I get this question a lot. 

The other question I get is, did I invent it. These are not silly questions. Encaustic is not a well-known medium.

Why is that? That is another good question. 

Below is what I tell people when they ask because it is what is true for me. I certainly don’t speak for all encaustic artists on this topic. We don’t see the encaustic medium a lot because it’s expensive AND you need a permanent space. Not many artists have access to these things when starting. Hell, not many artists have access to these things later in life. 

I started in watercolor when I decided I wanted to paint again because it was so accessible financially. Twenty sheets of high-quality watercolor paper, five paint tubes, and two brushes are less than $100, and you may have 20 paintings to show for the expense. With encaustic $100 has gotten you five colors, a surface, and a few $2 brushes. It looks like the same amount, but you haven’t even gotten started.

Not to mention the mess. Encaustic wax is sticky, and it gets everywhere. Once it’s on your clothes, it’s never washing out. You can scrape up the wax on the floor, but a residue will remain unless you can add heat to your clean-up process. Then there is the issue of ventilation. You need moving air. The setup is particular. There is a reason I wanted to paint with encaustic for more than twenty years but had to wait until we moved to a house with the space for it.

We can then talk about how annoying encaustic is when you first start, but I covered that in my last blog post(link it here), so I won’t belabor the point. 

So what is encaustic? It’s 90% beeswax, 10% demar tree resin, and pigment. That’s all. Most paints are just these essential components: a base, a binder, and color pigment. 

It is all melted together and you paint with it!

I will say the best part of encaustic that no other medium has going for it, is that if you don’t like a painting, you can scrape it, re-melt the paint and paint the surface again and again 100 times or more. 

Did I invent it?

No, encaustic is one of the oldest mediums known to man, which in itself is kind of exciting and cool.

“Encaustic painting was created by the ancient Greeks in the 4th century BCE.” read a bit more here https://www.britannica.com/art/encaustic-painting

Do you have other questions about encaustic? By all means let me know and pop them in the comments below, I’d love to talk more about it!