23. The brushes we use for encaustics are
all natural animal hair.
• Any acrylic, nylon, teklon, or synthetic
material would melt in the heat.
• Use inexpensive brushes
• One brush per color or clean your brush really
good between colors.
24. Clean your brush
Practice good brush hygiene
• Place brush on the heat palette
• Melt extra wax off
• Wipe excess off with a
• paper towel
25. Fuse the layers of wax
together with a heat tool
• Heat tools are held at a distance
from the surface of the wax.
• Gently move the heat tool from side to side
melting to only a glisten.
• DO NOT OVER FUSE TO CREATE A RUNNING
MELTED WAX MESS!
• Every layer needs to be fused to the layer
underneath
26. Incising is to cut and scrape into the
picture creating lines
• Incising creates lines, definition and can reveal
layers under the top layer
30. Transferring images
• Must be toner based
• Heat wax first
• Place transfer image face down
• Words need to be revered prior to placing down to
read correctly
• What can you transfer? Anything that is toner based
• Use a wooden spoon or spoon to rub image onto wax
surface
• Use water to wet back to dampen and remove paper.
33. Mono Printing
• Draw image directly onto heat palette
• Drop rice paper, tissue paper, or thin paper onto
image.
• Rub the back surface to make sure all the wax has
been soaked into the paper.
• Lift off from the corner
• You may be able to get a second print.
• Paper can be applied to a substrate after finishing
with PVA adhesive.
34.
35. Medium is another name for the
melted wax
• Most premixed medium come already
prepared with 6-1 Damar resin.
• Damar resin is a hardening agent that allows
the wax to dry to a solid state.
36. Only use metal containers on the heat
palettes
• Only use dedicated muffin tins, or loaf pans.
• It has been suggested not to use tuna or cat
food cans.
• I use them with wooden clothes pins.
38. Encaustic Gesso is non acrylic based
using chalk as the foundation
• Absorbent materials are needed to create on.
• Hand made papers can be a good choice
• No pre stretched canvas’s these have acrylic
gesso and the wax will fall off.
39. Dipping images to embed in a painting
• Use needle nose tweezers.
• Image paper will disappear once placed.
• Cut excess paper off before dipping.
40. The plate thermometer needs to
always hover around 200 degrees
• Fire extinguisher is handy
• Ventilation, open door, fan blowing outside to
take exhaust out of room.
45. Process of Encaustics
• Step one Warm Board with heat tool
• Apply one even coat of clear wax for the base
coat.
• Fuse together (melt wax just to shinny
glimmer)
• DO NOT OVER FUSE to a Liquid mess.
• Add color, layers, texture.
46. Safety
• Keep heat tray or palettes
at 200 degrees.
NO HOTTER!
DO NOT TOUCH THE DIAL
Only adult hand can regulate
the temperature.
• If the tray or your piece starts to smoke
STOP, UNPLUG, and WAIT
Never let anything smoke
SMOKE IS BAD!
