Art that Melts in your Mind

What is Encaustic Painting?

Encaustic, which also goes by ("hot wax painting") is an ancient technique. The earliest and best-known examples of encaustic are the Fayum mummy portraits from Egypt (ca. 100-300). The ancient Greeks often used this technique for mural painting. The artist heats beeswax to the liquid stage, then mixes in pigmentation. The resulting medium is applied to a surface (typically wood).  Several layers of wax are applied in both transparent and opaque hues to provide content, atmosphere, and depth. Heat must be applied to fuse between each layer.

Before the wax cools, the artist can enhance their encaustic piece. Metal tools or special brushes can shape and/or texture the substance (layers of which can be anywhere from thin to relief-map thick).  Additionally, an encaustic work can be polished to a final sheen, or reworked (through use of heat, again) as much as necessary until the artist is satisfied.

Encaustic is often used to create multimedia art with the use of shellacs, alcohol inks, paper, pastels, oil sticks, collages objects, charcoals,…….the possibilities and the outcomes are endless!!