Making Encaustic Medium

[Jakeally]

I am delighted to introduce a new article for the Mixed Media Forum.

Making Encaustic Medium by Andrew Gott
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/36273/731/

Many thanks Andrew. This is a very informatve Article which will help a lot of people get to grips with the subject.
You are a star

[Mary Woodul]

Andrew, thank you very much for doing this for us. It has a wealth of information and I am sure many will benefit from this article.

[tubbekans]

Thanks Andrew, what a great article on how to make encuastic medium and paints! It's so much easier to understand when seeing your pictures of it actually being made too. Really great writeup on the process and wonderful tips on things to watch out for too. Thanks for doing this great how-to article!

[Printmakerguy]

Thanks...

It is my intention to get another article put together the next time I paint with encaustics, to kind of show my technique, and how I add pigment... But, hopefully this one will be enough to get everyone started!

-Andrew

[Charlye]

Brilliant!!! Thanks Andrew. I'll start on the medium, I've no excuses now!

Regarding pigments I'm interested in both your oil paint technique and the dry pigments. Are there added safety concerns when using the oil paint method? Specifically the maximum safe melting point (since the paint contains oils and solvents).

[JiMiCrAcK]

What a great article. I have never tried encaustics, but I think I will after reading that. Can you suggest any places to get the materials that you use?

Thanks again for the great article.

[Charlye]

Here's some quick research. I'm going to post a list for damar resin as well. Andrew is your beeswax source on this list?

The white vs cosmetic grade is a fairly useless comparison. So to me cosmetic generally means the wax is pelletized. Looking at the pictures some is more white than others.

-----

ivory 1 pound $ 8 http://www.oilsbynature.com/
ivory 1 pound $ 10 http://www.blossomland.com/
ivory 10 pound $ 54 http://www.oilsbynature.com/
ivory 10 pound $ 68 http://www.blossomland.com/

white 1 pound $ 5 http://swanscandles.com/
white 1 pound $ 6 http://www.oilsbynature.com/
white 1 pound $ 10 http://www.rfpaints.com/
white 1 pound $ 17 http://www.naturalpigments.com/
white 10 pound $ 37 http://www.oilsbynature.com/
white 10 pound $ 43 http://swanscandles.com/

cosmetic 1 pound $ 8 http://www.stakich.com/
cosmetic 1 pound $ 8 http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/
cosmetic 1 pound $ 13 http://www.blossomland.com/
cosmetic 1 pound $ 14 http://www.kitsforcrafts.com/
cosmetic 10 pound $ 50 http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/
cosmetic 10 pound $ 59 http://www.stakich.com/
cosmetic 10 pound $ 75 http://www.blossomland.com/

[Charlye]

I forgot fineartstore.

cosmetic 1 pound $ 15 http://www.fineartstore.com/
cosmetic 10 pound $ 90 http://www.fineartstore.com/

Damar resin sources

damar 1 pound $ 6 http://www.rfpaints.com/
damar 1 pound $ 8 http://www.fineartstore.com/
damar 1 pound $ 9 http://danielsmith.com/
damar 1 pound $ 23 http://www.dickblick.com/ Eco-House 950 Damar Resin

[lisilk]

Excellent information Andrew. Now that I am back in the land of art supplies I will be able to experiment again with encaustics. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise.

Li

[Printmakerguy]

Thanks, Everyone...

Charlye-

GREAT list of resources there.... I think that last time I ordered it was from RF, But I am not sure. I get damar and cosmetic beeswax from them. I am able to get 'regular' filtered beeswax locally, it is a tiny bit more expensive, but I am impatient

-Andrew

[LazarusCMII]

andrew - great article, very similar to how I make my medium. Have you tried the "luster wax" from fineartstore.com instead of damar as a hardener? I am experimenting with it in my mixture, and it seems to work very well as a damar replacement.

Charlye - I would just point out re: "white" vs. "cosmetic" beeswax, I am leery of buying "white" beeswax, as I believe it often means that it is chemically treated to bleach out the color of impurities etc... however the impurities are still there, and the color can come back over time. "Cosmetic" to the best of my knowledge is not chemically processed, just highly strained/refined to physically remove impurities so it is superior. (Sometimes "White" beeswax is also not bleached, but you wouldn't know for sure unless you ask the processor :-)

I like to use the cosmetic wax for my light colors (whites/yellows/light blues) to avoid color shift, but I just use plain ol' filtered wax (sometimes I just get raw wax and filter it myself!) for darker colors etc... with a high enough pigment load, the color shift is minimal, and it is *much* cheaper (~3.50-4.00/lb vs $~8-10.00/lb)

and I second the recommendation for fineartstore.com. very nice selection of encaustic stuff...

EDIT:
I just looked through some of those links, and the prices for cosmetic grade wax from "fromnaturewithlove" are incredible (in bulk it's $4/lb!!!) have you ordered from them/are they reliable?

[Charlye]

I just looked through some of those links, and the prices for cosmetic grade wax from "fromnaturewithlove" are incredible (in bulk it's $4/lb!!!) have you ordered from them/are they reliable?

I haven't ordered from any yet. "withlove" doesn't look like the whitest but it is cheap. With any of the candle or bee-balm type stores it's hard to know what you're buying. Maybe they add love to it? I avoided putting websites in my list unless they said cosmetic or carbon filtered.

I'm leaning towards www.stakich.com or just buy everything from fineartstore, RF, etc.

[art_tasos]

Hi Andrew, thank you very much for your article.
Greetings from Greece, Tasos

[Printmakerguy]

Originally Posted by Charlye

"withlove" doesn't look like the whitest but it is cheap.

Remember you can sun bleach it to whiten it, too!!

Originally Posted by Charlye

or just buy everything from fineartstore, RF, etc.

I have dealt with RF, I like their product a lot! I would buy from them again. Sometimes it is worth getting it all from one place, as you know exactly what you are getting and from where!!!

-Andrew

[llilja]

Thank you, Andrew. This is just the information I was looking for. I got to it a little late, though, for I had already made numerous mistakes:
I melted down a huge wheel of beeswax in a stock pot and ladled it into manageable-sized containers. Someone was watching over me...it didn't catch fire. Do you thinkk the pot is ruined?
Impatient to try it, I have started with the raw beeswax.
Lazarus, how do you filter it????
I bought a travel iron on ebay... another mistake. It has no heat adjustment, and gets very hot, making the wax very liquid. I have bid on another with several heat settings.
I plugged the iron, electric skillet, and hair dryer into a surge protector, and the bloomin' thing kept clicking off!
My first attempt was an abstract, and is interesting. Today I started a milkweed pod. Chasing the VERY liquid wax around with the hair dryer eliminated any resemblance to the subject. I guess I'll have to wait for the new iron.
Re: pigment. I read somewhere that you can use oil paints??? If so, in what proportions?
Thank you again for the help. I have ordered Mattesse' (sp?) book, but it hasn't arrived yet.