how to make encaustic medium

8/13/2019 How to Make Encaustic Medium

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http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Encaustic-Medium/

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How to Make Encaustic Mediumby technoplastiqueon June 18, 2007

Table of Contents

How to Make Encaustic Medium ..................................................................................................

Intro: How to Make Encaustic Medium ...........................................................................................

Step 1: Materials and Equipment ...............................................................................................

Step 2: Safety .............................................................................................................

Step 3: Weigh Your Materials .................................................................................................

Step 4: Crushing ...........................................................................................................

Step 5: Modify a Can for Melting ...............................................................................................

Step 6: Melting ............................................................................................................

Step 7: Pouring the Wax .....................................................................................................

Step 8: Clean Up the Encaustic Medium .........................................................................................

Step 9: Using Encaustic Medium ...............................................................................................

Related Instructables ........................................................................................................

Comments ................................................................................................................
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Author:technoplastique Technoplastique Blog

I'm making something for every day of 2011. Check out my blog to see what I've been making!

Intro: How to Make Encaustic MediumEncaustic is an ancient art medium that is useful for painting, collage and a few less art and more practical molding and casting applications. Encaustic medium is acombination of bleached and purified beeswax and gum damar. The gum damar is used to make the wax harder and the work more permanent.

Wikipedia has a relatively accurate entry on encaustic:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic

and an entry profiling one of the most famous/cliche early uses of encaustic. Considering the age of these, most are in incredibly good condition:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraits

On the last page of the instructable I have some information about using it and non-painting uses for it. So if you're not sure, skip ahead to that to see the possibilitiesalso be posting further instructables on the subject.

This instructable is about making the medium and turning it into paint. While it's beautiful and versatile, there are a number of very important safety concerns that areincluded. There is a chance for serious injury while working with these materials, but all good art involves risk, so be smart and you should be fine.

Image Notes1. My first encaustic painting ever.

Step 1:Materials and EquipmentMaterials (with links to where I got some items):

- bleached beeswax pastilles http://www.danielsmith.com/products~sku~284+020+006.asp- gum damar crystals http://www.danielsmith.com/products~sku~284+470+015.asp

- pigmentsDry powdered pigments are the way to go if you're making much of any given color. http://www.danielsmith.com/subcat~cat~800201301.asp

If you only need a small amount of any given color you can use oil paint. This isn't very efficient, though, which is why it's only smart to use it for a color you don't needmuch of.

Equipment:Most of the equipment involved will have to be devoted to encaustic, because encaustic should not come in contact with anything you eat.

- an empty aluminum (soda) can- a can opener- a pair of pliers- a heat source (an electric griddle is best but it is possible to do this on a stovetop)- a mortar and pestle or other crushing method (the more crushed the damar is the faster it disolved)- a mini-muffin tin (mine is silicone, which makes it easy to remove the wax once it's hardened) or a similar moldYou will never, ever, ever use this for food again.- something plastic or wooden for stirring.This will need to be okay to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I use the handle of a plastic spoon for most stirring, and wooden popsicle stick and toothpicks for some things.- a scale.The one in this picture is a postal scale, and that's not right. I flaked when I took the picture. You want a kitchen type scale for this that measures in 1 gram increments
http://www.danielsmith.com/subcat~cat~800201301.asphttp://www.danielsmith.com/products~sku~284+470+015.asphttp://www.danielsmith.com/products~sku~284+020+006.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraitshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustichttp://technoplastique.squarespace.com/http://member/technoplastique/http://member/technoplastique/


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- oven mitts, an 'ove glove' or some other way to not burn your hands- a metal knife or palette knife.A butter knife would do the job, but again, not the one you use for butter.

Image Notes1. gum damar2. beeswax pastilles

3. aluminum can (shown modified)4. electric skillet5. mortar and pestle6. scale (but not a very good one - a better one is shown later)7. mini muffin tin8. ove glove9. stirring and scraping devices

Step 2:SafetyI know you're probably prone to as much reckless abandon as I am, but please at least read this so you know how you can get hurt and can try to avoid it.

