WHAT IS ENCAuSTIC?
Encaustic is a wax-based painting medium that originated with the ancient Greeks over 3,000 years ago. Encaustic is a Greek word meaning “to burn in” (enkaustikos). Greeks used encaustic to caulk ship hulls from leaking and used it to decorate warships.
The most famous encaustic art are the Fayum mummy funeral portraits from the 2nd Century.
Beeswax, damar resin (a crystallized tree sap from Asia), are melted together to create encaustic. Damar resin is a clarifying and hardening agent. Pigment is used to add color to the encaustic wax medium.
Encaustic medium is applied using a brush or artist tool onto a hard substrate. Throughout the painting process a torch or heat gun is used to fuse each layer of wax together.
Encaustic is archival and has literally stood the test of time.
Ship Chalking - Reiner Noom
OA Public Domain The Met
Fayum Mummy Portraits
2nd Century
Woman - Louve, Paris
Man - Egyptian Museum of Berlin
Woman in Red - The Met
A.D. 90 - 210
Encaustic on Limewood and Gold Leaf
OA Public Domain The Met
Caring for your
encaustic art
As with any Fine Art, care should be given to any encaustic painting. Encaustic is sensitive to extreme temperatures. Exposing your artwork to freezing cold or temperatures above 150 degree Fahrenheit should be avoided. An encaustic painting takes 1 - 3 years to cure. A bloom/cloudy affect may appear. Using a soft cloth to buff your art will remove this bloom as it hardens over time, leaving a glossy surface.