This week is full of dark and moody layers. I was having fun with my favorite landscape set in the PanPastels with the addition of the Extra Dark Cool set . This set had me at " Phthalo Extra dark" .  ​You can get this set separately in the set of 10 "cool" extra dark colors , or in the full set of 20 extra darks which includes the warm extra dark colors. The great thing about getting the sets of PanPastels is that they come with the applicator tools :) 

Panpastel cool extra pictured darks above 

Watch to the end of this week's video for a fun quick tip for color mixing ! 

Would you like to join me for tons of fun technique building projects and step by step video instruction ?
Encausticology Series of online workshops features Imagery, collage, encaustic and paper, and sculpture. 
Here is the breakdown of instruction for 
Encausticology 101




online course pictured above : 
​1. Week 1:
Let's Get Started ! Tools, Set up,
Layers,
Encaustic Fluid Painting ,
Line and Mark Making

2. "Let's Explore with paint

3. Let's explore Shellac Burn

4. Let's Explore Encaustic Collage

5. Let's Explore Aqua Media

6. Let's Explore Embedding and 3D Effects

​Supplies I used this week:
Each week I list the supplies I used in the video here on the blog for you so that you can see and easily find the items used for that week's  technique . 

If you purchase items from the links provided it sometimes generates a few cents in commission  which goes right back in to creating videos for you on the youtube channel. It  does not raise the cost for you in any way, and is the same link you would find on a regular amazon prime search . Thank you ahead for you support of Wax on Wednesdays in any way ! Also , although the photos here can help you easily find the product . I also recommend that you look at your local art /hobby store to make sure you are getting the lowest price. Sometimes with weekly 40% off coupons basic items can be found at a better price. 
If you are receiving this blog post via email click on the live link to the post so that you can view the supply links . ​​

These are my go to colors for landscapes. I also use the "green gold"  pigment stick which I could not locate on Amazon this week for some reason.  

This week I had big excited plans to use a new set  of soft pastelsI had ordered on an encaustic surface . I have enjoyed using  Pan Pastels on  encaustic  for many years , and although I have played around with other soft pastels for accents here and there, I hadn't attempted an entire landscape on an encaustic surface using another brand. 
I excitedly ordered a beautiful set of Sennelier soft pastels as this is the other brand of soft pastels  I had mostly played around with here and there and loved their vibrancy and softness. 
​

They are super yummy for sure!
However there is an adapting process like no other medium when working with encaustic and different pigments. Every medium has their preferred substrate. The ones they work best with , look best with ,  the substrate that allows them to show off their best attributes. Encaustic differs from a lot of mediums  because it is softer. You can scrape in to it , scratch it  . Once applied to the board it "becomes the surface" you are working on . You are not just working on Paper , canvas, board. You are working on wax . 
​

My initial desire was to work with the pastels the way they were intended. The encaustic surface is not the sandpaper like substance that works best with pastels , but a slightly warmed surface would grip a very soft pastel of that I was certain. But how much ? 
A fully cured surface would be not as easily scratched by the pastels , but after adding just one  layer of pigment  it would need to be fused and heated , 

Well, sometimes I see something in my mind so clearly but the application is missing pieces to the puzzle. Such is the case with these pastels. I am still convinced they can be used alone for an entire painting. Perhaps just not how I approached it on this one . 
As I began the painting I actually liked how these pastels scratched lightly into the wax surface adding instant texture . However I didn't see the pigment  fusing into the wax as well as the PanPastels and perhaps that was my biggest dilemma. To have the beautiful saturated pigments sink and disappear into the surface much more than PanPastels or oil pigment sticks do was a bit discouraging. . 
This was proven to me by using the PanPastels directly after a layer of the sticks. The Pan Pastels retained much more of the color that had been laid down after fusing . 

Well after a few layers of having the color sink back excessively , I switched over to the Pan Pastel , and oil pigment stick combination that I am used to using in my landscapes but I struggled with the layers. Probably because my original plan had been so far thrown from my original plan. I have found the best thing to do in these situations  is to continue to work through this struggle but also allow for a clean break from a steady gaze in favor of some rest periods for the eyes.

I will continue to try to find better ways to apply the Sennelier sticks to the encaustic surface in the future because they are  lovely high quality pigments . Perhaps working with them on their intended surface for a while and then coming back to the encaustic surface with a different approach and ideas :).
​  

​Supplies I used this week:
Each week I list the supplies I used in the video here on the blog for you so that you can see and easily find the items used for that week's  technique . 

If you purchase items from the links provided it sometimes generates a few cents in commission  which goes right back in to creating videos for you on the youtube channel. It  does not raise the cost for you in any way, and is the same link you would find on a regular amazon prime search . Thank you ahead for you support of Wax on Wednesdays in any way ! Also , although the photos here can help you easily find the product . I also recommend that you look at your local art /hobby store to make sure you are getting the lowest price. Sometimes with weekly 40% off coupons basic items can be found at a better price. 
If you are receiving this blog post via email click on the live link to the post so that you can view the supply links . ​​

These are my go to colors for landscapes. I also use the "green gold"  pigment stick which I could not locate on Amazon this week for some reason.  