You are working with a variety of hazardous materials. Because of this there are a few things you should have to keep yourself protected:

- safety glassesOdds are, you won't need these, but if you need them you REALLY need them. Make sure you wear them at least the f irst time you try this. If you manage to set your on fire it will behave much like a grease/oil fire. Hot wax can hit you in the face/eyes and cause severe injury. It sticks and it stays hot for a WHILE. You can also getpowdered pigment in your eyes which would be especially problematic if you're making, say, CADMIUM red paint.

- breathing protectionIf you can swing it, i t's definitely best to work right next to an open window while you're melting the wax and damar. It's also smart to wear a dust mask at least, and aNIOSH approved mask if possible. Close the window and wear a mask for sure while working with pigments. Powdered pigments can become airborne very easily, anwhen this happens it is easy to inhale them. Many pigment are highly toxic, so breathing them is not a good idea.

- heat protection for your handsI have and 'Ove Glove' and love it to death. Being a glove instead of a mitt gives me a lot more control over what I'm doing. Again, it's hot wax and it can burn you.

- baking sodaYou'll use this in case of a fire. If the wax does start to burn first unplug the skillet, then remove anything flammable from nearby, then, if necessary, use the baking soto smother the fire. If you put water on it you'll just get dangerous steam.

For the record, I've never started a fire or burned myself doing this. But there's no such things as too safe.


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Image Notes1. gum damar2. beeswax pastilles3. aluminum can (shown modified)4. electric skillet5. mortar and pestle6. scale (but not a very good one - a better one is shown later)7. mini muffin tin8. ove glove9. stirring and scraping devices

Step 3:Weigh Your MaterialsI've made lots of encaustic medium, and my favorite ratio is 10 parts wax to 1 part damar. More damar makes for a harder wax, less damar makes it softer. You'll be ato decide on a ratio for yourself after using it for a while. I've read that it's a bad idea to go lower than 8 parts wax to 1 part damar, but I've never had trouble at that ratso there's probably some adjustment there.

WEIGH your wax and damar out. There's no way to do this reliably by volume (damar is a plant product and varies quite a bit). My kitchen scale cost $4 at K-Mart, andhas been well worth the investment. Just make sure you use the 'tare' feature to get the most exact measurement possible. In my demo I used 50 grams of wax to 5grams of damar. That'll give you 2 or 3 'mini muffins' worth, and that's plenty to do a smallish first painting.

Image Notes1. the right kind of scale - this one is used for baking and much more accurate


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Image Notes1. uncrushed gum damar crystals2. beeswax pastilles

Step 4:CrushingUse the mortar and pestle to crush the damar. It leaves a residue behind, so I usually crush mine in a small plastic bag to keep my equipment clean. The more crusheis the faster it will melt. The damar will probably have some organic matter in it, but don't worry about it now.

Image Notes1. bag of crushed damar (not as suspicious as it looks)

Step 5:Modify a Can for MeltingUse your can opener to cut the top out of your aluminum can. Use the pliers to bend the top edge to have a pouring spout. This will be where you melt and mix youringredients.


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Image Notes

1. bent to accomodate better pouring of dangerously hot wax

Step 6:MeltingPlace your wax in your can. Put it on the skillet and turn it to medium heat. DO NOT leave it unattended at any point from now until you're leaving it to harden.

If you're using a stove (especially a gas stove wi th open flame) place the can in a small saucepan with some water in it. The water helps buffer the heat and keep the wfrom burning, which is an extra risk when you have open flame.

Leave your wax long enough to completely melt to a liquid. You can stir it a bit to help it along (this is where you use your mitts/glove to help not spill it. I hope that wasobvious.) When it's really, really liquid add the damar.

The damar will take a while to melt (longer than the wax did). Stir it from time to time. The damar is basically tree sap, and it will turn back into a tree sap like substancpart way through melting. This will probably stick to your stirrer. Just do your best to scrape it off and get it back into the wax.

