Introduction to encaustic wax
Encaustic wax is a historical painting technique where the wax is heated up and painted with. Encaustic paint is a combination of beeswax, pigment, and a small amount of hardener (either dammar resin or carnauba wax). The paint is solid at room temperature so you need to melt it before it can be applied. Once on the support, it cools and hardens, and a heat tool is used to ensure that each layer is fused to the last. This makes it a very tactile working experience.
History of encaustic painting
The technique of painting with molten wax was first recorded over 2000 years ago. The most well-known examples of the medium are the funerary portraits in Roman Egypt from 100-300 AD. Some of these paintings can be seen at the British Museum in London and the vibrancy of the paint is a testament to the longevity of the medium. The remarkably lifelike rendering of skin and hair shows the use of transparent glazing techniques in encaustic painting, long before they were used in the 15th century in oil painting. Over the centuries, encaustic has been superseded by other painting techniques, but the availability of electric heated palettes in the 20th century has led to a revival of the medium’s popularity.
What do I need to get started painting with encaustic wax?
- Pigment Sticks (oil paint with a touch of wax) and Encaustic paints and medium
- Wooden panels from Jackson’s or Ampersand
- Real rabbit skin glue gesso that you apply warm (not acrylic gesso or acrylic primer, read about the difference in our Glossary under Gesso) or R&F Encaustic Gesso, both types will be absorbent enough for the wax to stay stuck when it cools. Or you can glue heavy watercolor paper onto your wooden panel with acrylic soft gel or a thick layer of PVA glue, the paper will also give you an absorbent enough surface for the wax to stick to
- Hog Bristle brushes
- Catalyst Blades and Wedges – they are made of heat-resistant silicone
- Clay carving tools
- Heat gun
- A hot plate with a metal tray to melt your paints directly on or a hot plate with a metal tray with metal cups that you melt the paint in or a flat iron with no steam holes (travel iron) – you melt the paint directly on the surface of the iron. Or an electric heated palette
Encaustic Wax
R&F Encaustic Wax Cakes are available in small (40ml), medium (104ml) and large (333ml) sizes and are made from beeswax, dammar resin, and pigment. At room temperature, these blocks feel like hard cheese. Just like other professional quality paints, they vary in transparency and tinting strength, depending on the nature of the pigment.
What painting supports can I use for encaustic painting
Encaustic paints require a rigid and absorbent surface so that the paint can adhere properly. A wooden panel is a great surface to use because encaustic paint can be applied directly onto raw wood, but an absorbent gesso can also be applied. R&F produce an encaustic gesso which is ready to use and can be applied like any other acrylic gesso primer but differs in that it contains a lower proportion of binder in order to make it more absorbent, unlike most acrylic primers that are not absorbent enough for the wax to adhere effectively. Alternatively, you could make a traditional gesso with rabbit skin glue and whiting which would also work. Stretched canvas is an inappropriate surface to use because the paint is likely to crack on the flexible surface, and the weight of the wax could make the canvas sink in the middle. However, you can use canvas or watercolor paper that’s been glued to a panel.
Iceflow Encaustic Card and Ampersand Encausticbord are also suitable for encaustic painting. Both surfaces are ready to paint on immediately, without any prior preparation. The encaustic card is very smooth and a bright white, while Encausticbord is more of a natural white color with a slightly textured surface, similar to Ampersand Gessobord panels.
Heating the palette
Because R&F wax cakes have a melting point of 72°C, it is advisable to use a hot plate such as Fine Elements Single Hot Plate with an adjustable temperature dial and a 11 x 14in aluminum panel on top as a heated palette. Metal dippers clipped onto the palette are useful for creating contained areas for keeping some colors separate.
Heat Gun
Heat guns are hand-held and are used to fuse each layer to the one before, as well as for reheating the paint while it is on the surface. This allows the paint to be manipulated by a brush or a palette knife while you work.
Brushes for encaustic painting
It is important to use natural hair brushes with encaustic as synthetic filaments may melt. Hog brushes are particularly good for encaustic work. Softer natural hairs, like sable and squirrel, are unsuitable for this kind of painting, as the hairs are too delicate. Once a brush has been used for encaustic painting, you’ll be unable to use it for other types of painting because the wax will remain in the bristles.
