Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Finished Embracing Encaustic

Well, it's official, I am addicted to art books and magazines! I began reading 'Embracing Encaustic' by Linda and William Womack on the plane returning from NY on Sunday and finished it this morning.

I like the fact that this is a small sized how-to book. It has a huge assortment of pictures from the artist as well as many many other artists, which I found helpful in order to show different ways that each of the demonstrated techniques for working with encaustic wax can play out.

The authors gave an excellent explanation of how to build texture on the surface of the encaustic painting. I didn't know that you could use joint compound as a way to build up reliefs and cover with encaustic?! Two other techniques I picked up on were to use wax over cheescloth and then remove the cheesecloth to get an interesting pattern left behind and to use acetone to rub on the back of a xerox copy to make a good image transfer (just like I do with polymer clay). The gallery section in the back of the book has a lot of unique work to show the range of use and fuel the imagination for using encaustic; I really appreciated that each contributing artist had an explanation below their artwork explaining what size it is and a general idea of how it was created (i.e. what techniques the artist used to create the finished good).

I highly recommend 'Embracing Encaustic ' to anyone interested in learning the basics of painting with wax and beyond...

Tristina :)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Tristina, I just came across your review of my book so I thought I'd say hello and thanks! I'm so glad it was helpful to you. I posted a link to your blog on my FaceBook page and will "friend" you as well. I also wanted to mention that I'm too am a big fan of "Taking the Leap" and I feel like it helped me get where I am today. I haven't read the "Lives of Artists" but I'll give it a try on your recommendation. Take care, Linda Womack

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