What is encaustic?
Heat
Encaustic medium is a combination of beeswax, damar resin, and pigment. It presents as solid at room temperature, but when heated to 250 degrees, can be used as paint. I most commonly use paints mixed by the experts at R&F Handmaid Paints. My heating device, like many great tools, is a repurposed pancake griddle. Artists have practiced encaustic painting for thousands of years with works observed in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires (although it is most certain they did not have the aid of rejected kitchen devices.)
Paint
Encaustic painters use all manner of implements to apply molten paint to natural surfaces. I most commonly use natural bristle brushes and work on wood panel. I mix colors in tins as well as directly on the griddle. Paint application is quick compared to many other mediums as the wax remains liquid for a matter of seconds.
Burn
Encaustic painters bond their wax paint with a heat source. My favorite tool is my Bernzomatic propane torch. There is a magic in the fusing process. The colors move on the panel when heated. Burning becomes another method of painting, mixing, and creating movement. The artist also feels pretty mighty wielding a blowtorch!