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 beeswax mixed with damar resin and a painting process involving heat to apply and fuse the medium. The name Encaustic comes from the greek enkaustikos which means “to heat” or “to burn”. 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
Venetian Plaster an Alternative to Encaustic Gesso
Last month Georgia Ferrell shared a post about her experiments with Venetian Plaster on Jute and Burlap for encaustic surfaces. In this post, Dianne Jean Erickson demonstrates how to use Venetian Plaster as an alternative to Encaustic Gesso when preparing a panel substrate ...
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Encaustic and Collage / Mixed Media / Assemblage
Encaustic is an ideal medium for assemblage, mixed media, collage painting. Encaustic wax can both preserve and adhere collage elements to artwork. 5 Rules for Encaustic Collage / Mixed Media / Assemblage Here are five guidelines for adding collage elements to an encaustic painting: Ensure that your ground is rigid and absorbent. Encaustic painting on acrylic primed stretched canvas is wrong---don't do it! Wood or any absorbent panel is ideal. Depending on the work, you may wish to reinforce the support before you begin. Wax can encapsulate collage materials and that will be sufficient to hold many collage elements ...
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3D Encaustic Sculpture Techniques | Dare to move off the panel!
The Versatility of Encaustic After painting realistically for 30 years and doing sculpture for ten years, I began working with encaustic. Like many others working with this medium, I was attracted to its translucency, luscious sheen and tactility. But I probably most appreciate the versatility of the medium, as one can use painting, collage, printmaking and sculptural techniques with it. Three-dimensional encaustic sculptures can be formed using encaustic medium with wire, wire mesh, bamboo, plaster gauze, paper, natural fibers and more. Encaustic Sculpture 3-Dimensional Exploration I took a 3-D Encaustic workshop at Truro Center for the Arts ...
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Experimenting with Plaster on Jute & Burlap
Years ago I purchased some oil sticks to play with, not having any idea that they would lead me here, to share my encaustic experimentation with you. Searching for information about using R&F pigment sticks with encaustic, I found All Things Encaustic and I was delighted to connect with Ruth who is from Toronto---I am also in Canada, just a little distance away in Westport. Plaster as a Suitable Surface for Encaustic Recently I have been working with plaster on jute or burlap before adding layers of wax. In this post, I share my experimental work and process . As I ...
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Exploring Creativity | How to Steal Like an Artist without plagiarizing
Unlock your Creativity | Start Copying As I explore creativity in my own life, I have been reading Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative by Austin Kleon. In this book, Kleon isn't suggesting that we plagiarize or break the law, but he does give us permission to look at the work of others for inspiration and education. "All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original."(pg.7) We learn by copying. Educate yourself by copying the work of your favourite artists. Discover what they were thinking, start to see things from their perspective. Surround ...
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