Encaustic supplies

(updated March 7, 2024)

Encaustic painting is all the rage right now, but the cost of supplies can be daunting for beginners. I added encaustic paint to my mixed media inventory five years ago and saved on essential encaustic supplies by getting creative with my choices. Now that I’m completely addicted to the medium, I feel comfortable investing in supplies.

Here’s the “insider” take on how you can get started in encaustics without breaking the bank.

ENCAUSTIC ESSENTIALS

You will need a few items that are essential for starting encaustic painting.

HOT PALETTE  A professional encaustic heated palette can cost over $300, but electric pancake griddles are easily affordable and work well. Look for one with an adjustable thermostat. Thrift shops and yard sales are good places to look for a griddle or even a small crockpot to melt encaustic medium. Amazon has one for $34 (with Prime membership). 

GRILL THEMOMETER  Encaustic wax must be kept below 200 degrees when melted to prevent harmful fumes from being released.  I use this grill themometer I found on Amazon to do the trick – $10.

WAX MEDIUM You can buy medium by the bag on Amazon  for $23 already mixed, but I save big $$ making it myself by mixing beeswax with Damar resin in an electric frying pan.  It’s time consuming, but you can make a big batch and pour it into muffin tins to last much longer. Here is my video on how to create your own medium. 

PIGMENT POWDER If you choose to make your own paint, you’ll need pigment powder or oil paint to make your favorite colors. I use about a teaspoon for 1/4 cup medium, but it’s up to you to determine how much to use depending on the opacity you are looking for.

HEAT GUN OR HANDHELD TORCH You can use either. I prefer the torch to fuse large areas and the hot gun for moving medium over the surface. I bought both from Home Depot for around $20 each. Consider using a hose and nozzle attachment on a small propane tank. I was developing shoulder pain from lifting the tank over and over to fuse each encaustic layer. Once I switched to the lightweight nozzle, my shoulder pain disappeared!

NATURAL HAIR BRUSHES Hog bristle brushes work best and are found at a good price on Amazon. Buy a 3-5″ brush for clear medium and a few for other colors. Buying a set can help cut down the cost. $23

SUBSTRATE/ PAINTING BASE If you are a beginner, go cheap.  You need to find a ridge surface that is absorbent. Matte board works well especially if you are using inks as your base painting. I chose encausticbord as my first substrate. Most of the time, I use cradled wood panel . I advise the thicker the panel (1 1/2″ or higher) gives a more professional appearance. An 8″ x 10″ x 1.5″ panel goes for around $7.

VENTILATION is essential!! I have a two-way window fan right next to the griddle to pull out any harmful fumes. I also have another fan blowing air towards the window for extra safety. This may be your greatest expense, but well worth being extra cautious. You can read up on encaustic safety precautions on RF Paints website.

DON’T FORGET 

PAPER TOWELS for clean up.

MINI LOAF TINS to hold the wax

SOY WAX to clean brushes and the griddle. Encaustikos makes a brush cleaner, but inexpensive soy wax works well. If you have a brush for every color, you won’t need to clean brushes for reuse. Just let the wax harden on the brush and reheat the next time you want to use that color.

Well, there you go. A complete encaustic set up for less than $300.

Favorite Mixed Media

I use a variety of mixed media that can be applied to the wood panel BEFORE I start painting with wax as well as over encaustic paint. This technique gives a richness to my paintings, and help achieve detail that is difficult with traditional encaustic paint.

PAN PASTELS –  These pastels in cake-form are loaded with vibrant pigment for the most concentrated colors possible and made with minimal binder and fillers for rich super-blendable color.

CERACOLORS  – Ceracolors is a water-soluble encaustic paint in a tube you can purchase through Natural Pigments. These opaque wax paints can be thinned with water much like gouache, and can be used under and on top of traditional encaustic paint.

STABILO WAX PENCILS – These coloured pencils are a watercolour and wax crayon all in one. These can be used directly on a wood panel or over encaustic.

If you have a bigger budget

ENCAUSTIC HOT PLATE – The professional heated encaustic hot palette is a nice upgrade. Made from a sheet of anodized aluminum alloy, this palette surface allows you to see colors more accurately, and the rimless design allows for easy monotype production. 

ENCAUSTIC COMPLETE STUDIO SET UP  – If you’re looking for an encaustic studio in a box to get started right away, the R&F Handmade Paints Premium Artist Encaustic Paint Studio Essentials Set is a great choice.