Palette Knife
A palette knife can be useful to control the paint on the heated palette, as well as for creating sgraffito marks—a technique where one layer is scratched, or scraped through, to reveal the layer underneath. You can also use clay tools to smooth the ridges of applied wax before heating or to gouge into it to add texture.
Encaustic painting method in practice
Preparation
When preparing the paints, there is an appealing immediacy to pressing the wax cakes directly on to the aluminum palette and letting them melt into ready to use, puddles of color.
The wax colors tend to spread gradually across the palette, sometimes bleeding together unintentionally, but dippers are very useful for keeping the colors separate when required.
Before starting painting, you’ll need to prime your surface with a layer of wax to paint on.
Painting Process
While making your painting, you’ll need to heat the whole painting every time you add a layer in order to fuse each new layer of paint to the one before and prevent them flaking apart once cool. When you’ve finished you’ll need to do a final “burning in” where you heat the whole painting again to make sure the layers form one solid piece of thick wax.
The smell of hot wax and resin is quite strong, but quite pleasant, and could be preferable to the more potent smell of turps or white spirit. That said, it’s crucial to keep your working area ventilated while working, as the released fumes of encaustic paints, when concentrated, may cause headaches and irritation. Oil solvents are unnecessary when painting or during clean up, instead, soy wax is used to clean brushes and surfaces after a painting session.
The paint cools and hardens almost as soon as it touches the support, this can allow for only very short brushstrokes. If you paint in a very fluid manner, you may find it initially jarring to use a medium that moves so quickly between liquid and solid. A heat gun is an essential tool for extending the liquid working time of the paint, as well as ensuring the adhesion of the wax to the previous layer. Holding the heat tool in one hand, and a paintbrush in the other, allows you to brush out the paint and blend colors together. After adding a few layers of paint, the subsequent layers will remain liquid for longer – presumably because the heat tool has warmed the support.
The fast cooling of the paint can lead to the brushes’ bristles getting gummed up within seconds. It is essential to wipe the excess wax from the brushes with a cloth while it is still liquid and then to leave the head of the brush resting on top of the palette so it stays malleable during the painting session. Alternatively, you can leave the wax to harden on the brush and then use the brush with waxes of a similar color during future painting sessions, as the wax will melt when reheated.
Even when the paint has solidified on the support, it remains workable. Encaustic painting gives a new meaning to the idea of painting “sculpturally”– you can work in relief by building up layers of thick texture without the worry of previous layers being disturbed. Additionally, you can literally sculpt the paint as a solid material, by drawing through it and scraping it away. Equally, while the paint is on the support, you can continue to reheat and liquify the paint to blend and create textural effects.
You might imagine that the repetitive cooling and reheating of the paint might affect the overall longevity of a painting, however, R&F say that re-heating their encaustic paint numerous times has no adverse effect. Any solid wax that is scraped off the surface of the painting can be put back onto the palette, to be melted and used again.
Finish
The finish of the paint is like a satin enamel without a color shift from liquid to solid. Any painter who loves a rich application of color will find encaustic satisfying to work with. After the painting is finished, it can be buffed with a soft cloth that will give it a shiny finish and enhance the colors.
Encaustic paintings cure over time, rather than drying by evaporation in the way that watercolor does. This is due to the addition of dammar resin that makes the paint harder and more resilient over time. Varnishing is unnecessary, as encaustic contains beeswax which is highly water-resistant and is often used to varnish oil paintings. Because of this, encaustic is a very stable and long-lasting medium. Encaustic paint will melt at temperatures of 72°C and above, but it will remain solid in normal storage or exhibition conditions, just avoid storing paintings in hot areas. Equally, avoid freezing temperatures which could cause the paint to crack. Encaustic paint’s colors stay true rather than having oil paint’s tendency to yellow with age. However, like linseed oil, beeswax is photoreactive which means it may go yellow when kept in the dark for long periods of time. The reaction is reversible and the colors will be restored to their original brilliance when the painting is exposed to natural light.
Mixed-media
There are many possibilities for adding mixed-media elements to encaustic painting: collage and photo transfers can be incorporated into the paint. Oil color, whether brushed on from the tube or drawn on with an oil stick, can also be applied on top of the painting.
