Encaustic Wax Painting Blog

Welcome, this is a collaborative blog, a place for artists to come together and share their passion for encaustic painting.

What is Encaustic?

Encaustic is the name for both a painting medium of wax and a painting process involving heat to apply and fuse the medium. The name Encaustic comes from the greek enkaustikos which means to burn in. Heat is used throughout the encaustic painting process.

Here you’ll learn about encaustic painting techniques & tools. Whether you’re a beginner learning to paint with encaustic or an experienced artist, I invite you to add your comments to share your knowledge and inspiration about art and All Things Encaustic.

Encaustic Wax Painting Tips, Product Reviews, & Tutorials for Beginners and experienced artists alike

Venting your Encaustic Studio

Is encaustic toxic? With adequate ventilation and a working temperature that is under 200°F, encaustic is a safe medium to work with. It is important to use a thermometer to keep a check on your temperature. Encaustic fumes, when released at a safe temperature, are not considered dangerous. Yet, all wax mediums, when heated, do release fumes. All waxes, when they are melted– whether as candles, batik, or encaustic—release a mixture of invisible fume (in the form of tiny particles) and gases, such as acrolien and aldehydes. [source] Solvents should not be used in encaustic painting. All solvents ...
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Cold Wax is not encaustic

Cold wax painting does not use the encaustic painting process Encaustic is the name for both a wax painting medium and a painting process that uses heat to apply and fuse the medium. Encaustic painting uses heat at every stage of the painting process. The name encaustic literally means "to burn". Cold wax medium is used at room temperature, whereas traditional encaustic painting is applied in a molten state. Painting with cold wax does not use the encaustic painting process. Unlike encaustic that you heat up and fuse, cold wax should not be heated as it contains solvents ...
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Encaustic Collagraph Printmaking

What is a Collagraph? A collagraph is a printmaking process using collage materials applied to a board as a printing plate. To pull a collagraph print, apply collage materials such as acrylic mediums, carborundum, fabric, textiles, stencils, string, and a variety of organic material to a rigid substrate. Then apply ink to the collaged board and use it to print onto paper with an etching press. The resulting print is termed a collagraph. What is Encaustic Collagraph Printmaking? The Encaustic collagraph process uses encaustic wax in place of, or in addition to, collage materials. A Merging of Mediums The ...
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Mixed Media Collage as a Foundation for Encaustic Painting

Facing a Blank Canvas As a self-taught mixed media artist, I often reflect back on my earlier works to analyze the approach and results. It helps me to understand my own methodologies and common practice. I think back to some of my very first mixed media classes and remember being in that place of ultimate confusion when it came time to start a painting. What to paint? How to paint it? It all seemed like the weight of the world was resting on my shoulders and I had three hours to prove myself! Building up and excavating ...
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Encaustic Monotypes Painterly Prints with Heat and Wax | Paula Roland

Disclosure: Paula Roland sent me a free copy of her DVD to review for this post. Encaustic Monotypes | Paula Roland's instructional DVD Encaustic Monotypes Painterly Prints with Heat and Wax is a beautiful instructional DVD by Paula Roland. In 2011 I took an encaustic monotype printmaking workshop in Toronto, this DVD was the refresher course I needed to jump back into encaustic monotypes. For those of us who live a distance from Santa Fe, the DVD is the next best thing to taking an in-person encaustic workshop with Paula. This DVD is a genuine pleasure to watch and Paula's own ...
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Using Ceracolors with Encaustic | Water-Soluble Wax Emulsion Tube Paint

What are Wax Emulsion Water-Soluble Paints? Water-soluble wax paints are tube paints comprised of pigments in a wax binder. Although the manufacturers are branding them as encaustic paints they are better described as wax emulsion tube paint that can be an interesting complement to encaustic. Wax emulsion tube paints allow encaustic artists to experience a more painterly process, a process that is more often associated with other painting media. You can blend and mix Ceracolors together on a palette and use a brush or palette knife to brush and dab them on your painting. Water-soluble wax paints can be used on ...
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