Encaustic Painting with the Teens

The Teens stretched their creativity with Encaustic Painting.

We started class by learning about the history of Encaustic painting.
Encaustic painting is one of the world's oldest art forms! The artists of Ancient Greece made the earliest applications of encaustic wax paint – hence the Greek word "enkaustikos," meaning "to burn in."

Greek artists used wax paint to adorn sculptures, murals, boats, and architecture. They also used wax paint to highlight the features of the marble statues placed around the Acropolis.

Greek art spread to Egypt during the Hellenistic period, and with a large Greek population, it didn't take the Egyptians long to adapt to wax paint. Greek-trained Egyptians started to incorporate encaustic paint into their paintings and mummification practices.

As encaustic painting flourished in Greece and Egypt, it was also inevitable to spread to Rome. In fact, Julius Caesar himself commissioned an encaustic painting from Timomakos.

More artists turned to tempera, fresco, and oil painting techniques during the Middle Ages.

Encaustics have become a popular art medium in the last decade.

The Medium:

• Heated beeswax with damar resin added in an 8 to 1-ratio.
  
• The surface – Ampersand encaustic board holds heat evenly and works beautifully. You can also use birch plywood or even scrap board. It must be a hard, stable surface that is absorbent.
• Other tools – metal tools for incising. Pottery tools and dental picks work well. Brushes made of natural fibers - synthetic brushes may melt in the hot wax.
  
• Palette – griddle to warm the wax with a temperature around 220 F. Either a heat gun or a torch to warm the wax once it's applied.
• Metal tins to hold the wax.
• Proper ventilation – do not heat wax above 220. Never let it smoke and have proper ventilation because of fumes emitted by the mix of damar resin and oil pigments.

Applications:

Priming and Fusing: Prime the surface to prepare the board.

• Heat the board with a heat gun (about 30 seconds)
  
• Apply a thin layer of wax – do not overlap layers
• Fuse the base layer by heating the surface with the heat gun until the finish turns shiny.
• Repeat – 2 to 3 times for a good base layer.
  

Add Color: Make colored wax by adding pigment in the form of premade pigmented medium, oil paint, or oil sticks.
Smooth application of color:

• Warm the board and brush an even layer of color over it, trying not to overlap.
• Fuse with a heat gun
• Apply a second layer in the opposite direction and fuse

Painting with Pan Pastels: "Paint" your piece of art by adding color with pan pastels.
Wear gloves and use makeup sponges to add color.
Fuse in the color – watch the surface because it will spread if it gets too hot.

Adding Mixed Media: Really, anything goes!

• Lightweight add-ins: Lightweight prints will disappear into the wax. Try printing photos on Sumi paper.
  
• Press the image into a warm, primed surface.
• Apply medium
• Fuse
• Dip paper in the wax for an even more transparent surface
• Heavier Paper: Same process, but use a tool to hold down the edges of the paper while you fuse it, so the edges do not turn up.
• Heavier/Thicker Items: Prime your board to the depth of your object and press objects into the warm wax. Fuse with an additional layer of wax.

Enjoy their work!

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