Encaustic painting
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An Egyptian funeral portrait of a boy. |
Encaustic painting, also called "hot wax painting", involves using heated
beeswax to which colored
pigments are added. The liquid/paste is then applied to a surface—usually prepared wood, though
canvas and other materials are often used.
The simplest encaustic mixture can be made from adding pigments to beeswax, but there are several other recipes that can be used - some containing other types of , damar resin,
linseed oil, or other ingredients. Pure, powdered pigments can be purchased and used, or some mixtures use oil paints or other forms of pigment.
Metal tools and special brushes can be used to shape the paint before it cools; or heated metal tools can be used to manipulate the wax once it has cooled onto the surface. Today, tools such as heat lamps, heat guns, and other methods of applying heat allow artists to extend the amount of time they have to work with the material. Because wax is used as the pigment binder, encaustics can be sculpted, as well as painted. Other materials can be encased or collaged into the surface, or layered, using the encaustic medium to adhere it to the surface.
This technique was notably used in the
Fayum mummy portraits from
Egypt around
100-
300 CE, in the
Blachernitissa and other earliest icons, as well as in many works of the
20th century American artists, including
Jacqui Cornette,
Jasper Johns and
Mauricio Toussaint.
*Mayer, Ralph.
The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques Viking Adult; 5th revised and updated edition, 1991. ISBN 0670837016
CraftBoard (look for "Waxing Brighter")
