Upcoming Encaustic Demo Next Month

Post Road Art Center will be having an encaustic demonstration on Feb 17th from 6-7:30pm.  South borough painter, Catherine Weber will be discussing materials and demonstrating techniques. Learn how to embed objects, create textures, and use transfers in encaustic.  The Post Road Art Center is located at 1 Boston Post Rd, East Marlborough, MA 01752.  Call (508) 485-2580 to register. $8 fee to attend.

You may have found yourself wondering which surfaces are best for encaustic.  We typically recommend you use substrates that are absorbent and rigid such as wood panels and masonite (fiber board). However, many of today's artists are experimenting with museum board, 300lb watercolor papers, printmaking papers, strong Japanese rice papers, and even unglazed ceramic.    Although the key seems to be that the surface is absorbent, the best way to determine whether a substrate will really work for encaustic is by doing The Freezer Test. It's a nice test to do when you are considering using a new and unfamiliar type of surface.

To do the Freezer Test, simply apply a layer or  two of Wax Medium and then fuse it.  After you allow it to cool for a couple of hours, place the substrate in your freezer for a day or two.  Then, take it out and toss it on the floor - yes the floor.  In fact, toss it not just once but several times!  Ignoring the dents from the fall (most likely your corners will be a little dented from the impact of the floor), inspect the substrate to see if the paint layer is intact.  If you find the paint chipping off cleanly (like seen in the image to the right) that substrate is not suitable for encaustic painting.  If the paint layer is still intact, you can consider it for encaustic.

Why go to all this trouble testing surfaces?  Well, let's face it, your artwork must be transportable from your studio to your gallery and from the gallery to the art buyer.  This means your artwork may be shipped by UPS or Fed Ex across the country or even across the border.  Therefore, your artwork must not only survive rough handling by the truck drivers but also survive the constantly changing temperature shifts.  Your artwork could possibly sit in the back of a delivery truck where it can reach 110 degrees if shipped from the South and then, a day later be exposed to sub zero temperatures if shipped to a NYC gallery in January or February.  By doing the Freezer Test you  can feel more confident that your painting will last through these different situations.  On our website we have an example of a substrate that failed the freezer test - Wallis Pastel Paper and we also looked into how Claybord faired in encaustic (Here's a hint: it's a great example of what can happen if you pick the wrong substrate).  Be sure to view both scenarios and understand what to look for when your testing your substrates.  You spend so much time creating your beautiful and intricate encaustic pieces that you want them to last.  This extra testing step is worth it when it comes to trying new surfaces.
 

Did You Know?  Encaustic Paints Have A Tie With The Auto Industry

The artist paint manufacturing industry actually has a unique connection with the Auto Industry of Detroit.  Sounds strange but it's true!  As the auto industry introduces new paint color coatings for their cars, the artist paint industry also gets access to the pigments used to make those colors.  Each time the auto developers look into creating a new car color, they  have to do extensive research to find the best pigment to achieve the look they are going for.  This means, they are often looking for pigments which yield high color strengths, have outstanding light fastness, and heat stability among many other factors.  Fortunately, this research has brought many new pigments to the paint industry for both auto makers and paint makers.  As encaustic paint manufacturers, we are grateful for the auto industry's constant innovation because with their color developments, we have been given such high performing pigments like Indanthrone Blue and Bismuth Vanadate to work with. 
 

We've used the Indanthrone Blue pigment in our  Anthraquinone Blue Hot Cake.  It creates a very dark, transparent blue with moderate tinting strength.  Even though it has a slightly reddish cast, it is equally suited to mixing deep purples as well as deep greens.  It has completely different properties than the Phthalo Blues, Ultramarine or Prussian Blue so it is a great addition to our paint line.  The Bismuth Vanadate pigment is in our Bismuth Yellow Hot Cake.  The pigment creates a very clean yellow with a high tinting strength.  It is semi-transparent, great for mixing, and makes a wonderful alternative to the Cadmium Yellow Light.  We are thrilled that because of the auto industry we have been able to include these amazing pigments in our color line.  We will definitely continue to experiment with different pigments to find even more must-have encaustic colors for our line.