We welcomed Phil Madley to the club today to demonstrate the use of Encaustic Wax in painting and a very entertaining afternoon it was too!
Phil’s background is in Graphic Design and Branding for large companies, such as Avon. Initially he was a keen photographer, mainly in black and white and, after seeing a lady at a craft fair using wax as a medium, he bought a starter kit and has since spent 22 years developing his own particular style.
He began the demo by introducing the tools he uses, mainly a special iron designed for this medium, a paint stripper to manipulate the wax, a hot air gun, a hot stylus with attachments such as squares, circles brush made of wire, etc., paper towels to polish a finished piece before sealing with wax to complete the painting.
The wax he uses are all made from beeswax and there are 48 colours.This is not a new art form as it dates back to the Ancient Egyptians when they used beeswax in art form and some examples of this are in the British Museum.
He started by testing a mid-colour wax on the iron for temperature. When it is ready it runs like oil on the plate. In order to start you must get the wax onto the card before manipulating it, using the iron flat against the card. He then demonstrated several different methods of painting; the ‘Turner’ which is where he rotated the card and used the edge of the iron to make marks creating texture and pattern.
Once a picture is finished it is polished with kitchen towel which increases the contrast between light and dark as well as making the wax ‘glow’.Phil went on the create a selection of paintings including flowers, fireworks, landscape and seascapes, including in them cliffs, hills, rocks, waves, a lake, a tree, seagulls and some sheep – he also painted a ‘nude’ by waxing the card then removing wax with the iron to create the highlights/figure very effectively.
It was a very interesting and entertaining demonstration with lots of banter and questions and answers, which kept us engrossed from start to finish.Should anyone like to have a ‘go’, a Starter Kit which costs £56.50 can be purchased from Phil which includes:-
The Iron
12 waxes
A6 Card in White and Black
Scriber