When it's all COMPLETELY melted your ready for the next step. Trust me, there's no future in rushing this part.

Image Notes1. unmelted wax

Image Notes1. melted wax


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Image Notes

1. crushed damar before melting

Step 7:Pouring the WaxTurn off your skillet/stove.

Pick up your can and pour the wax mixture into the molds. I usually fill mine about 3/4. If you spill any just leave it to set up, peel it off the surface it's on and put it backthe can to melt in next time you make medium.

This is the point where you can add some powdered pigments. Put a little in, mix it in with a popsicle stick or toothpick, then leave it alone. There is no rule about howmuch pigment to use because every pigment has a different intensity. If you decide later that the color is too weak you can add more pigment when you use it. If youdecide it's too strong you can dilute it with uncolored medium later. I personally don't add any color at this point, but it's up to you.

Once all of your wax is out of the can and into the mold leave it alone. It'll turn white (or get lighter if it's colored) as it cools. Leave it until it's really cool and hardened uand pop it out of it's mold.

Image Notes1. still molten2. starting to harden up


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Step 8:Clean Up the Encaustic MediumYou'll notice that the bottom of each 'cake' has some debris in it. This is the organic material from the damar. There may also be some chunks of pigment. You'll want scrape this off with the palette knife or butter knife. If your medium is uncolored and you take much wax off you can toss it back into the can to re-melt later as well.Scrape until there's no weird stuff left. As always, you're using a knife and could cut yourself. So don't.

Image Notes1. organic debris (you'll want to remove this)

Image Notes1. cleaned up encaustic medium2. not quite clean yet

Step 9:Using Encaustic MediumOkay, so now you've got this, what do you DO with it?

Basically, you:

heat your medium on the skilletpaint on a rigid and porous surface (wood is good)use natural bristle brushes to paint with it

use various metal and wood implements to drip, scrape and manipulate ituse a heat gun to remelt it on your surfaceuse an iron to push it arounduse different colors to make imagesembed paper and objects into it for collage

Outside of painting, it's a great material for model and mold related work. I've used it for casting into an existing mold, then reshaping the cast piece and making a fresmold from it. Silicones, rubbers and resins rarely stick to it. And by rarely, I mean I've never gotten it to stick to those things, but I haven't tried every single availableproduct. It's harder than normal wax so it doesn't melt or soften in warm weather nearly as quickly. It also stands up to mold making and casting materials that heat upfrom chemical reactions longer than most other waxes. It's great for some prototyping because as soon as you're done you can re-melt it for something else. It's alsopretty easy to carve.


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Image Notes1. melting my finished encaustic medium2. smaller cup for coloring small amounts3. awesome japanese watercolor brush in metallic silver encaustic paint

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Comments

12 comments Add Comment

Greta24says: Jan 7, 2009. 11:47 AM REPHi, thank you for offering this instruction. I'm curious, since Damar is actually a form of turpentine can I use that instead of the resin? Thank you, Greta

ksiler17says: Oct 17, 2008. 7:29 PM REPAre there any type of varnishes that can be used on top of encaustic painting that are premade. i'm really interested in gloss but rock hard finish? what aboshellac? thanks .

westfwsays: Jun 25, 2007. 11:17 PM REPHmm; do you happen to know of a plasticizer for pine rosin? Something that will cause it (from an alcohol solution, for example) to dry to nice shiny anddurable films instead of crystalizing or something? I understand rosin was used in some old varnishes, and I've got the rosin and assorted other things, butcan't find a formula for an actual rosin-based varnish (which I guess is what I want.)

technoplastiquesays: Jun 26, 2007. 12:05 AM REPIt's my understanding that 'rosin' is a form of 'resin' (usually just dried out instead of semi-liquid). Linseed oil will dissolve almost any rosin. In fact, linseoil is one of the best and most archival oil painting materials available. Pine rosin isa really old varnish ingredient and was used on a lot of Europeanfurniture. Contemporary violin makers still seem to use quite a bit of it, and here's a link to a recipe and info on how to make pine rosin into varnish:

http://www.newviolinfamily.org/forum/showpost.php?s=6a2877ab80678635681e246d51e21652&p=145&postcount=14

