Artists working in encaustic are always on the lookout for new ways to create texture and patterns in the wax.
I started eyeing my favourite water bottle seriously considering cutting the silicone sleeve to use it as a stencil for encaustic painting but instead, I searched the web for heat-resistant stencils made of silicone and I found Marvelous Molds.
Marvelous Molds® are a line of food-grade silicone molds, impression mats, and silicone onlays designed primarily for fondant and cake decorating but they can also be used in arts and crafts.
Disclosure: Marvelous Molds sent me a free sample to review for this post.
Silicone Fondant Onlay Stencils in wax painting
Silicone Onlays were invented as an alternative to using stencils in cake decorating and they work equally well with wax.
- Apply encaustic medium to the onlay with a brush
- The wax layer will be thin so it will cool quickly
- Warm the surface of your encaustic painting – if the onlay has cooled completely gently warm it too with an embossing tool or heat gun on low
- Position the onlay face down on the warm painting
- Press then gently peel back the stencil
- Remove unwanted areas of the design by poking with a sculpting tool
- Gently fuse
- On the sample above, I used Pan Pastels to add colour to the raised stencil
Alternatively, you can also lift stencil pieces from the onlay and place them one-by-one onto you painting.
Using Impression Mats & Onlays in encaustic
- Heat the wax on the substrate – the wax needs to be warm and soft
- Use a heat gun to warm the Silicone Marvelous Mold
- Flip the impression mat over onto the top of your painting and push down to evenly apply pressure.
- Remove the mold and wipe it off with a paper towel to remove any encaustic medium and paint.
Fill texture with pigment stick
In this first example, I filled the textured surface with R&F pigment stick, wiped off the excess oil paint with a paper towel and gently fused it with the embossing heat gun.
Fill impression with wax fusing with the iron
In this second example I pushed an onlay into the wax—it was a little too soft and the pattern cut too deep. Then I filled the pattern with encaustic medium (magenta) and fused with an encaustic iron. The iron pushes the layers of wax down revealing the colours below while creating a flat smooth surface.
Build up the texture with drybrush accretion
Instead of filling in the impression, try the drybrush accretion technique to build up the texture created by the impression.
Using Marvelous Molds to cast 3-d shapes in Wax
I don’t have the any of the Silicone Molds but they may be used to cast 3-d wax shapes. To adhere to your painting, warm the cast shapes directly on your palette, then place the molten side down on your painting.
Nice features
Marvelous Molds work well with encaustic because they are:
- flexible & durable
- translucent—it’s easy to position the stencil on your painting
- non-stick & easy to clean— just wipe them with a paper towel for repeated use
- heat-resistant— can tolerate temperatures of up to 450° Fahrenheit.
Once you’ve used a Marvelous Mold for Encaustic, don’t use it for cake decorating.
Buy Silicone Impression Mats and Silicone Onlays from the Marvelous Molds website here.
What do you think?
I’m sure you will be able to find other ways to use these silicone stencils with your encaustic artwork. Please add your comments below and share your experience working with Marvelous Molds.
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I’m excited! I have some silicone mold putty that I have used to make molds for jewelry that I will flatten and make a pattern matte. Can’t wait to try this technique. Thank you.
Hi Dori, I have been looking at this http://www.makeyourownmolds.com/ myself. I would love to see pictures of your finished piece.