How to Choose the Best Substrate for Encaustic Painting
The surface you choose can make or, quite literally, break your encaustic painting.
While it may be tempting to use a traditional stretched canvas, it’s important to understand why this is not the best choice for encaustic work and what alternatives are better suited for this technique. Painting on stretched canvas on stretcher bars may seem like a logical choice for its availability and familiarity. The best substrate for encaustic painting is a rigid surface, making stretched canvas unsuitable. The canvas can sag and flex, causing cracks in the wax layers and compromising the integrity of your artwork. Additionally, most stretched canvases from art supply stores are primed with acrylic gesso, which is not compatible with encaustic materials. Wax needs an absorbent surface to adhere properly, and acrylic gesso creates a slick, non-absorbent barrier.
Suitable Surfaces for Encaustic Painting
The ideal substrate for encaustic painting is one that is absorbent, rigid, and heat-resistant, ensuring it functions as the best substrate for encaustic painting. Here are some recommended options:
- Wood Panels:
- Birch plywood or other hardwood panels are excellent choices for encaustic painting. They provide a sturdy, rigid surface and can easily handle the heat of the encaustic process.
- Ensure the wood is smooth and free of splinters. You can sand it down and apply a layer of encaustic gesso for added absorbency.
- Canvas or Linen Over Rigid Support:
- If you prefer the texture of canvas or linen, you can stretch it over a rigid support, such as a cradled wood panel or a masonite board. This method ensures the surface remains rigid and prevents sagging.
- If you prefer the texture of canvas or linen, you can stretch it over a rigid support, such as a cradled wood panel or a masonite board. This method ensures the surface remains rigid and prevents sagging.
- Masonite, Plywood, or MDF Boards:
- These materials are inexpensive and readily available, making them a popular choice for beginners. Make sure to seal the surface with encaustic gesso to ensure proper wax adhesion.
- Gesso both sides of the board, especially if it’s a large panel, to prevent warping.
- Ampersand Encausticbord:
Encausticbord is widely regarded as the best substrate for encaustic painting. It is a professional-quality panel designed for the unique demands of encaustic painting. Crafted in collaboration with R&F Handmade Paints, it offers a durable and highly absorbent surface that holds layers of wax securely.
What makes Encausticbord the best substrate for encaustic painting
- Premium Construction – Made from warp-resistant 1/8″ profile FSC-certified Hardbord™.
- Archival Protection – Sealed with Archiva-Seal™ for added durability.
- Specially Formulated Gesso – Provides a bright, velvety surface ready for encaustic painting.
- Heat-Resistant & Absorbent – Holds wax layers without cracking or separation.
- Reliable Adhesion – Ensures stability and longevity for encaustic and mixed media applications.
- No Prep Required – No need to sand or gesso Encausticbord. Just start painting.
How to Prepare a Substrate for Encaustic Painting
If you’re using a substrate other than Encausticboard, proper preparation is crucial to ensure the longevity and quality of your artwork. Follow these steps:
- Sand the Surface:
- Sand the surface of your wood or rigid panel to remove any rough spots. A smooth surface will allow your wax layers to adhere evenly.
- Apply Encaustic Gesso:
- Use an encaustic-specific gesso to prime the surface. Encaustic gesso is absorbent and heat-resistant, making it ideal for wax adhesion.
- Allow Proper Drying Time:
- Let the encaustic gesso dry completely before starting your encaustic painting.
- Test the Surface:
- When using a new, unconventional substrate for encaustic work, you will want to test to surface to ensure proper adhesion. To do this, conduct an Encaustic Freezer Test by placing a small, prepared sample of your substrate and waxed material in the freezer for a few hours. Take it out of the freezer and allow it to come back up to room temperature. Then drop the board hard on a concrete floor. Check for cracks, peeling, or other signs of instability to confirm your substrate’s compatibility with encaustic techniques. This test helps simulate how your materials respond to temperature fluctuations, ensuring they remain stable.