Encausticology 101 Online workshop !
Jump in and join at any time . Full video tutorials on :
1. Week 1:
Let's Get Started ! Tools, Set up, 
Layers, 
Encaustic Fluid Painting , 
Line and Mark Making 

2. "Let's Explore with paint

3. Let's explore Shellac Burn

4. Let's Explore Encaustic Collage 

5. Let's Explore Aqua Media

6. Let's Explore Embedding and 3D Effects

ClickHERE for details on this workshop.


lifetime access after purchase! 

S    Wax on Wednesdays has been such an exciting journey for me to be able to constantly put myself outside my box and really research what this wonderful medium of encaustic is capable of . There are so many mediums it can be compatable with. Endless possibilities when it comes to lending itself to artistic styles of painting, collage, photography , and sculpture.  All of these endless opportunities for the medium have kept me excited about it for over 18 years now. 
     Sometimes though it feels good to come back to one's own self and just paint for the sake of painting in my own style . Furthering my own artist journey . 
     My approach to my abstract landscapes is always from a place of seeking light and a joy of color. I paint almost exclusively with my gloved fingers in order to keep my main goals intact. Put a brush in my hand and I will immediately obsess over detail and hard edges . I paint with my fingers to keep myself honest about the story I want to convey with color and light . It is a joy , a struggle, a journey . 
    I am always learning, discovering, working , hopefully evolving. I always begin on a white encaustic base of several layers on a cradle board fused flat. Sometimes I work exclusively with oil sticks, sometimes I use soft pastels , sometimes both in separate layers. If I used soft pastels I do use a makeup wedge as my main tool. 
 

​​Supplies I used this week:
Each week I list the supplies I used in the video here on the blog for you so that you can see and easily find the items used for that week's  technique . 

If you purchase items from the links provided it sometimes generates a few cents in commission  which goes right back in to creating videos for you on the youtube channel. It  does not raise the cost for you in any way, and is the same link you would find on a regular amazon prime search . Thank you ahead for you support of Wax on Wednesdays in any way ! Also , although the photos here can help you easily find the product . I also recommend that you look at your local art /hobby store to make sure you are getting the lowest price. Sometimes with weekly 40% off coupons basic items can be found at a better price. 
If you are receiving this blog post via email click on the live link to the post so that you can view the supply links . ​​

These are my go to colors for landscapes. I also use the "green gold"  pigment stick which I could not locate on Amazon this week for some reason.  

Join me for hours  of fun  encaustic techniques and full painting projects !
Encausticology 101 workshop is NOT just for beginners to encaustic, but also those wanting to further build their technique and knowledge base in the wonderful art of encaustic . This workshop goes over ALL of the basics including getting started and set up, and then features an Encaustic Technique Library Arsenal with projects that build in skill level from basic to advanced. I am super excited about the format of this workshop being an incredibly useful tool for wherever you are in your encaustic art journey and be able to build your vocabulary of encaustic techniques with comprehensive video tutorials and of course incredibly fun encaustic projects that you have forever access to. 
​ClickHERE for details 

I hope you are enjoying this encaustic and collage series as well as I am ! My usual approach to encaustic and collage in the past has been using vintage ephemera. My love for vintage papers began as a child reading old books, and I have enjoyed  collecting vintage wallpapers, children's readers , magazines, and photographs, and using many of these tid bits and snippets throughout the years in my collage works. Many of the projects in "Encausticology Collage Journey" online workshop were created using these vintage papers, fabrics and textures, and I  enjoy creating and building a story with them , much of which is left open to the viewers own interpretation of the materials to imagine. 

With this new 2020 series of encaustic collage on Wax on Wednesdays I have attempted to explore further outside my own comfort zone to bring to you  exploration of  new ways to use paper and encaustic to create collage. It has been so much fun to use different materials , mediums and styles to incorporate into the wax! Even if it is a little bit outside my comfort zone, or my style , I have learned and immense amount from each project about the materials , mediums, increased my mark making vocabulary , and expanded my visions on approaching encaustic in my own work. 

I firmly believe it is so important to explore each day , push beyond your comfort zone even if it is just a 15-20 minute exercise , and most of all commit yourself to create for a certain period of time each day that is for you :)

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
_Vincent Van Gogh

To see all of the details for "Encausticology Collage Journey " online workshop click
 HERE

​​Supplies I used this week:
Each week I list the supplies I used in the video here on the blog for you so that you can see and easily find the items used for that week's  technique . 

If you purchase items from the links provided it sometimes generates a few cents in commission  which goes right back in to creating videos for you on the youtube channel. It  does not raise the cost for you in any way, and is the same link you would find on a regular amazon prime search . Thank you ahead for you support of Wax on Wednesdays in any way ! Also , although the photos here can help you easily find the product . I also recommend that you look at your local art /hobby store to make sure you are getting the lowest price. Sometimes with weekly 40% off coupons basic items can be found at a better price. 
If you are receiving this blog post via email click on the live link to the post so that you can view the supply links . ​​

I have listed both a Winsor Newton Professional grade watercolor and also the Cotman series. I have both and use both sets. Professional watercolors as with any medium are more pigmented than the student grade pigments. With this comes cost however and it is sometimes easier to acquire the professional grade pigments one or 2 at a time and over time . Winsor Newton Cotman series is a great set if you do not have a professional grade watercolor set. 

Happy Creating !