texture was enhanced with more alcohol ink. The dark shading on the right is done with Panpastels.

Encaustic Photographs 5 experiments
printed on glossy paper

How have you experimented with photographs in your encaustic artwork?

About Thea Haubrich

Dutch artist Thea Haubrich studied at the Encaustic Academie in Germany to become a teacher of Encaustic. In 2004 she moved to British Columbia, Canada. Thea was a member of several art councils, the International Encaustic Artists and the South Okanagan group, the Rip Off Artists. In 2008 she was awarded active status with the Federation of Canadian Artists. Thea Haubrich passed away in September 2013.

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36 thoughts on “Encaustic Photographs | Experimenting with Photos & Hot Wax”

  1. I am a photographer and have just started experimenting with encaustic over my images. I have a piece that has a number of passes with encaustic medium and then pan pastels which I fused k to the wax and my question is at this point can I continue to add more encaustic medium to the piece? There’s an area that’s not as built up as the others and I’d like to add more medium without compromising the koi e and I’d really appreciate your feedback.
    Thanks for your help!
    Monica

    1. Hi Monica,

      If you have fused the pan pastels into the medium so that they don’t rub off at all when you touch it, then you can continue to work on top. You need to be careful fusing pan pastels as they will float in the wax and will create a crackled appearance.

      Ruth

      1. Hi Ruth,
        Thank- you for taking the time to reply. Yes I noticed that the pan pastels can float in the wax so I guess I’ll need to fuse longer.
        Thanks again
        Monica

  2. I have added several layers of medium to my photos and the results have been largely smooth with a shiny surface. any suggestions on how I can add a textural effect to the surface. has anyone tried spattering medium?

  3. Hello. I am a darkroom phtogtapher/printer… and was looking to experiment with ‘adding wax coating’ to a photograph printed on Ilford fibre paper. Possibly by painting it on and boxing it afterwards to stop it falling off… but from what I am gathering through this post, is that I might need to coat it first with transparent Gesso, then apply the hot wax? Would that work? or does it only work on plain printing paper? Thank you!

    1. Hi Marella – sorry for the late reply I was busy with a solo show and missed this question. I’m not personally familiar with Ilford fibre paper. You need a toothy, matte surface to accept the wax that is why I would add clear gesso. Perhaps check in the Facebook Group to see if others have tried that paper. Let us know how well it works!

    2. Marella,
      I’m wondering about the same question. Did you every get an answer about encaustic over Ilford fibre papers, either glossy, pearl, or matte? Just for safety, I am coating with clear gesso.

  4. Has anyone tried using liquitex clear gesso over a glossy image, and then applying wax? I know we are not to use any acrylic mediums but, I have to wonder if the clear gesso would work, in order to make the glossy image receptive to the wax.

    1. Hi Laura——- I have used both dry soft pastels over the clear gesso ( which gives a very toothy surface, similar to sandpaper )….and under light applications of encaustic medium. No problem so far. The surface of dried clear gesso is very rough, like sandpaper, and very absorbent.

  5. I’ve experimented with all kinds papers : japanese silk tissue, vellum, sumi-e paper, and tracing paper. My most recent experiments are transfers using DASS SuperSauce and DASS classic film. The quality of the transfer is hard to beat. Plus the transparency you can achieve with it is great. There are a few drawbacks. The transfer is pretty delicate, and it helps greatly if the surface is very smooth.

  6. Thanks for the “how to” videos. Have been using encaustic for a while. Now will experiment with some of the techniques I just learned about. Thanks again.

  7. Hi Nancy,
    yes, the use of “medium” for both wax and gel medium can be confusing! Just know that the two are not compatible, as gel medium is a water based product.
    To glue your photo down it depends on what kind of paper you printed it on. You do not want any glue to bleed through, as that would interfere with the wax.
    Here is a tutorial to glue watercolour paper to board, but photos would work just as well.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuHN4pi-oog&feature=player_embedded#!

  8. I am starting in encaustic and using inkjet photographs. Encaustic specialists seem to use the word medium a lot. Sometimes they are referring to gel medium and sometimes to wax. I need to know how to get a large photo to cover the whole surface of a panel. What do you recommend to stick it on with? Some people have said acrylic heavy gel medium and others are just using white or wood glue. Any preference?

  9. I have done some work with photos professionally printed, with the silver emulsion process, on cotton rag art paper. The print is archival (as archival as any silver emulsion print can be) and the paper is absorbent. I usually mount the image on encaustic board with acrylic medium (being careful not to get any on the top). Then I do whatever enhancements I choose from there. The prints are pricey but archival quality can be assured. I have my prints done at MPix.com One of these images is on my website at http://www.stephaniegreenart.com/Vanishing_and_others.php

  10. Vicky, I’m confused….I thought the bleeding of the wax through the paper, making it translucent, was one of the assets of the technique…?
    I see your point about the topside of the paper; there should be no coating.

