Post on 20-Jun-2015
Encaustic ‘The Heat is On’
beginning lessons for the high school art program
Maureen CaouetteDirector of Arts, City of Fitchburg
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg High School Art 3 Students & Art Teacher - Erin Feeney
WHY WAX?
It all started…
With the Greeks over 2000 years ago (Hellenistic Period)
The Egyptians –
Painting, Mummification practices, highlighting on marble statues & Mummy portraits
In the last 100 years…Jasper Johns
SAFETY FIRST
• The skillet temperature should not exceed 200°. At 250°, encaustic fumes become toxic and will start smoking. Use a thermometer to check that the temperature gauge of the skillet is accurate. Ideally, 150 -175 degrees works well with Enkaustikos wax. This is the wax with the lowest melting temp that I have found so far.
• Good ventilation is necessary. Open a window and use a fan facing away from the work area to draw any fumes away from you.
Vocabulary
Encaustic: Medium: Gun: Palette: Transparent: Fuse: Warm:
Getting Started
6 years ago in a Provincetown Gallery on Cape Cod
Started taking workshops Fall ’08
Collage – 5 yrs
Painting -3 yrs
Attended the 2011 & 2012 International Encaustic Conference Provincetown, MA
Love nest
With bees wax only
Torn papers
Lace
Pressed flowers
Dress patterns
Three sisters
Mixed Media: photo transfer, painting, lace monoprint, paper collage
Stoneroots
Painting
Sheltered shore
Heat sources
Embossing guns
Avoid using heat guns.
Use ‘Embossing’ guns – cheaper & safer
Price: $10 each
Fusing with embossing Guns
Embossing guns are on the counters, students have assigned stations.
Cheap natural bristle brushes
Brushes
Brushes can be Hake which are wonderful but $$ for HS & once used they are only for wax from then on
Tools
Clay tools
Quilting or tacking iron
Small loaf tins
Dental tools
Repousse tools
Heat Source
Pancake Griddle
Price: $19.00
Electric pan
$2.00 from second hand store
Small tins
Griddle is the best
Aluminum palette
Expensive and not necessary for High School setup
Temperature
Keep heat between 150 to 175degrees F
Use a small surface thermometer
Substrate: birch panels or-
Culled wood is found at the back of most Home Depot stores and is $.50 a panel!
Gesso, bare, or collage
The substrate must have a porous surface for the wax to grab onto it
Leave bare
Encaustic gesso $$
paper
Collage technique with high school
classes Use decorative
napkins
Tissue paper
Permanent makers
Using decorative napkins
Adding medium on to napkin from the
center out Students peel
off all the back layers of the napkin, leaving the very thin top layer before they gently rub it on to the warm wax
Ephemera
Pressed flowers or greens or petals
Tissue paper
Letters
Sketchbook drawings
photocopiesDetail
Adding glitter(on student brought it in as her
ephemera)
Collage
Napkins
Lace
Artist papers
Dress patterns
Dried flowers
Buttons
Combining painting technique with collage
On natural board
Dress patterns
Printed shopping bag
lace
Cut two
Photo Transfer
21 in LondonHaystack
Photo transfer technique
Fun to do but it takes time and pressure.
Place a toner based photo copy onto slightly warm, smooth wax and spoon or burnish the photo into the wax for a good 15+ minutes. Wet the back of the copy and gently rub the paper off.
Transparent Photo Collageon youtube –Maureen Caouette -Alternative process photo
exhibit
Women, Waiting, Watching Detail
Photo Transfer with torn paper overlay plus wax painting
The Keeper
Getting started
Students experimented with painting with the wax, learning to fuse each layer and how much heat to use. Start small!
Adding medium over wax droplets
Working together
Students need to work collaboratively for safety reasons and as a studio habit.
Adding the base coats
Brushes stay at the wax tables in the wax on the griddles
Painting with Wax
I shared with the students the time and experiments that I went through to transfer my plein aire painting style to an encaustic painting.
Fusing each layer
Using Fabric
Photo transfer
‘just breathe’
Detail
Preplanning plays into the composition regarding the layering and positioning of materials. Students are reminded to step ‘Away from the Artwork’ to do a formative, peer to peer assessment.
Lines were made by drawingonto one ply tissue and then fusing the tissue into the wax.
So, Why Encaustic Art?
New & engaging!
Historic & Cultural
Artistic Practice
Technical
Studio Habits
Ethereal
Layers
Multi-medium
Message Maker
Response
21st Century Skills: Creativity
Critical ThinkingCommunicationCollaboration
The 4 Cs—
Essential Skills All Students Need to Succeed
Creativity
Discovering novel ways to think, learn and do
Critical Thinking
Using original ideas to solve problems
Communication
Expressing thoughts and feelings effectively
Collaboration
Working in partnership with others toward
a common goal