Demo Video: Encaustic Inlay
In our continuing video demo series, we bring you - encaustic inlay. Encaustic inlay is a way to embed a design inside a layer (or many layers) of wax. This demo was done using Cadmium Green and Malachite Green.
The steps are as follows:
Build several layers of color. You need a thick enough base to carve into.
Fuse each layer together. Allow your panel to cool slightly and then carve a design into warm wax. If your wax is too hot, you might carve more deeply than you intended.
Fill the subtracted areas with your alternate color. It’s helpful if you slightly mound your wax when doing the inlay. If your fill is shallow, you may remove more of the surface layer than intended when scraping back.
Using a pear-shaped looping tool or scraper of your choice, gently subtract the excess paint. Remember to continue removing excess wax build up on your scraping tool so it doesn’t smear on the surface of your painting.
To remove your scraping marks, fuse lightly. If you’d like, you can add a layer of medium over top, but it’s not necessary.
In case you missed it, we polled three separate instructors on encaustic inlay tips. Check out Techniques & Tools: Encaustic Inlay. Looking for inspiration? Read our interview with Richard Purdy, whose 40” x 60” painting Tulipifera is a masterful example of encaustic inlay.
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Keep painting.