What are encaustics?

​

Beeswax+Damar Resin+Pigment

​

 

Encaustics is just wax mixed with pigment. I use a mixture of beeswax and damar resin and add pure powder pigments or oil paints. Everyone at some point has played with the melting wax of a candle- ever noticed how fast it cools and hardens? Working with encaustics requires speed. If you hesitate, your brush can cool and harden before you get your brush to the painting. Each layer has to be fused to the previous layer. This is achieved with a heat gun, I call it The Meltdown. Sometimes you lose a detail to the melt and just have to trek on!