Painting With Wax?

Posted by Alina Bradford Jun 16, 2007

Hello All,

In our new article, Encaustic Painting: An Interview and How-to with Leah MacDonald, is the first time I had ever heard of encaustic, or hot wax, painting. Besides the article, I did some research on just what exactly hot wax painting is.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines encaustic as "a paint made from pigment mixed with melted beeswax and resin and after application fixed by heat". Leah MacDonald creates her paintings by covering a photo with wax and paint for a certain effect. (I think Leah's technique is a lot like the process done in the article Painting and Photo Collage, except without the wax.) Other artists paint with melted wax mixed with pigment directly onto a canvas or board.

Encaustic paintings look very gauzy, almost like you are looking at an image through a dreamy-type haze.

I just have to try this. I’ll let you know how it turns out. :)

Alina