  11. Also – when working on paper you need to coat the bottom side of the paper so the wax doesn’t absorb thru. If you coat the top side of your paper or if your paper has a coating on the top – over time the wax can (and probably will) crack…and maybe fall off.
    We print our photographs using a wide format printer from canon – and use a bamboo fiber paper from Germany.

  12. Wow, thanks for all this EXCELLENT feedback!
    I will certainly keep all in mind and alert my students in workshops about the archival issues.
    Some just want to have fun and won’t be concerned much, but it is always better to be informed.
    BTW: I know through a professional photographer friend that the London Drug products are excellent, so will focus more on using those.

  13. Thea–you’d need to ask London Drugs what they use for inks. I have used Epson matte presentation paper successfully and also have printed on tissue or thin rice papers. There are products you can buy (Golden digital ground or Inkaid) to precoat any paper to make it user-friendly for printing on with inkjets. I’ve tried them with some of the less conventional papers and then used them with encaustic and they have worked well also. Seems to me I have also used encaustic with some of the ones I have lightly sprayed with sealer, but I might be mistaken there, as I was working on acrylic mixed media pieces and encaustic mixed media at the same time. 🙂

  14. That’s very sweet, Cheryl. It’s an incredibly kind way of saying that I’m obsessive about permanence and technical quality of materials.
    One presenter combined all kinds of inks and xeroxes in her collage and I asked if she was concerned about permanence. She responded emphatically, “They’ve lasted three years!”
    So I guess we all have different ideas of what ‘archival’ means.
    The Fayum portraits are over 2,000 years old. If we’re going to do things another way, let’s try to make them at least as good as the artists who went before us.

  15. Cheryl and Judy are on the right track with helpful advice. I’ll just add a couple points:
    Photo papers have significant amount of sizing in them even if they are matte surface. That sizing makes them far less absorbent. To hold a layer or more of wax, we need more absorbency.
    Dye based inks are not lightfast, meaning they fade pretty quickly so are not suitable for artwork.
    If you choose pigment based inks, don’t rely on the sales claims of how long they hold up. Those claims are not meant for constant exposure to indoor light the way art hung on a wall is. I urge you to contact the CHEMIST at the manufacturer (not the marketing dept) and ask for the lightfastness rating for fine art use.

  16. My 2 cents. In doing research into the dye and toner based inks… Pigment inks are good, dye not good for holding up the color over time. However, I have had cheap pigment ink printers that died on me after 14 months with a lot of expensive inks left unused. The best thing is to know what is the use for the printer before buying or have two printers. I rarely use color for a transfer or to be utilized in a painting so I have a mono laser ( B&W)… all lasers are safe in black. I am not so sure all are for color. Do some checking and research.

    You can buy a great, but expensive printer that uses pigment inks that you buy in large bottles instead of cartridges… and then they feed into your printer. This is what people use to make their giclees. Paper is another matter. Match the paper to the printer and to the project you are working on. Use gloss if you want the ink to transfer, use matte if you want the ink to stay in the paper. Use a paper that works well with the brand of printer….many times start with the same brand of paper as the printer. they are made to go together.

    Think a bit about spraying as it might keep the wax from adhering well is my thought. Otherwise it would work to help the ink not smear or to help the UV protection for other projects.

    It’s hard to give a cut and dried answer without know the exact purpose and the specifics of the project.

    Hope this is not more than you wanted to know :>)

  17. Thanks for all that info, Judy! I guess I would have to warn my students that the final artwork is not archivally sound….most of us won’t get into the cost of buying a special printer for their artmaking.
    But I guess the prints from London Drugs e.a. will use pigment inks, don’t they? I had some printed on matte paper, but it still felt pretty “glossy” to me. Wonder if the wax has enough tooth to sink in. Any thoughts on that??

  18. Thea–if only it were that easy (just putting other inks in your printer). Inkjet printers take either one or the other type of ink and they are not interchangeable, so if your printer takes dye-based inks, you’d have to buy a new printer that takes pigment. You could try using a sealing spray over your inkjet print which should help to prevent blurring/smearing, but keep in mind that you will still potentially have fading over time with dye-based inks. I wonder if your commercially printed image was on glossy paper as well? That might make a difference. I only use matte photo papers so don’t have any direct experience with that issue, but it could be a contributing factor. Always so many ways to go astray!!

  19. Thanks, Mique & Cheryl!
    @ Judy: the project where the ink released from the photo was with a commercially printed photograph. I do notice that the inkjet prints smear a little when adding wax.
    Thanks for the heads up about dye based and pigment inks! I’ll see if I can find pigment inks to put in my inkjet printer.

  20. I use photos or photo elements in many of my encaustics. One word of caution re inkjet prints is there is a big difference between dye based and pigment based inks. Your inks “releasing” when dipped in wax make me wonder if your printer uses dye-based inks. They will fade/colour shift, dissolve if wet, and are generally not stable over the long haul. Dye based inks are much more common than pigment, but for art use, pigment inks are the way to go.

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