Preserving the Quality and Reputation of Encaustic
Poor preparation, using incompatible products, and failing to fuse properly can lead to issues like cracking and peeling. Such poor practices don’t just damage your art; they can harm the reputation of encaustic in the eyes of collectors and gallery owners.
Selecting and properly preparing the right substrate for encaustic painting is essential for creating a stable, long-lasting foundation for your work.
Best Practices:
- Apply encaustic gesso to improve adhesion instead of painting directly on untreated wood.
- Use high-quality, rigid substrates that won’t bend, flex, or warp over time.
- Ensure each layer of encaustic paint is fully fused.
- Store your finished encaustic pieces carefully and in a temperature-controlled environment.
- Frame your encaustic work in a float frame to protect the delicate edges from chipping or damage while maintaining a clean, professional presentation.
Commitment to high-quality materials, like Ampersand Encausticbord, and best practices not only extends the life of your artwork but also strengthens confidence in encaustic painting as a professional and enduring medium.
Can I use crayola (or other brand) tempura paint instead of encaustic gesso?
Many thanks.
Hi Holli, I haven’t used egg tempera paint myself. According to R&F, it can be used; in this chart adhesion is listed as fair. But personally I would stick with encaustic gesso.
I don’t know if Crayola or other brands are pure egg tempera or if any additives would affect adhesion. You can try a freezer test yourself.
I use some non traditional substrates as I am an interdisciplinary sculptor who uses a number of different mediums & processes & often does mixed media. I am extremely interested in art materials research, so I am often looking to push the limits of materials & as a trained scientist turned full time artist enjoy doing a lot of small research projects in my studio (& am hoping to get grant money & some residencies to pursue some of these in more depth). I quite love to use wood panels but find them, especially in the size I prefer as most of my art work is large scale, to be often too expensive & also now having moved to France I don’t have my cheap source of recycled wood turned into cradled art panels. I am often using my paperclay porcelain that is one of my main mediums as a substrate, as well as glass, my other most common sculptural medium for my encaustics. I have also developed & tested a variety of gesso’s & a clay board mimic. My question really is when Ampersand boards or birch cradled boards are not available or too expensive, & I need to make a large scale encaustic mixed media painting has anyone developed a way to use a substrate that can temporarily be somehow folded up or rolled without breaking the wax for travel & shipping (as hauling around 48” x 60” or larger panels is not easy!) & then have a hard rigid support reapplied? I guess I’m picturing a piece designed so that it is on linen or canvas with squares or other shapes that form pockets along the back, & the encaustic medium is carefully arranged so that along the creases of the pockets it can be filled up, with or without the rigid support, which could once it reaches its final destination altogether be glued to a fully intact rigid board or framed? Maybe this is me getting a little nuts adding handmade paper & textiles to my repertoire, but I really want to find a solution for moving & even just affording the supports. I mean even just an 11” x 14” MDF flat board on sale is almost $40+ for one board. I also wanted to ask, even though this may seem strange, if anyone has used fiber cement board (like Hardiebacker Board- not the water proofed versions!) as a support for encaustic painting? The thinner sheets are probably not rigid enough but the thicker ones I would think would be. It is in a lot of ways like a plaster based gesso, very absorbent & cheap & good for the environment & easily scored & snapped to smaller sizes & very inexpensive for larger sheets. It would solve some of my problems if I used that as one of my supports, well primed & gessoed, as I can very cheaply buy huge sheets of it & it is extremely lightweight so even if it is 3’ x 5’ or larger shipping or delivering it would be no problem.
Can encaustic wax be applied directly to the Ampersand unprimed (brown surface) hardboard panels?
Hi Lorraine,
Thanks for your question. Ampersand Hardbord needs to be primed before use as it is a non-absorbent substrate. If you first apply encaustic gesso, then yes, you can use it for encaustic painting.