There are a number of tools that I cannot live without in my studio, the metal dropper is one of those tools. Over the years I have tried a lot of different methods to "draw" and make lines with encaustic medium. It can be a challenge, because the wax cools quickly making it difficult to control. I really like working with a metal dropper. You can control the flow of wax, make very specific marks, and line work.
I keep the droppers in a metal tin on the hot pallet. This keeps the droppers hot and also helps to keep your hot palette clean by capturing the residual wax that melts and drips out of the dropper when not in use.
Using the dropper is pretty easy overall. Just depress the silicone or latex dropper bulb when in the molten wax, release and let the bulb fill with wax. Then depress the bulb again when making marks and lines on your painting.
It is best to use one dropper per color, so that you do not mix your colors, both within the dropper and your colored medium.
When you are done and the palette has been turned off, the wax will harden inside the bulb. The easiest way to get the wax out of a cooled bulb, is to remove the bulb from the metal dropper, rolled it between your thumb and fore finger until the wax works itself out of the bulb through the the opening.
I hope these tips are helpful and I encourage you to give the metal dropper a try some time. To purchase click on the picture below...
4 comments
I know this question is 4 years after this article, but where can I buy metal eye droppers? I’ve checked Amazon but they only show glass and plastic.
Very, very helpful. Going out to the studio to give it a try, now. Thank you.
I never used a metal dropper before!!! Now I must have one!!! Thanks for the post!!
Hi, I use the metal droppers as well, and when I’m finished with one for the day, I load up some soy wax to clear out any of the wax I had been using and squeeze it out. It seems to clean it pretty well, and when I use it again, I have no unwanted wax color to deal with.
Rebecca