Techniques & Tools: Encaustic Inlay

Lorraine Glessner, Swish, 10” x 10”, encaustic and mixed media on panel.

How are artists using encaustic inlay? We chatted with a few of our instructors to see just how they are making use of inlaid design, pattern, and material in their encaustic works and through their teaching practices. Below you will find responses from Dietlind Vander Schaaf, Kelly McGrath, and Lorraine Glessner. One thing is certain, there are many ways to take advantage and even reinvent this age-old technique. 

Dietlind, we've noticed your paintings bring an overall calming presence and subtlety, but upon a closer look, there are heavily contrasting inlaid lines. Can you tell us about this?

I make marks on the surface of my paintings using different tools such as paint scrapers, razor blades, and pottery needles, then I fill those in with R&F Pigment Stick. I literally use Pigment Stick on all of my paintings. I don't think I've ever done a painting that didn't have Pigment Stick as a final layer.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf, The Summoning World, 40” x 40”, encaustic, oil, and 23 karat gold leaf on panel.

A couple of tips I would offer include letting your painting cool and harden overnight if possible. If you try to work Pigment Stick into the crevices and surface texture of an encaustic painting while it is still warm, you are likely to damage those finer details. Better to let them set overnight.

Another helpful thing is to use a light glaze of R&F Blending Medium over the surface of your painting before you apply the Pigment Stick. This helps you to wipe away excess Pigment Stick rather than rubbing it into the encaustic and possibly staining the encaustic a bit - particularly if you are using a darker or more powerful Pigment Stick color over a lighter colored encaustic paint.

Are there any tools or tricks you use when teaching encaustic inlay?

I teach encaustic inlay to all of my introductory students even though it is not a technique I use in my own work. I recommend building up the inlay color so that it slightly mounds over the surface of your painting. I also find it helpful to use a smaller brush for this so you can be sure you are getting the paint into the carved area. Before scrapping back, allow the temperature of the painting to come down slightly. If it's too warm, you are likely to subtract more paint than intended.

When scrapping back, take care to continually clean your scraping tool of choice. In my classes that's a pear-shaped pottery looping tool. If you heat and wipe your tool and then let it cool a bit before subtracting more paint, you won't leave waxy residue on the surface of your painting. Sometimes I suggest having two looping tools so you can clean one and then let it cool while you use the other one. The thing about inlay is it takes practice and patience, but it can yield incredible results.

Kelly McGrath, Self-Analytic Ecosystem, 24” x 18”, encaustic on panel, 2019

Kelly, what tools do you use to achieve inlaid lines in your work?

I use a variety of wood and metal tools for linear marks. Another approach I use in some paintings is to begin with a stencil, commercial or custom made. First, lay down the stencil.  Then, additional paint is layered over it to encapsulate the marks. Follow that with a lot of scraping and it creates a very flat even surface. I've worked with stencils made of all kinds of materials, but my favorite is metal because you can scrape against them without ruining them. 
 
Can a layer of encaustic be added over inlaid Pigment Stick? 

Encaustic can be layered over line inlays with a moderate amount of Pigment Stick. There is the possibility streaking will occur, but that could be used as a design element. When I work with the two materials together I prefer to leave pigment stick as my final layer.

We notice a lot of your work has a beautiful glazed quality. Is it important for you to keep the linework crisp? Is this difficult when using oil to fill the linework?  

The clarity of the line is important to me, however, I usually try to incorporate a range of colors that transition from glazed to concentrated. As an inlay material, translucent Pigment Stick colors like Alizarin Orange can work really well over neutral transitional colors like Neutral White or Brilliant Yellow Extra Pale. The combination really highlights the range that a color like Alizarin Orange can achieve from a brilliant luminescent glaze to a deep richly concentrated slightly burnt orange. 

I find that Pigment Sticks lay into lines faster than encaustic and give the ability to play around with a glaze layer. Controlling the clarity for me is a matter of having a good rag to wipe the surface, a silicone scraping tool is handy as well. Inlaid linework always reminds me of drypoint which is a printmaking technique. I think of filling and wiping the wax surface the same way I would approach a drypoint plate. 

Lorraine, we know layering is a large part of your process, and that you often inlay materials such as horsehair into these layers. Can you tell us a little about how you use inlay, and some of the materials you use?

While working, I’m constantly thinking about how and why I make certain decisions, why I have chosen a certain material, and what does it mean both visually and intellectually. The materials and processes I use in my work; hair, paper, beeswax, silk, and cotton fabric, stained with rust and composted plants and pyrography, all contain some ingredients from the earth as well as the element of chance. I love that I have only partial control over the processes I use, that the process itself creates the mark, and that I am simply a facilitator.

Lorraine Glessner, Sweet, Sweet, Sweet, 20” x 16”, encaustic and mixed media on panel.

My work contains many layers of information collaged within the medium and because of the inherent transparency of wax, many levels of meaning merge and coexist within the painting. When I'm using collaged imagery, I think of the image as another form of paint rather than what the image depicts. As the layering process continues, the work becomes a manifestation of the compiling and arranging of fragments in repetitious sequences, creating a visual rhythm in the work. I associate all of the layers of materials to layers of skin, cells, layers that make up the earth and its atmosphere as well as how layering itself relates to memory, perception, and time.  

Do you carve or separate off areas of your paintings to inlay new colors? Are there any tricks or tools you'd like to share?  
 
I don't carve before painting, rather, the carving and scraping come after I loosely (but with purpose) lay down layers of color. If you're working in layers of encaustic paint and not utilizing scraping as part of the painting, you are missing a tremendous amount of creative opportunities. Encaustic is unmatched by any other medium for many reasons; luminosity, depth, translucency, tactile qualities, just to name a few. Certainly, other mediums offer these qualities, but to my knowledge, encaustic is the ONLY medium that offers painters the ability to work in layers with the option of scraping them back to reveal hidden treasures. Once you begin doing this, you won't want to stop, it's absolutely addicting!

Depending on how you have applied the paint, the amount of texture, and the colors used, you will reveal layers resembling geologic forms, water bodies, aerial, and satellite views of the earth. Or moving toward the smaller end of things, you will find forms resembling layers of skin cells, bodily forms, rocks, and minerals, etc. 

My favorite tools include the following:
Razor Blade With Holder When you are using a razor blade, you definitely need a razor blade holder. Make sure the holder is not bulky. A smaller one does the job to keep your hand from cramping as well as keeps your hand close enough to the surface to 'feel' it. Also, if you've been avoiding razor blades because of those unwanted marks the corners cause, invest in a metal file, and take a few seconds to round out those edges. Razor blades definitely serve a purpose and shouldn't be left at the bottom of the toolbox because of those marks.

Clay Scraper My favorite is the Loop Tool and/or a Scraper. We all have our favorites, but I would advise avoiding the triangular-shaped scrapers with very angular corners because like the razor blade, they tend to leave undesirable marks but are difficult to file down. Another favorite is the Loop Tool (#510). It's compatible with the Sculpture House Scraper in quality, but it's easier to find and is slightly less expensive.

Double-Sided Scraper Tool A must have...there is no limit to the fun you can have with this tool, making lines, marks and carving shapes.