We owe the small, unassuming busy bee our gratitude for providing us with the wax we use in our Encaustic work. Although beehives produce a specific type of wax, in our work we enjoy a variety of waxes. They come in chunks or pastilles, cakes and granules, slabs and flakes.
Flakes are shaved from a slab; beads are produced by droplets hardened on a conveyor belt; granules are liquid wax sprayed onto an air-cooled tower and then congealed.
Their color varies from clear to white, bright yellow to dark brown. The beehive wax is at first clear but takes a golden hue with the bees' movements in the hive. Chemical bleaching oxidizes the wax and turns it white. However, this type of bleaching makes the wax brittle, which is not very favorable to artists. Another way of whitening the wax is by sun-bleaching it.
There are petroleum waxes, paraffin, microcrystalline and Encaustic medium (which is made up of damar resin and beeswax). This seems confusing at first but once we delve into their properties and uses you will realize that working with Encaustic is actually a matter of becoming familiar with the materials and choosing what attracts us the most.
Pure beeswax flows well when melted, mixes well with pigment and can be easily scraped or incised.
Paraffin is refined from petroleum. It is prone to cracking and, therefore, is not really recommended as a medium. I use paraffin to clean my Encaustic brushes while some artists use it in their Encaustic work (all waxes are compatible with each other).
Microcrystalline is also refined from petroleum and is close to natural wax. It is more plastic and slightly tackier than beeswax when used in Encaustic work. It can be soft and tacky or hard and brittle and depending on whether you paint thickly or thinly. I find that 2/3 beeswax to 1/3 microcrystalline helps me obtain more texture in my work.
Those who use microcrystalline on its own claim that there is less of a need to fuse between layers due to its tacky quality.
Encaustic medium hardens the wax, which makes it more resistant to nicks and scratches and easier to fuse (heat). The medium is a mix of damar resin and beeswax. You can buy it ready-made or make your own with a mixture of damar crystals and clear wax. Given the time-consuming nature of the do-it-yourself process - melting the crystals takes longer, then the mixture needs to be filtered through cheesecloth to remove the natural impurities - it is easier to purchase the ready-made product, which comes in bricks or small slabs.
Carnauba Wax is extracted from a palm tree that grows in northern Brazil. Its color is yellow to brown and thus leaves a yellow tone in the clear beeswax. If used in small amounts (about 4% of the clear wax) it will harden the wax.
Candelila is derived from a reedlike plant that grows wild in Texas and Mexico. Its color is light yellow to light brown. Due to its significant resin content it is hard and brittle. As with Carnauba, you can harden the wax by using around 4% of Candelila. This is also a lustrous wax.
Coloring the wax:
When I start a painting I prefer to use the clear wax (either pure or mixed with microcrystalline or medium). Once the basic layers are down, I start using the colored waxes. However, you can start your first layers with colored wax too.
I color my wax with oil paints. The amount I use will determine the transparency or opaqueness of the wax. Bear in mind, though, that some colors are basically transparent and will always be less opaque than those that are naturally opaque. I am talking about colors such as Alisarin Crimson, Phtalo Green, French Ultramarine Blue, etc. An opaque color would be Ochre, Zinc White, Cadmium Red, among many others. Some artists lay the needed oil paint on paper towels for a few hours to draw out the excess oil before mixing them with the wax.
You can also use powder pigments instead of oil paints off the tubes. When using the powder you may want to use a mask in order to prevent breathing the pigments in. Dispersion pigments (milled powder plus linseed oil) will also mix well with the wax.
Commercial Encaustic paint is made of beeswax, damar resin and pigment and is very vibrant. There is an incredible variety of these colors, and they come in discs, bricks or tins. If you purchase the brick or discs, you will want to break them into smaller pieces to mix with the wax. I find it more economical to use the oil paints or powder pigments but purchase those colors that cannot be obtained with the latter: a stronger yellow, a more vibrant orange, a tingling red, etc.
If you purchase the tins, you may place them as is on your griddle. The discs can then be replaced separately and you re-use the tin. If you paint big, the size of the discs may not give you the needed amount of paint before you need to add or replace the color.
You will need a griddle or an anodized aluminum palette to melt you waxes. Those who use the latter will usually melt the commercial color on it, as needed. The disadvantage I found in this method is that you can only melt so much of the needed color and if you paint big, the amount you can mix may not be enough and you'll have to keep melting that color until satisfied with the quantity; you may not be able to prevent other colors on the palette from slightly (or more than slightly) mixing with each other; you will have to keep cleaning the palette when using different colors.
When using a griddle I use cut soda cans for the waxes. Each color is then completely separate and I have enough for different size supports. When needed, I add clear wax to that can and keep going.
You can also use other containers, depending on how much wax you will want to have available. Smaller quantities of wax will fit into muffin trays or tuna cans.
As you can see, once you decide to plunge into this fascinating, addictive medium, there are a few details that need to be mastered. Learning new ways of using Encaustic will keep your neurons healthy and young for many, many years to come!
If you would like to see 21 free videos that answer questions regarding Encaustic, visit http://belafidelfineart.com/
Bela Fidel is an artist and teacher in Encaustic and oils. Her work has been collected both nationally and internationally.
To learn more about Bela visit http://belafidelfineart.com/
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