Encaustic painting is an ancient technique, dating back to the Greeks, who used wax to caulk ship hulls. Pigmenting the wax gave rise to the decorating of warships. The use of encaustic on panels rivaled the use of tempera in what are the earliest known portable easel paintings. Tempera was a faster, cheaper process.
How do you use a R&F blending stick?
Apply a thin layer of R&F Blending Medium on the surface of your painting. Coat your painting thoroughly with R&F Pigment Stick® and gently wipe it away with a paper towel. If you wish to remove additional Pigment Stick®, add more Blending Medium to reactivate the Pigment Stick® and give it a second wiping.
How are pigment sticks made?
Let’s start with the science. R&F Pigment Sticks® are made with linseed oil, wax, and powdered pigment, but they dry as oil paint dries – which is to say, they oxidize. The oxygenated linseed oil forms long chains through a process called polymerization and becomes an irreversible dry film that is not soluble.
How do you use encaustic painting?
Brush a layer of melted medium onto the substrate. Encaustic wax is applied to a painting in layers, and each layer is fused. Fusing as you work simply means to apply heat to allow each layer to soften enough in order to merge with the previous layers. Fusing provides bonding between layers and overall stability.
What is blending medium used for?
A fluid that slows the drying and blending time of acrylic paints by up to 40%, this is an essential additive for artists who want achieve subtle blending and longer open time.
How long does it take pigment sticks to dry?
The glossy paint glides onto your surface and usually dries in 24 hours or less, leaving a rich, deeply pigmented color. The sticks are available individually in a 38-milliliter size, good for sketching or detail work, or a 24-piece set of “mini” sticks.
Can you use pigment sticks with acrylic paint?
R&F Pigment sticks can be mixed with oil paint or used over a dried acrylic underpainting.
How do you clean an encaustic hot plate?
Either work on a free area of the hotplate or employ the iron (which is small and easy to clean off). Talking of cleaning, the hotplate is easy to clean – just use tissue to wipe off the dirtied glass area until no further colour shows on the fresh tissue piece.