ENCAUSTIC EXTRAS

ENCAUSTIC PAINTS.  You would think that buying pigmented encaustic medium would be under the essential list, but no. There are so many wonderful techniques to color this versatile medium that you can hold off on this expense until you’re more familiar with the medium. Or, mix your own paint! I add 1 teaspoon of pigment powder to 1/4 cup of medium to create a mid-tone saturation of color. Add more pigment for greater opacity or less for more transparency. You can also use oil paint as a way to pigment encaustic medium. Make sure to let the oil paint sit on an absorbent surface first to draw out some of the oil.

Search Pinterest and YouTube for tutorials using oil paint, pan pastels, ink, and watercolor for adding color to your painting. If you do want to experiment with pigmented encaustic paints, buy a beginner’s set online or make your own with powdered pigment.

A variety of sculptors’ tools, such as scrapers, pottery loops, or picks, are also nice to have on hand if you would like to try scraping or incising effects. These tools are easy to find at your local art supply store, or you may even have them in your studio already.

This article contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase an item, I receive a small commission without increasing the price of the item. 

Please comment if you know of any other encaustic supply hacks to add to the list.

Go to https://www.annestine.com to view my current encaustic painting collection.

A few weeks ago I traveled through the beautiful hillside of Hillsboro, Virginia, on my way to meet with a local winery about an art exhibit. This scene came into view and I was immediately drawn to the geometric design of the haybales against the solid gold and blue background. Yeah! I found inspiration for my next painting in my winter landscape series.

I started with a 10″x10″ cradled wood panel unprimed. There really isn’t a need to prime the board unless you are using transparent pigmented paint. If you do prime, use encaustic primer for the best results.

Using painter’s tape, I chose the horizon placement and filled in the sky with several layers of light blue encaustic. (So I don’t have to keep repeating myself — after EVERY layer I fuse with a blow torch or hot gun.)

first layer of encaustic paint

For the sky, I paint on a layer of white encaustic which I will scrape back to achieve great visual texture in the following step. The treeline goes in with two different browns using a soft brushing technique to blend up into the sky.

Here’s the scraping I referred to earlier. Very gently, I scrape off the white where I don’t want clouds to be. Be sure the wax isn’t too hot or you’ll scrape down to the board. No worries if this happens. Just fill in with the paint you scraped off and fuse. After I’m happy with the placement of the clouds, I fuse to get a wispy look in the clouds.

I then scrape the treeline into a more realistic representation.

Time to pull off the tape and work on the bottom half of the painting. Just like the sky, I apply a several layers of yellow ochre encaustic, then brown, then scrape back the brown. Highlights of the grass is rendered using dry brush technique over scraped in crop lines.

Yeah, my favorite part is next — adding the cool geometric haybales! A stencil is definitely the way to go here. Dark brown paint is applied using the stencil and I hand paint the highlights taking a good amount of time to get the color just right.

You’ll see in my paintings that I’m big on texture. My favorite tool is a sculpting knife used to scrape away the tinyest bits of wax and create fun etchings of grass.

More time is spent on refining color, adding the snow in the field and more texture to the haybales. I went back and forth on whether to add the large trees behind the bales. Finally, I decided to concentrate on the geometric design of the bales and let the trees go. Do you think that was the right choice?

Final painting, “Winter Haybales”. Not a very creative name, but good for the SEO’s!

If you liked this tutorial, subscribe to my YouTube channel for video tutorials as well. I also offer encaustic and mixed media workshops in Purcellville, VA.

Learning about Love in the Studio

This summer, I completed a bible study of 1 Corinthians 13 titled, “Bible Study for Busy Mamas, Thirty Days in 1 Corinthians 13,” by Pam Foster, that centered around defining demonstrating love in life. Most of us are familiar with this well-known scriptural passage popular in wedding ceremonies. You know the one that begins “Love is patient. Love is kind.” My NKJV Bible translation has a slightly different version of verse 4, “Love is long-suffering. Love is kind.”

Long-suffering? I wondered . . . What does that mean? What does it look like to DO long-suffering?

In the Blue Letter Bible app, long-suffering is defined as being of a long spirit, not to lose heart. To persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles. Slow to anger. Slow to punish.

Okay, I’ll go for it. So, I meditated on the question: Where do I need to not lose heart, to persevere patiently and bravely endure troubles? I was expecting the usual thought of practicing patience and kindness with my kids, my husband, my friends, etc. However, a surprising thought came to mind instead —  I needed to show patience and kindness to myself . . . in the studio.

Ain’t got that lovin’ feeling

I don’t know about you, but I wrestle with bad days in the studio frequently. They hit usually after coming off of a big production time like before a show. As the dust settles, I start having troubles. Just such a time hit me hard after a big art tour in June where I produced 25 paintings in three months! Work was not going well.  A week filled with scraped paintings culminated in a fierce attack of my inner bully. (I elaborate more on how to fight back the bully in the article, “How to kill the mental bully and start creating”.)

