Curious Meanderings from an Artist's World

I want to share my latest completed encaustic painting with you. It was inspired not only by the lovely tree growing beside my porch (which grows "too close to the roof", and which I have saved from Bill's Dreaded Pruning Saw many times), but by years of yearning to make something influenced by one of my favorite works of art by Vincent Van Gogh, called "Branches of an Almond Tree", pictured at the bottom of this post. After looking at Van Gogh's painting, I must tell you that I believe his work would have been perfect for encaustic techniques.  His use of outline, texture, color and heavy brush strokes work together to make encaustic painting so exciting and unusual.

In the next few weeks, I will be discussing the safety concerns, materials, tools and some of the various techniques used in making encaustics. I was going to write a "beginner's article" for you, and realized it would actually have to be a series of articles, more like a "beginner's book". I will be taking lots of photos, as well as doing a bit more research in order to feel comfortable taking any encaustic virgin into this magical world of beeswax and pigment. So while you prepare  to dive into this multi-layered and mysterious world, you may want to check out these websites for R & F Paints and Enkaustikos for supplies, books and videos:

http://encausticpaints.com/ 

http://rfpaints.com/

In the meantime, feel free to ask plenty of questions. If I don't know the answers, I'll find out for you.

Happy Painting!

deber

Vincent Van Gogh - "Branches of an Almond Tree"

It's been a while, but I'm experimenting with encaustic paints again. Encaustic is an ancient hot wax medium, with paintings 3,000 years and older still surviving in museums and private collections. The hot wax can be worked and applied in a myriad of ways. It can be used in addition to many other mediums such as oils, oil pastels, clay (bisque ware) and graphite. It can be done on wood, paper, and many other grounds. And you can employ combinations of many art methods to the basic encaustic method, like collage, embedding, printing, scraping and carving. 

Needless to say, I am having a great time exploring this fascinating and versatile medium. I'm just getting started.

The 6" square paintings on this page were done this week, at my little apartment studio, using a combination of hot beeswax, encaustic paints, and oil sticks. It isn't easy finding room to work with hot wax and the necessary heat tools in an apartment. I have found that if I push my little red metal cart by the back door, which I have to leave open, I can get decent ventilation. Then I have to do some of the painting in the studio, where I have a palate set up. Also leaving the windows open, and using a fan to keep the air circulating. It's complicated!

There are some serious precautions you need to know about before embarking on this adventure. One of the greatest concerns when using encaustics is ventilation, as heating wax and the other mediums and paints can release toxic and caustic fumes into the air. This can cause all kinds of health issues for the artist and studio guests. Another danger is that certain chemicals some artists use when painting with encaustics, as well as the wax, itself, is fire. The wax must be maintained at a temperature no greater than 175 degrees, or it can literally burst into flames, spattering everywhere, including on the artist.

For these reasons, I would advise those of you interested in this exciting medium to take a workshop on encaustics before venturing off on your own. But if you must do this on your own, do invest in some information and materials. I bought a video ($10.00 at Binder's Art Supply) called "Heat Up Your Art! Exploring Encaustic Techniques", with artist Kathryn Bevier, by Enkaustikos! Wax Art Supplies. I have also found "Encaustic Art, The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art With Wax" by Lissa Rankin, to be an excellent source of information and inspiration.

There are many other books you could check out, as well. Also available are videos and on-line demonstrations that are quite informative and useful.

Well, back to the studio. I am going to try applying the medium to some bisqued beads which I made a while back. This should be interesting...

PS: Encaustic can't be used with everything. The surfaces and other materials must be pourous so that it can bond with them. It cannot be used with acrylics, acrylic gesso, or other non-pourous surfaces.