Artists Painting a Sculpture of Herakles. Red Figure Apulian Column Krater.

GREEK Anonymous , 4th BCE Greek Classic Ceramics

STANDARD MODERN TECHNIQUES:

Encaustic painting was revived in the mid 18 th century after encaustic artifacts from Herculaneum and Pompeii (c. 79 B.C.) were discovered. The French antiquarian, Comte de Caylus was so impressed with the artifacts that he hired a chemist to research the ancient process, and then hired artist Joseph Marie-Vien to experiment with the new secret techniques. Another philosopher of the time, Denis Diderot feuded with Caylus over his refusal to reveal the chemist's recipes for the ancient wax mixes. Their feud led to a revival of, and a large number of publications on the process. The artist Jean-Jaques Bachelier soon invented and wrote about another encaustic method; and before long, the enthusiasm over antiquities and encaustic painting swept Europe. By the 19 th century Jacques Nicolas Paillot de Montabert published an eight-volume set of books on painting techniques (1829) which featured an entire volume on encaustic.

The Greeks Encaustic methods have enjoyed a resurgence in the 20 th century because they allow the artist to use non-caustic natural materials to create effects similar to oil paint. Artists can layer colors quickly on top of each other. Thin, transparent glazes and heavy impasto textures are both easily created. Unlike acrylics, encaustic works can be reworked later with the addition of heat. No varnish or glass is necessary to protect the surface.

Some modern artists adhere to these classical Greco Roman methods, while others use turpentine, mineral spirits or tetrachloride to thin the mixture down to use as a glaze that resembles watercolor. This glaze technique was commonly applied in works form the 18 th century by artists whose work appears in this section.

By the 20th Century the modern artists of the Americas were embracing encaustic art. Diego Rivera painted encaustic murals throughout Mexico City. Artists Roualt, Karl Zerbe, David Aronson, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and contemporaries Julian Schnabel and Mimmo Paladino have all found the flexibility the method offers desirable. After all it is durable, fast drying, and can be use in thin glazes and thick impasto. Another common technique is to use an alkali such as bicarbonate of soda to emulsify the wax medium and build impasto. Microcrystalline wax, sometimes added for impasto contains petroleum and adds toxicity. Jasper Johns, and (in the 1990's) Robert Rauschenberg applied these techniques.

ADDITIONAL METHODS:

Additional painting techniques include:

1.  texturizing surfaces by building up and carving into the wax with various levels of impasto

JOHNS Jasper.   " Flag. ( w/ Detail)"   1954. American. Pop Art. New York. Museum of Modern Art.   ©Jasper Johns

2.  using a hot pen point with paint on a piece of illustration board

3.  using a technique called the heated substrate which involves placing the ground on the source. Molten wax paint is applied to the hot ground where colors flow freely into one another.

4.  Using the wax in modeling and sculpture. Cloth dipped into wax can be built up into a surface which dries quickly.

5.  Using the wax and waxed pigment as a binder to apply collage

 

Untitled. Jasper JOHNS (1930 - )   20th c American Pop Art Painting. Amsterdam. Museum Het Rembrandthuis.   ©Jasper Johns

- TOOLS AND MATERIALS:

ROMANO-EGYPTIAN Anonymous 2nd-3rd c Egyptian Romano-Egyptian Painting. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. ©Kathleen Cohen

GROUNDS:

Encaustic paint can be applied to just about any surface. Early Greeks and Romans painted on walls, wood and ceramic. Modern artists have preferred gessoed canvas, but also mix a variety of grounds such as wood, clay board, glue gessoed Masonite, and other illustration boards. The best results are on surfaces with a stiff backing to prevent cracking of the wax.

WAXES:

A clear beeswax is recommended as a base for mixing with any pigment.   'A bit of Carnauba wax can be added as a hardener, and microcrystalline wax, as a plasticizer.'(Grove Art, Encaustic Materials and Techniques)   There are many possibilities in creating a wax mix which is both flexible and strong; however, the following recipes are standard for modern encaustic work:

1.   The most common and non-toxic mix is made with 90-95% beeswax and 5-10% damar resin. The damar resin increases hardness and prevents bloom (the whitening of areas after exposure to cold).

 2. " Mainly used on wood is a wax/resin mix. Standard proportions are 85% wax, 10% Damar [resin], and 5% Venice Turpentine or Canada balsam.

3. Mainly used on canvas (and prepared daily) is a wax/oil mix. Standard proportions are 90% beeswax and 10% thickened linseed oil.' (Stavitsky, 83)

Some varieties of paints now come pre-mixed, already containing wax and resin.

PAINTS:

Encaustic paint cools rather than dries . Once the surface cools (within minutes of application), it becomes permanent. However, encaustic paint has a unique ability to be reworked anytime between seconds or years later. The wax waterproofs the paint, making it extremely durable. A variety of pigments can be mixed with the wax for painting such as:

•  dry tempera or water media pigments (traditional and non-toxic)

•  oil paints in tubes (it is recommended to soak out oil by draining on paper towel before use, oil adds toxicity)

•  oil pastels (oil adds toxicity)

With the emergence of encaustic techniques in the 1990's, new paints have come on the market which pre-mix pigment with wax and damar resin such as:

•  specialty   R&F encaustic blocks, or

•  Dorland's wax medium (the consistancy of butter)

•  Enkaustikos brand encaustic paints (liquefied)

For thinning and glazing, one can carefully add turpentine, increasing toxicity and flammability, or add an increase in wax medium (a mix of beeswax and damar resin). While for increasing impasto, one can add microcrystalline (petroleum) mixed with beeswax (also increasing toxicity) or use an alkali such as bicarbonate of soda.

HEATED PALLETS, WORKING AND BURNING TOOLS:

Nowadays instead of working with spatchula-like pokers (cestrum or rhabdion) heated in a fire, one can purchase a specially made electric heated spatula with a selection of modeling tips to smooth, scoop, and shape encaustic. Electric hot tip pen tools come with a variety of pen tips, smaller modeling tools, and slotted brushes to use with applying and modeling paint on a smaller scale.  

A specialty electric encaustic pallet has been designed with a temperature regulator to keep the wax at its ideal consistency between 160 - 220 degrees Fahrenheit. However, an electric pancake griddle will perform the same function at a fraction of the cost. For years Jasper Johns used saucepans on electric burners. In fact, any type of steel or aluminum plate (with adequate thickness to prevent heat warping) over electric burners will do the trick. A gap between the heat surface and the palette should help prevent the medium from scorching.

Burning in, originally done with a brazier (cauterium) and torches, can now be accomplished with a variety of inexpensive tools which give more control over the process.   A large selection of irons, electric heaters, heat lamps, blowtorches and heat guns are available at most hardware stores.