The unkind self-talk started with small accusations like, “you’ve lost your touch,” and “it’s because you took a vacation that your rhythm is off.” I ignored the insipid thoughts, like we all do, and continued to work, but to no avail. I was stuck in the pit of self-loathing, self-pity and ugly paintings.

After the work I had done in this bible study on love, I knew it was time for me to take a deep breath and change these thoughts around. I needed to purge the lies and remember the truth that each failure is one step closer to the art I’m meant to create. My unique style and perspective is mine and mine alone, and every failure reveals what doesn’t fit in my style. How will I discover what is truly my voice if I don’t take risks and fail? This weeding-out process of techniques that don’t fit and the cleansing of poisonous self-critical thoughts is so essential to the creative process and maintaining peace.

Stop the Madness

Of course, this isn’t easy. The first step is realizing it’s happening.  I used to keep pushing harder when frustration hit. Now, I stop and meditate on all of the good around me.  I put down the brush and take up pen and paper and begin jotting down everything good that has happened recently in my personal and professional life. I know it sounds cliche, but the act of counting my blessings changes my thought patterns and gives me the boost I need to be patient and kind to myself in the studio. This process of weeding out the lies and affirming the truth can take some time, but it’s worth every minute. Just this simple change in my thought pattern increases my joy and I can start fresh again at the easel.

So, if you find yourself in that maddening creative pit, STOP! Make a list at what you’ve accomplished and hang it up where you can see it every day. Presently, I don’t have a large inventory and it worries me. But, when I read my list of what DID go well these past few months like creating a new website, opening a studio and starting to teach; I can give myself a break and say, “Good job!” instead of “You’re behind!”

Remembering the Mission

Finally, I remember my art career is not about the shows, the profits, or the ego boost from recognition. My passion for my work is about bringing joy to others. That’s my mission. I believe art is the tool I was given by God to complete this assignment. The work is hindered when I focus too much on self, promoting self, and caring what others think. The creative process just seems to flow when I make time to show up in the studio with a patient heart and see what was given to me to do during that special time. Slowly, a rhythm will appear. Good work will come. Then, one day I sit back and see there is a collection before me. A collection created by the collaboration between the creative spirit and me.

What’s your mission? Jot that down and hang it up next to your blessings list as a way to remember why you’re toiling away at the work you love.

Love is patient and kind. Demonstrate this to yourself in the home and in the studio. Take life slower. Be patient with yourself, your art, your progress and other human beings. Just make art, the progress will naturally come. There is no one to catch-up with or out-do. It’s your story, your life, your precious time. Just your art that comes from a special place, unrushed, sacred.

Please leave a comment on the ways you show love for your creative self to help get through the tough times.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjJ3aWR0aCUzQTEyMHB4JTNCaGVpZ2h0JTNBMjQwcHglM0IlMjIlMjBtYXJnaW53aWR0aCUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBtYXJnaW5oZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwc2Nyb2xsaW5nJTNEJTIybm8lMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjIlMkYlMkZ3cy1uYS5hbWF6b24tYWRzeXN0ZW0uY29tJTJGd2lkZ2V0cyUyRnElM0ZTZXJ2aWNlVmVyc2lvbiUzRDIwMDcwODIyJTI2T25lSlMlM0QxJTI2T3BlcmF0aW9uJTNER2V0QWRIdG1sJTI2TWFya2V0UGxhY2UlM0RVUyUyNnNvdXJjZSUzRGFjJTI2cmVmJTNEcWZfc3BfYXNpbl90aWwlMjZhZF90eXBlJTNEcHJvZHVjdF9saW5rJTI2dHJhY2tpbmdfaWQlM0Rhbm5lc3RpbmVwYWluLTIwJTI2bWFya2V0cGxhY2UlM0RhbWF6b24lMjZyZWdpb24lM0RVUyUyNnBsYWNlbWVudCUzRDE4OTEyMDY1NzUlMjZhc2lucyUzRDE4OTEyMDY1NzUlMjZsaW5rSWQlM0RhNTI5YmQ1ZTI0YTk1ZjAyMWZhYzlhMTlkODg5ZGVkMCUyNnNob3dfYm9yZGVyJTNEZmFsc2UlMjZsaW5rX29wZW5zX2luX25ld193aW5kb3clM0RmYWxzZSUyNnByaWNlX2NvbG9yJTNEMzMzMzMzJTI2dGl0bGVfY29sb3IlM0QwMDY2YzAlMjZiZ19jb2xvciUzRGZmZmZmZiUyMiUzRSUwQSUyMCUyMCUyMCUyMCUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]