The ability to use additional materials is quite interesting. You can use encaustic with a bit of oil color (too much will keep the encaustic layers from sticking to each other), oil pastel, oil paint sticks, and dry pastels and charcoal, painting or drawing directly on the wax. You can paint the waxes over a watercolor painting, ink drawing or photograph. You can transfer photocopies to the wax, wetting the paper and rubbing it away. You can embed objects like leaves and paper collage in the layers of wax. You can incise lines and fill them with oil color, wiping away the excess.
The unique sensitivity and physicality of encaustic wax is unlike any other medium, having surprisingly little in common with acrylic and oil painting. Encaustic painting can really come into its own in abstract and textural work, where the artist is intuitively led by the changing nature of the paint itself, adapting as the paint moves between liquid and solid. There is something wonderful about discovering a historical medium and recognising its relevance to contemporary approaches to painting.
Encaustic paint does not require the use of solvents. As a result, a number of health hazards are reduced or eliminated.
Encaustic Mediums
- Layers of extended color can be laid one on top of another or separated by layers of straight medium to create unusual translucent effects (with no wait for drying time between layers).
- Glazing can be done by greatly extending a color with the medium. There is no technical danger in adding large amounts of medium to a color as there is in adding large amounts of oil to oil paint. The encaustic can also be made more fluid by adding medium or raising its temperature a little.
- For variations of surface effects, different degrees of fusing can be employed. Well fused paint will take a higher polish than paint that is not as thoroughly fused.
Encaustic Tools
Palette cups can be used to melt large amounts of paint at one time. They are excellent for keeping colors pure, or for saving mixes. Jackson’s palette cups are made of a heavy aluminum and steel alloy. Large rectangular cups can hold one 104 ml cake while small rectangular cups are perfect for the 40 ml cakes. Each size is offered in a handy three-pack.
Palette Thermometer
This is an essential component of painting safely with encaustics. Perfect for reading the temperature of your encaustic palette or other heated surfaces. The surface thermometer has a temperature range of 50°-600°F.
Do I need to varnish my encaustic painting?
Encaustic is perhaps the most beautiful of all artists' paints, and it is as versatile as any 21st-century medium. It can be polished to a high gloss, carved, scraped, layered, collaged, dipped, cast, modeled, sculpted, textured, and combined with oil. It cools immediately, so that there is no drying time, yet it can always be reworked.
Wax is its own varnish. Encaustic paintings do not have to be varnished or protected by glass because encaustic, which is the most durable of all artists' paints, is its own protector. This is because beeswax is impervious to moisture, which is one of the major causes of deterioration in a paint film. Wax resists moisture far more than resin varnish or oil. Buffing encaustic will give lustre and saturation to color in just the same way resin varnish does.
Encaustic paint will not yellow or darken. However, wax itself is photoreactive, so the unpigmented encaustic medium that has been kept in dark storage will darken slightly. When re-exposed to light that darkening will bleach out.
Other wax based mediums
Wax Crayons
Wax crayons were once the drawing material of choice for children. However today they are very popular among artists who like to work with a material that is brightly colored and easy to transport, as well as ones that can be diluted in water and blended with ease.
The Caran D’Ache Neocolor range is non toxic and safe for use by children. The Neocolor I range is not watersoluble but the Neocolor II is fully watersoluble.
Oil Sticks and Oil Bars
Oil sticks or Oil Bars are essentially oil paint in stick form - pure pigments suspended in a linseed or safflower oil binder. The difference with conventional oil color is that it is then mixed with a specially selected wax. This thickens the consistency of the color. Oil sticks are sold with a dried layer of the color encasing the non-dry color underneath, so to begin work many artists like to use a knife to chop off the end of the stick. You can use oil sticks to draw directly on to your support to make crayon-like marks which can then be blended or worked into with oil, turpentine, or oil paint. Some artists like the effect of drawing with an oil stick into wet oil paint on a support as it creates expressive textures. You could also use it to apply watercolor-thin layers of color by using a brush immersed in turpentine to lift color from the stick, ready to paint with.
- R& F Pigment sticks are available in two sizes - 38ml and 188ml. They have a lipstick soft consistency and are available in over 80 different colors.
- Sennelier Oil Sticks are available in 38ml and 96ml sizes. They have long been a staff favorite. Over 50 colors in the range, and a very useful transparent medium for blending colors with.
