In my last blog I talked about the various tools that one can use to make incisions when working with encaustic medium. There are a lot of options out there, what I am going to cover today is just a few of the different methods that you can use to fill an incision with encaustic medium. I will also address how to clean off the excess wax after filling the incision.
If you know you want to add filled incisions to your work then it is important to make sure that you prepare your surface so that the incisions will be deep enough to capture applied medium.
My recommendation is to prepare your panel with at least 2 even layers of clear wax medium, then apply additional layers of pigmented medium. In this example (after applying a clear medium base of 3 layers) my first layer was red, then a layer of light blue and finally two layers of dark blue. I applied each layer evenly and removed air bubbles in order to create a smooth surface.
Before incising my lines, I let the wax cool down so that it was warm to the touch but not hot (you can use a laser temperature gauge to check the surface temp of the wax which should be about 70 - 80 degrees F). Once the surface reached the correct temperature (in order to easily and cleanly create incisions) I created incised lines using a Wood Carving Metal V-Shaped Incising Tool (SM) and the Dual Head Metal HD Incising tool. As long as there is some depth to an incision it can be filled with medium. If the incisions are shallow and or uneven in depth, then it will be more difficult to achieve an even, clean looking line, so if your objective is to create an even clear line, then make sure your incisions have some good depth.
Laser Temperature Gauge (Available On Amazon)
Wood Carving Metal V-Shaped Incising Tool (SM)
Dual Head Metal Incising Tool HD
2 commenti
Thank you so much Sara. I am more than happy to share my experiences and work. I hope that you are inspired to keep creating, exploring and experimenting, with this wonderful medium, encaustic. Thanks again for the kind comment.
Your work is amazing! I love the painting in the background. I bought your DvD and love the textures and the organic circles/bubbles. Thank you for sharing your beauty with us.