I've never tried that particular formula myself, but being that you're starting with rosin instead of resin it might take a bit more oil to completely dissolve There's another (and much more elaborate) recipe available there as well:

http://www.newviolinfamily.org/forum/showpost.php?s=6a2877ab80678635681e246d51e21652&p=113&postcount=12

These will probably give you a place to start - let me know if you've got any questions about any of i t, I've made a lot of my own paint and mediums ovethe years....
http://www.newviolinfamily.org/forum/showpost.php?s=6a2877ab80678635681e246d51e21652&p=113&postcount=12http://www.newviolinfamily.org/forum/showpost.php?s=6a2877ab80678635681e246d51e21652&p=145&postcount=14http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Encaustic-Medium/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/technoplastique/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/technoplastique/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Encaustic-Medium/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/westfw/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/westfw/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Encaustic-Medium/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/ksiler17/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/ksiler17/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Encaustic-Medium/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#DISCUSShttp://www.instructables.com/member/Greta24/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/Greta24/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=commentshttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Encaustic-Medium/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=comments#commentshttp://www.instructables.com/member/dinky/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/pen-art/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/pen-art/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/member/Creativeman/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-paint-draw-color-and-otherwise-DO-ART/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-paint-draw-color-and-otherwise-DO-ART/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-paint-draw-color-and-otherwise-DO-ART/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-paint-draw-color-and-otherwise-DO-ART/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-paint-draw-color-and-otherwise-DO-ART/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-paint-draw-color-and-otherwise-DO-ART/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/member/tankthelineman/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Link-Oil-Painting/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Link-Oil-Painting/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Link-Oil-Painting/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Link-Oil-Painting/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/member/tankthelineman/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Acrylic-Painted-Tron-Legacy-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Acrylic-Painted-Tron-Legacy-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Acrylic-Painted-Tron-Legacy-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Acrylic-Painted-Tron-Legacy-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Acrylic-Painted-Tron-Legacy-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/member/katanderson/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Plastic-Pop-Art-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Plastic-Pop-Art-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Plastic-Pop-Art-Poster/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/member/Mazarine/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-do-transfer-technique-on-Encaustic/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-do-transfer-technique-on-Encaustic/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-do-transfer-technique-on-Encaustic/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-do-transfer-technique-on-Encaustic/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=relatedhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-do-transfer-technique-on-Encaustic/?utm_source=pdf&utm_campaign=related


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westfwsays: Jul 1, 2007. 2:39 AM REPThanks. Those look promising...

> I've made a lot of my own paint and mediumsMore fodder for Instructables! I've always been intr igued by "the technology of art"

technoplastiquesays: Jul 1, 2007. 2:42 AM REPIf there's interest in them I'll keep making them - a few years ago I was in a LIBRARY (what are those again?) and found a few really old bookson art making. I've been playing around with it ever since. And let me know how those recipes turn out if you try them!

Patriksays: May 11, 2008. 10:16 PM REP

Yes please! By the way - I was visiting an artist specializing in encaustic art, during a Open Studios tour this weekend. She used miniaturecooking pots from the kids section at Ikea to heat her various encaustic colors on a hotplate. :-D

canidasays: Jun 27, 2007. 5:28 PM REPCool, I'd wanted to know how to do this! Thanks!

technoplastiquesays: Jun 27, 2007. 4:54 PM REPNo problem, I'm glad you were interested! I'll always take requests for info on obscure art techniques.... ;-)

Spl1nt3rC3llsays: Nov 16, 2007. 8:54 PM REPThis is a really neat artform, it is really different and unique. If you want, you can add this iBle to the Your Art Group

technoplastiquesays: Nov 17, 2007. 5:59 PM REPJoined and added - thanks! I've got a lot of other things in process that I'll probably add to that group eventually, too!

Spl1nt3rC3llsays: Nov 17, 2007. 6:05 PM REPThanks. I can't wait to see the others.
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