Thanks for the speedy reply. I like very much what you do, and am amazed at how much facial detail is possible with this method. You must have the patience of Job to put on so many layers and then paint your picture on the top. Brilliant!!!
@ezshwan I do understand the build up of the picture Ezshwan but I was stuck on the idea that you put the faces etc. in and then almost lost them under the medium and put in the detail again. I know in my head that this gives depth to the painting but can not imagine what it looks like in reality. I have never seen any pictures of encaustic (except my own) in real life (I live in France where few people seem to know about it). Thank you for taking the time to explain.
Thank you. I am beginning a book on how I paint figuratively in encaustic. It will take a while. If you are interested, I will post on my blog and website when it is finished.
@ColourShock No, it is thin and I cover it immediately with the medium, very gently so not to move it too much. If the oil paint is thick, it would never dry completely if it were to be encompassed right away.
Encaustic is not fragile. In fact it continues to harden over the years. Encaustic is a blend of beeswax and tree resin, not just wax. There are encaustic painting over 2000 years old. Can't say that about oil painting or water color.
How can anyone know for sure what the end product will be in encaustic?, but I knew where I was headed. There was LOTS of scraping and building of layers. Although much of the preliminary colors are not obvious, they are still peaking through the finished painting.
@ColourShock This is not a speedy process. Can't make a painting a day, but it me the results are worth it. It is interesting to me that it seems to you that I painted the picture on top of the layers. I feel it was a building process and all the under painting created the final image.
This is a really late answer, but I just saw your question. R & F paints products the best, in my opinion) oil paint sticks. they are as soft as lipstick, beautiful colors and have some wax in them. They are perfect to use with encaustic. by the way, R & F is noted for all their encaustic paints.
