Encaustic artforms are created using molten, pigmented beeswax. Heat is used at every stage of the process to apply and fuse the medium. The name Encaustic comes from the greek enkaustikos which means to burn in.
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.
A fairly new product to the commercial art world is Encaustic gesso. A very good one, made by R & F Paints, allows us to: omit the initial beeswax ‘primer’ layer create a white (or coloured), toothy, gessoed surface ideal for Encaustics start with an excellent surface for adding a huge variety of media to our Encaustic works of art …
Why use encaustic gesso to prepare a substrate? Read Blog Post »
For years, before encaustic, I painted in a grid, and my pieces often reminded people of quilts. Then along came the wax and my grid was gone! The wax didn’t want to flow into squares and rectangles, and so I let go… and went with the flow of the wax. This was a huge learning for me. I really had …
In the last part of 2009, my friend and fellow artist, Anne Smidt sent me an enthusiastic email asking if I wanted to be a part of a new project, a collaborative work. Anne had just finished working with me on the 4th annual International Encaustic Artists (IEA) Retreat & Conference in Carmel Valley, CA where I had spent the …
When I saw microcrystalline encaustic wax art displayed at The Artist Project in Toronto, I was very interested to see how it compares with beeswax encaustic medium. Of the ten artists showing encaustic artwork, two of them used encaustic medium made with microcrystalline, not with beeswax/damar. The effect was a quite different from what I know of encaustic. Microcrystalline compared …
How is Microcrystalline Encaustic Wax different from traditional Beeswax? Read Blog Post »
Fusing is important when working with Encaustic When painting with encaustic, one needs to fuse the first layer of wax to the substrate and then each subsequent layer needs to be fused to the layer below. The artist will fuse the layers of wax with either a heat gun, an encaustic iron and/or a blow torch. Sometimes I use all …
Tools for Fusing Encaustic | How to fuse with different tools Read Blog Post »
It’s funny how, once we have seemingly mastered the basics about working in Encaustic, we forget how challenging they were to learn. I’m speaking specifically of using heat guns with encaustic. You experts out there may be smirking to yourselves, knowing, as I do, that ‘mastering’ a tool/device is an occasionally ephemeral glory, sometimes dematerializing before our very eyes, putting …
Using Heat Guns with Encaustic for Beginners Read Blog Post »
Waxing On: Encaustic Exploration Encaustic, by its nature, pulls us–as artists, into new territory. This is one of the aspects of it that I love. There is a sense that the medium is always at least one step ahead of us, gesturing playfully to “Check this out!” or “What would happen if…?” At the beginning of my exploration with encaustic, …
Ironing over drips & drops | Encaustic Technique Read Blog Post »
My Encaustic painting, Station to Station, 18″ x 24″, is an example of the effect achieved by combining pastels (not oil!), used before the Encaustic medium is applied. This mixed media piece shows yet another reason to love Encaustic! Using Soft Pastels (not oil) before Encaustic medium is applied: First, apply Encaustic gesso (R&F makes an excellent one) on your …