Encaustics are HOT! Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch Encaustic Demo at the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store

Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch Encaustic Demo at the DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store

We had a BIG crowd Labor Day Weekend for the FREE demo at the DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store to watch and learn from Encaustic Artist Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch.   The two Sunday demos were also a book signing for Patricia Baldwin Seggebruchs’ book “Encaustic Workshop: Artistic Techniques for Working with Wax” which was a verrrrry popular purchase that day!

1. Encaustic paints (waxes) – R&F Encaustics.
2. Encaustic medium.
3. Beeswax: Pastilles & Block
4. Damar crystals
5. Pancake Griddle with temperature gauge – as a hot palette for tins of colored waxes.
6. Printmaking ink tins (use 1lb size or your brushes may cause the tins to tip over – comes as a dozen too – tip use lids for mixing colors).
7. Electric skillet – for melting encaustic medium.
8. Heat Gun – (hardware store – used for stripping paint)
9. Natural Bristle brushes: 2.5 ” Hake brush, bamboo Hake brushes, soft, fine hair brushes for wax to go on smoothly and Hog Bristle brushes for more control.
10. Oil Paints: such as DANIEL SMITH Original Oil Paint – you want highly pigmented oil paints. 
11. Oil Bars: such as Sennelier Oil Bars - you want highly pigmented oil bars.
12. Ampersand 2in Deep Cradled Claybord - need a ridge surface so encaustic won’t flex off and Ampersand is ready to use and the Claybord readily takes the wax.
13. Metal tools for incising into the wax: pottery tools, bookbinding tools, wire bristle brushes, cookie cutters, razor blades, sequin punch ribbon (find at craft specialty shops) and whatever else you find that can be heated (to clean) and make marks into the wax.

Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch encaustic paints & palette (electric skillet)

Major Tip: One of Patricia’s favorite asspects of working with encaustics is that it is the easiest, fastest medium to clean up with…you just unplug your Griddle & Skillet leaving the brushes in the melted wax to harden and ready to be melted when the Griddle & Skillet are plugged in for your next painting session!

1. Encaustic medium is a mix of beeswax and damar resin, is used as an extender for the highly pigmented R&F Encaustic Paints, and can be used as a layer between colors to increase a sense of depth in the colors.  The damar also makes the wax more durable, increases the melting point and allows the wax to be buffed to a shine when finished.
2. While you can make your own encaustic paints, Patricia perfers to not work with powdered pigments and likes  R&F’s ready-to-work-with encaustic paints.
3. Patricia does not like working with paraffin (petroleum products) only beeswax.
4. Patricia prefers to work on Ampersand Claybord because it is ridged, takes the encaustic waxes well, and is Gallery ready.
5. Don’t use plywood or other types of glued or laminated wood since you are heating them, you don’t know what chemicals are present.
6. Birch wood is also great to work on.
7. The R&F website has a lot of helpful information, and is a great resource for learning more.
8. Patricia likes to work in front of an open window with a box fan turned around and blowing the fumes outdoors, keeps her cooler too, since she is working with a hot griddle, skillet and encaustic waxes.
9. If you like working standing up, be sure to raise the table up so that you are working at an optimal height. 

1. Prime your painting surface with plain melted beeswax by heating the surface with the heat gun (warm wood for warm wax)
2. Apply a layer of wax with a soft Hake brush.
3. Then heats it again to make sure it is fused to the board. 
4. Paints a layer of red encaustic, then fuses with heat gun.
5. Incises into the warm wax with metal tools to make marks and designs.
6. You can rub oil paint or oil bar into the incised patterns (be sure an use gloves!).
7. Then paint over with a soft brush, a layer of wax.
8. Keep working over the surface until you finish your piece! 

1. Blow off the wax with the heat gun.
2. Heat the board and wipe off the board. 

1.  Patricia likes to buff out her finished pieces with a piece of women’s nylons.  The paintings can also be cleaned this way as well.

1. Place metal leaf face down onto warm (not hot) wax.
2. Burnish the back to transfer on to the wax (you do not need adhesive – the metal leaf with stick to the warm wax).
3. You can apply wax over the metal leaf, but you will lose some of the metal gleam.
4. Metal leafing and encaustics are very traditional since gold leaf would be used in ancient paintings. 

1. Heat up the wax surface.
2. Lay your copier image facedown.
3. Burnish it with the back of a spoon
4. Drizzle some water onto the paper (this helps to dissolve the paper fibers).
5. Burnish it again.
6. Peel and rub off the paper.
7. Then fuse the image with your heat gun. 

• Keep a fire extinguisher on hand because hot wax is flamable and can catch fire.