- Winsor & Newton Oil Bars boast using the regular Winsor & Newton Artist Quality Oil color that you find in their artists' oils.
- These are very popular among artists around the world. There are over 50 shades in this range. As with conventional oil color the drying time is relatively slow, but can be sped up by blending the color with drying agents such as Liquin, or adding siccative to an oil-based medium. A wonderfully versatile addition to any oil painter's paintbox.
Oil Pastels
Oil pastels are made of pigments bound in a non drying oil and wax binder. They are thought to have been originally developed by Sennelier who acted on the requests of Pablo Picasso, who wanted to find a painting and drawing medium that could be applied to wood, paper, canvas or metal, without having to prepare or prime the surface. Oil Pastels are often favored by artists who find conventional soft pastels too dusty or chalk for their liking. Oil pastels are creamier in their consistency, and the texture is noticeably more moist (a result of the presence of wax in their make-up). They are incredibly versatile and can be used to draw into oil or acrylic color. Many artists enjoy working with them in mixed media projects.
Oil Pastels are a useful art supply to keep in stock as they are so versatile. Oil pastels are wonderful for creating finished oil pastel paintings, but not only that; they can also be very useful in creating quick preparatory sketches and color studies. The best oil pastels will be those with the highest pigment concentration. Because the pigment to binder ratio is greater, the properties of the pigment within the pastel will influence the behaviour and characteristic of each individual pastel, i.e. a French ultramarine oil pastel will appear more transparent than a Cerulean Blue oil pastel in the same way that a French Ultramarine oil paint would appear more transparent than a Cerulean Blue oil paint, and this is why the characteristics of each pastel in the range of Sennelier oil pastels more greatly vary than the characteristics to be found among the range of Inscribe oil pastels, for example. As well as pigment saturation, a professional grade oil pastel will have an even consistency that does not show any lumps or particles of wax binder when the color is thinned over an area.
Sennelier Oil Pastels are very soft in their consistency and the color glides on with very little pressure. However, because the color is so saturated, the sticks last a long time as very little of the pastel is required to achieve bold marks, and even less required when applying the pastel color thinly. They layer over each other and other media very well, and the opaque colors have unbeatable coverage. When heated up significantly, the Sennelier oil pastels can be used in an almost sculptural way; one can use a palette knife to apply and sculpt the color on to one’s support. Sennelier oil pastels are available individually as open stock, as well as in sets of assorted and themed sets such as landscape, still life and portrait sets.
What Is the Difference Between Wax Crayons and Oil Pastels?
Artist’s oil pastels differ from children’s wax crayons as they have a far superior lightfastness classification (although this varies between brands). They tend to be softer than wax crayons and less pressure is required to apply color to the surface you are drawing or painting on to.
Drawing and Painting with Oil Pastels
The consistency of oil pastels can be manipulated with heat; a cold oil pastel will feel harder and marks will appear sharper; more pressure is needed to deposit the color on to your support. When an oil pastel is cold it is a better drawing material as fine and broad lines can easily be drawn; some artists keep their oil pastels out of doors or in a fridge in order to keep them hard in this way. An oil pastel that has been warmed up, either on a radiator or in your hands, will become more malleable, and the color will glide on to your surface with less pressure. When oil pastels are warm their properties start to resemble those of oil paint, and as a result more painterly effects can be achieved. Oil pastel color can be thinned with solvents, and extended with linseed oil, in exactly the same way as can be done with oil paint. Oil pastels are used by some oil painters to draw into wet oil paint, perhaps to re-establish a composition in a painting or to add texture or detail.
Mixed Media and Oil Pastel
Oil pastels can be used with media of any kind, the only thing to bear in mind is that it never properly sets or dries and so is a relatively unstable material on which to overlay other drawing and painting media – one would have to protect the work well by framing it under glass or by fixing it with a special oil pastel fixative so that the work did not deteriorate over time. Oil pastels are popular among mixed media artists as vibrant color is easily applied, and blended into other materials including soft pastel, watercolor, colored pencils, and graphite, without any adverse effects. Sgraffito is often used in oil pastel technique as its surface can very easily be scratched into at any point during the picture making surface – when the oil pastel is applied thickly, very little effort is required to scratch into the color, which means that paper and other supports are not at any risk of being ripped or damaged inadvertently.