Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Technical Tuesday

Numbers in Color, 1958-59
Encaustic and newspaper on canvas, 66.5 x 49.5 in.

Encaustic is a painting technique that uses hot wax and color pigments to create a liquid paste that is applied to a painting surface. The easiest way to try one yourself is to melt down crayons...take a muffin pan and line it with aluminum foil or aluminum cupcake cups - this will contain the color of the crayon in each individual cup. Break each crayon down into small pieces and place them in the cups. Heat the oven to 200 degrees and "bake" the crayons for about 12 minutes. You can use a plastic spoon, knife, palette knife, or old paintbrush (the wax will destroy it so be mindful) to apply your wax to paper, allowing you to create a work of art that has impasto - a thick, textural application of paint.  You could also drip the wax from the cups, just be mindful of the heat. 

So try it out and see what you think - it may open up some doorways for future works!

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