
All levels
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3 hours 37 min
01:54
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04:17
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11:42
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10:09
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15:17
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07:30
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10:25
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21:27
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16:24
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16:03
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10:38
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16:09
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10:12
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08:21
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11:40
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08:53
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13:10
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14:48
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08:01
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Encaustic, an ancient artistic technique, involves painting with hot wax to create tremendous textural possibilities. Lisa Solomon, a multi-disciplinary artist and educator, guides you through an exploration of this unique medium. The wax, sometimes infused with colored pigments, is applied to surfaces, typically wooden panels, and manipulated using various tools. During the process, experiment with techniques such as embedding, mark making, layering, carving, and incorporating natural and 3D elements. The resulting encaustic paintings often exhibit a lustrous and translucent quality, providing a means for creative expression through the fusion of wax, pigments, and heat.
Learn how to:
Here’s what you’ll need:
Safety Materials:
- Gloves or Barrier Cream
- Fire Extinguisher
- Container of water, in case paper or something catches on fire or for burns
- Safety glasses if you are doing a lot of pouring or splashing of materials
- Respirator and/or work in ventilated room
- Hair tie to keep hair off of your face, well-fitted sleeves
- Tip: keep palette 200 F/93 C or lower
Encaustic Materials:
- Encaustic Starter Kit
- Encaustic medium: Lisa recommends R&F brand, or make your own with 9 parts wax to 2 parts damar resin
- Plain beeswax or paraffin wax: in a brick or preferably pellets
- Hot surface, such as a griddle, skillet, etc.
- Flat Thermometer for checking surface temp
- Large drip pan or cookie sheet to protect work surface
- Metal containers to hold encaustic, such as small aluminum baking pans
- Fuse tools: torch, heat gun, or iron (for encaustic use only)
- Encaustic paints: purchase premade colors or add dried oil paint, oil sticks, pigment powder to create colors
- Popsicle sticks for stirring wax
- Bench scraper
- Wax paper
- Hand tools such as wood carving/linocut tools, awls, brayer, burnisher, bone folder, pottery tools, metal palette knives with shapes, rolling wheels, tweezers, and a Tjanting (Indonesian batik tool)
- Natural bristle brushes: Hake brushes or hardware brushes (for encaustic use only)
- Substrate: stiff, non bendable surfaces are better, such as encaustic board, wood panels, plywood, cradled panels (with or without lip), thick non-coated paper, very thick canvas, etc.
- Paper towels - rags can get wax filled and not useful quickly
- Slick Wax for cleaning
Art materials:
- Watercolor pencils, chalk pastels, india ink, pencils, Sharpies, etc.
- Linseed oil as a release for stamps and burnishing surfaces
- Gesso
- Matte medium or PVA glue
- Scissors, utility knife and cutting mat
- Hand carved stamps - check out Lisa’s Carve a Rubber Stamp Kit class
- Silicone molds
- Other items to add to your composition: stamps, pigment ink pads, stencils, carbon papers, gold leaf, tissue paper, ephemera, laser prints for image transfers, parchment/wax paper, painters/washi tape, textiles, ribbon, silcone molds for pouring 3D wax items, dried plants, old hardcover books, rope or other fibers, etc.
Downloads:
- Set up a home encaustic studio
- Use pigments to color your encaustic medium
- Play with different techniques to explore the medium
- Combine other art materials such as paints and 3D objects with encaustic wax







Member Gallery
Browse members' projects from this class and share your own work! Learn how to take great photos here.
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Explorations in Encaustic: A Daily Practice Reviews
15 users recommended this class to a friend
Susan Nathan
Love! I was curious and enthralled through it all. I am so grateful to see the artist's actual process. Pieces and techniques grew and flourished throughout the course. I leave the class with the confidence to incorporate Encaustic into my work.
6 days ago
Diane Kirtley
Love this class so much very informative. All the things you didn't know about encaustic and more. thank you. I would love to check out Beverly's art. Do you have a link?
February 12, 2025
Kyra
Such a comprehensive class! I will be referring to this material over and over as it inspires infinite ways to add wax as a medium. All the ideas are so light and bright and modern I just loved it. Thank you.
More than 3 months ago