A Weekend for Encaustic Paintings

Early June after a busy and super hectic working fortnight, I could barely keep my eyes open. My back whined that it needed to rest, my mind threw a tantrum from being sleep deprived but here I was, trudging through my inbox to see if any email promised a better life - tomorrow.

A few seconds later, my eyes still wide open and my mind anxious - finally something promising! Encaustic Wax Painting Workshop on the weekend of June 20th - 21st. Counting on the email to hold my eyelids open little longer, I explored the idea of finding my lost passion again. I responded , registered and paid in the next 10 min and slept to a hope of a better weekend in just a week!

The day finally arrived and I reached there 10 min late. Believe me, and/or if you know me really well, that was the earliest I could get there. If its said, at the start of learning there is chaos and an open mind then I was ready! I had an open mind, that sounded very rested and preoccupied with a zillion thoughts of work.

Encaustic, I learnt is not a new word or for that matter not even a new art. It is a very ancient technique of painting using molten wax. It was commonly used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, in which coloured pigments were mixed with molten wax and painted on panels. If one is cursed with a general knowledge like mine, an immediate image of Ancient Egyptian = Mummy would flash in front of you, however enlightenment was in order. Mummies are not made or preserved using wax or any encaustic technique - duh, ofcourse I know that!

Encaustic technique is a very simple one and anyone can create a very good and mesmerising piece of art whether or not they can paint. It uses a combination of molten wax with oil colors, hot iron/skillet on a rigid and hard surface although sometimes one can use a stretched canvas as well. In wikipedia's words, The simplest encaustic mixture can be made from adding pigments to beeswax, but there are several other recipes that can be used — some containing other types of waxes, damar resin, linseeed oil or other ingredients. Pure, powdered pigments can be purchased and used, though some mixtures use oil paints or other forms of pigment. Metal tools and special brushes can be used to shape the paint before it cools, or heated metal tools can be used to manipulate the wax once it has cooled onto the surface. Today, tools such as heat lamps, heat guns, and other methods of applying heat allow artists to extend the amount of time they have to work with the material. Because wax is used as the pigment binder, encaustics can be sculpted as well as painted.

If you love collage as much as I do, you can collage memories and transform it into a abstract art, using the encaustic medium to adhere it to the surface.

It was the most productive weekend in June and I created five pieces out of my active mind - I call them my original art and one piece I practiced from a existing piece of art. Overall I created and that was all that mattered. Finally, convinced I could do something other than work, I came home with a T shirt and Jeans firmly imprinted with memories from the wonderful weekend and aww so awesome pieces of abstract art!

And when I went to bed that night, I thanked the universe first and then the Roman, Egyptians and Greek Gods for the ancient technique, the email that held my eyelids open (really difficult task), the immediate reaction to pay and register and finally for introducing me 'again' to my creative side. It seemed to give me just the amount of pleasure and joy I needed for the moment!

Painting - Finally

MyPaintingFinal, originally uploaded by Swati'sCreations.

More slashes with different colors to denote the fall colors. It looked so different on the day it was painted and then a week later when I saw it, the color seemed to sink in more, adding to its beauty. Felt content and thrilled!

The week I finished this one, it was Canada Day! So I made a greeting e-card out of this and send it to my canadian friends and project team, They simply loved it.

I am told this sceneic beauty is seen mostly in a part near Toronto where there are cottages and beautiful millionaire homes. Since this wasnt my original, I cant take credit for it but if it does remind anyone of any natural scenery, Its a good feeling!

Painting in Progress - Day 2

It was time to give more shape to the trees and clearly distinguish the path and the land. It started with a brush technique that I call as 'slashing". I had to keep slashing until I had the darkness I wished to portray.

Closer slashes to denote it to be a ton of trees clumped together and little gap to allow the sky light to fall in...

In order to show the slight slope on the land, I had to angle the strokes.

More to come in the final picture..

Painting in progress - Day1

Painting in progress - Day1, originally uploaded by Swati'sCreations.

After a long wait of 10 years, I finally found a great group and class that focusses on oil colors. Today was my first day and I was very happy with the outcome.

I have always worked with acrylic and so working with oil was a experience.

I learnt that the first layer always has to be thin layer allowing you to express the remaining layers with different colors. Turpentine is used to thin the color :) and then its just a matter of dabbing the color on canvas and softening it either with a brush or a soft colth. I also learnt that a painting in oil is a evolution, goes through iteration of colors and so its a very mind absorbing activity.

I loved the sky, it looks vibrant and blue. It also has a dash of purple !

The ghostly figures are just the first layer in place for the trees that will come in next week. :)

Cleaning up is probably the most painful aspect of oil painting or maybe because it was my first :) First clean the brush and tips with turpentine. Then wash the turpentine with soap, scrup the bush well to get the stubborn color out. I had to wash mine with atleast 4 attempts and was about to go on with another attempt before I was told some stains will remain. Acrylic is easy to clean, stains dont necessarily stay.

Other than the sky, I love Turpentine..didnt know it could make cleaning so much easier!

Overall, it was a great experience!! More to come...