Encaustic Painting Tips: how to get smooth brush strokes with wax and a smooth encaustic painting 

Are you asking for the griddle temperatures? If so I heat my pancake griddle (the one with the tin of white paint on it to 150. I have a surface thermometer on it too make sure it does not go above 175. The griddle with the encaustic medium is turned between 150 and 200 depending on how hot it is in the studio. I have a candy thermometer in it to again just keep an eye on the temperature of the encaustic wax. As a good rule of thumb you want the wax between 150 and 175. I have found electric griddles to not be accurate/exact so that is why I use thermometers. Hope this helps.

I'm so glad it was helpful. Please feel free to reach out anytime if you have any questions. I love talking all things encaustic. 😍

You can definitely salvage it. You could either add a bit more encaustic to the thinner areas. To do this I would work in thin layers of wax, building the area up slowly. You could also use a pottery loop tool to scrape away the too thick parts. To do this heat that part of the panel up just a bit so its slightly warm and use a pottery loop tool to carefully scrape away. Don't heat it up too much or you can easily scrape away too much. Great question. 😍

I'm so glad you found it helpful. The silicone mats came from amazon: amzn.to/4e7jaxt I must say I really like them. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. I'm always happy to talk all things encaustic.😍

I don't clean my white hake brush or my clear encaustic medium hake brushes. They just hang out on the griddle or in the medium and I'm careful to make sure that I don't use them for anything else. The hake brushes I use for encuastic paint I clean with R&F Encaustic Soy Wax: amzn.to/4cHABEr Thanks for watching. 😍 I will do a video about how I take care of my brushes but it won't be for a few weeks as I have quite a few videos to edit still.

Your very welcome. Depending on what you want to achieve you could glue your image down onto the board fist with YES paste, try not to get any of the paste on top of the image, let that dry completely, then you can apply encuastic paint over top of it. You could also apply several layers of encuastic medium first then embed that image into the encuastic. If you went this route you will want to print your image out on a thin paper. Thick paper is a lot harder to embed. Take a look at this video for a few tips on embedding images into the encuastic. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_-ErifhNj64.html Hope this all makes sense and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

You're very welcome. Let me know if you have any other questions . Thank you for watching. 😍

@@StudioStacy I have so many questions. I've taken a few classes, took the plunge and bought enough supplies to do this at home. My wax tends to be lumpy when I fuse and I do pre-heat the boards but maybe not enough. I used a heat gun right now. I also have had issues where I think I over heat and blow right through the wax and can see the board. I'm moving the heat gun and hold it about 3" above the board. I just need to learn the basics better.

@@AliDrew Yes keep practicing. Encaustic has a learning curve to it, but once you get it the skies the limit. I have personally found that I have better control with a torch. The torch allows me to turn the flame to a very low flame or a very high flame with a more concentrated tip. Hope that makes sense. I use the BernzOmatic TS3500T and there is a hose kit model number WH0159. The hose kit is great because there is no weight from the propane. Try heating the boards more. If the wax isn't gliding off your brush it might be because the board is too cool. Also try working in a very small section until you get the hang of it. I'm assuming you are using a hake brush. If you are using a different brush try switching to a hake. Feel free to reach out with any questions. I'm happy to try and help.

@@StudioStacy I have a Hake brush and while learning I'm using cheap boards sooooo they might be part of the issue too. Yesterday all my boards warped but I'll just keep working with them as I learn.

@@AliDrew I have used thick cardboard as well or mat board. If you have any R&F encaustic gesso try adding a layer of it before you put the encaustic medium/paint down. That may also help but make sure it's encaustic gesso and not acrylic.

I use a Bernzomatic TS3500 and love it.

You're very welcome. Thanks for watching. 😍

I think you are describing blooming. During the first 6-12 months, as the wax cures, an encaustic painting may develop bloom. Bloom is a naturally occurring hazy white residue. It may also occur if a painting is exposed to cold. Bloom can easily be removed by buffing the surface of the painting. You might also be fusing too much or re-melting the wax too much when fusing. If your paint is too hot it can bloom more or produce that cloudy effect. You should be able to bluff it with a soft cloth. Let me know if this doesn't work or if you are describing something else.

You're very welcome. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. 😍 If you ever have any questions please feel free to reach out. I'm no expert, but I love to share what works for me.

I have 2 windows that I open and I have a window fan that sucks the air out. I don't filter the air with a filter system. I also make sure the that the encaustic paint is not too hot.

YAY!! Glad you're getting back into creating! And also happy to hear from you. Matt just asked about you the other day and said he noticed you've been absent from the comments. 😍Happy making 🖌🔥

@@StudioStacy Yes, it's been a very busy first half of the year. Helping parents prepare to sell their home in North Carolina (😒), giving my niece a baby shower...hoping I can get back in the studio more often. I have sooo missed watching your videos!

@@ginnyclark904 That sounds like a bit stressful too. I'm crossing my paint brushes for you to get back into the studio😄