the Creative Process
My process is all about "Going with the Flow" litterally. When the wax melts and I'm heating it, it moves. I'll watch the light dance on the surface and if I like what it's doing I will let it sit for awhile and work on another area. I may walk away and come back in a matter of minutes or hours. Depending on what I want to explore, I may start another canvas and work it out first or do it completely on the current piece. Hours pass and day turns to night. I don't eat or do much else, until my body says "ENOUGH!" It's hard to walk away when I'm creating, but life intrudes and obligations take hold, the family must be fed (as well as myself) !
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When working small, it's a good idea to have several going at the same time.
Work in Progress using a favorite tool of mine.
Work in Progress
First Layers in building up layers to stand out in a Sculptural way.
First layer of Shellac making sure it covers this piece. Next the Shellac Burn where a flame hits the shellac and the wax acts as a resist opening up sections of the shellac in a web like or mesh like effect.
Setting up Tools of the Trade in Encaustic at the Firehouse Art Center, Pleasanton. Demo Day!
Melting my wax on a hot plate takes a little time.
Lining up my brushes, tinted Shellac and Marking tools.
Demonstrations of creating Encaustic Hot Wax paintings take place at various Venues. Would you like me to Demonstrate Encaustic in your place of business? Contact me! I enjoy educating the public on the Encaustic medium. I am one of a very few artists, who work with this medium in the SF Bay Area.
While this piece was pretty satisfying, I felt elongating the petals, was something that was needed. So here goes! Layering wax, Shellac and waiting to Burn between layers.
Working in Natural Light is my first choice but sometimes.... you just got to turn the light on :)
I've added more Encaustic Pigment to my individual melting pots. I create a mixture of clear Encaustic wax and a heavily pigmented Encaustic wax. The more Clear wax the more translucent the wax becomes.
A work in Progress in a series of 3 panels
A work in Progress - I really enjoyed this design. Creating 3 panel series is a favorite of mine. Hang them separately and they still create interest in a more abstract way.
The Details of the Shellac Burn creates interesting results. I never get tired of creating this effect!
In order to be sure the series connects properly, you must lay them next to each other and work on them a layer at a time, at the same time.
It may look like a mess (and it is) but all the colors you need or may need, have to be close by and melted in tins with their brushes heated as well. Constant heating of the beeswax even once it's on the canvas, is important to move the wax around as it cools quickly. A torch or heat gun (I use a combination of the two) is a major tool and necessity with Encaustic Art.
Encaustic painting is fun and challenging. You have to build your painting from the back forward leaving the crisp imagery closest to the top. I create while in the process because of the unexpected turns along the way, give birth to New Ideas.
I begin with clear Encaustic wax, then layer a color over it, in this case. Scrapping away or dabbling colored wax over the clear can reveal surprising results.
After laying wax into a stencil, I heat it and lift the stencil. Scraping some of the color wax away to sharpen the image you want.
I used oil paint here, dabbing and pushing it into the cracks. Then wiping the top of the wax leaving the dark lines behind between the sections of wax.
Many layers one on top of the other, building texture in a sculptural kind of way.